South American a travel blog by Shawn04 Andean Women Plaza de Armas erin and i have arrived. it was a long journey from minneapolis to cusco but we are here and loving the city. Cusco is very much a tourist city. There are people and kids on every street trying to sell anything you can imagine. The cobble stone streets are amazing but the street signs and the names given on maps for those streets do not match. Very confusing. We have sampled some traditional Peruvian food and it is great. Alpacas are good for more than nice wool. Conversing with everyone is very difficult, apparently my broken spanish is not how everyone talks here. We leave for the 4 day hike to Machu Picchu tomorrow. Wish us luck. view all 26 photos for this trip

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Brazil with familiar faces Sao Paulo, Brazil Well after one canceled flight and two more delayed I finally made it to Sao Paulo. There waiting were my good friends Reid and Fu. After over a month it was great to see some familiar faces. We did not have to much time to catch up, because we had to pack and make the 6 hour road trip to Rio in time for our tickets to the parade. The parade and Rio are amazing, but more to come on that at a later time. written by  Shawn04 on February 17, 2007 from Sao Paulo, Brazil from the travel blog: South American Send a Compliment 2 comments...

Carnival Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Carnival, what a great experience. Being labeled as the biggest festival in the world Rio's carnival is amazing. Reid, Carla, Fu and I arrived in Rio in the early afternoon on Sunday. We drove straight to Sugar Loaf, which is the main rock overlooking downtown Rio and the harbor. Very amazing. Rio de Janeiro Afterwards we caught a quick lunch then we went to Carla's grandparents to drop off our clothes and to get ready for the parade. Carla's grandparents were amazing hosts. Even though we did not speak the same language they went out of their way to make us feel at home. Since there are some 60,000 tourists that enter the city for the week long festival driving and lodging get very crowded. We took a taxi to the fest grounds which was a good thing because Rio gets very dangerous at night. The stadium which houses the main parade is huge. Carnival!! The main idea of carnival is the different neighborhoods in Rio put together a performance and act it out in the stadium. These different parades tell stories and are put to song with costums and floats. Each "school" as they are called gets one hour and a half to complete their program and each school has around 1,500 to 2,000 people marching in this parade. The sounds, colors, and the songs are almost overwelming. The most amazing part is that this parade goes on for 4 days. Different neighborhoods get to present on different nights. To make a long story short, we watched 3 different schools and still were not able to sit through them all (we left at 4 am. with still 1 more school to go). The next day we spent checking out the beaches. written by  Shawn04 on February 19, 2007 from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from the travel blog: South American Send a Compliment comment on this...

Bonito Bonito, Brazil Snorkeling in Rio Sucuri. Bonito is a small tourist town located on the Southern tip of the Pantanal. We stayed at a farm house located 1 hour outside of Bonito. This house is owned by friends of Fu and was a great glimpse into the country life of Brazil. The main attractions in and around Bonito include crystal clear rivers, caves, rafting, and many other wilderness activities. We did our best to check out all the activities, including the blue lake, tubing, river rafting, and a 7 waterfall tour. By far the highlight of the activities in Bonito was snorkeling in the Rio Sucuri (anaconda). This river has crystal clear water given a blue tint because of the snail shells that decompose on the bottom of the river. Since it is a moving river you really don't swim you just float down the river trying not to touch anything. The entire float takes about 3 hours but the entire time there are fish swimming all around you. Very cool! View from in the river. Our days consisted of touring Bonito and our evenings were spent hanging out in the farming community of Nioaque. The people in this community were amazing. The area is quite poor, but the people were so friendly and warm. We were even invited to a community BBQ, were we really got to understand the daily lives of these people. After 4 nights in Bonito Reid and I made our way alone, without the help of our tour guides (Fu and Carla). The good news is we survived. written by  Shawn04 on February 21, 2007 from Bonito, Brazil from the travel blog: South American Send a Compliment 2 comments...

Iguazu Falls Iguacuzinho, Brazil Argentina, for a few hours. After Bonito Reid and I caught an overnight bus to the city of Foz De Iguazu. This is a small tourist town located on the boarder's of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. We arrived in the early morning and took the short trip to the famous Iguazu Falls. The falls are shared by Brazil and Argentina with each offering different views, we decided to visit the Brazilian side first since it is easier and we were tired. I have never seen a large waterfall before and the sight of these 250 different waterfalls all in one valley was quite incredible. The majority of the time Reid and I just walked in silence just trying to take in all of the different views and stopping just long enough to take some pictures. It was a quick little busride from the town. In the town of Foz de Iguazu there really is not much else to do but visit the waterfalls and travel to Argentina and Paraguay so it was a good thing we were there just long enough to see the waterfall from both sides. The following morning Reid and I scheduled a bus to visit the Argentinian side of the waterfall. Which, to the objection of only a few Brazilians, is by far the better of the two views. We crossed the border and got yet another stamp for the old passport and we were off. What makes the views from this side of the falls much better is the fact that you are so close to the different falls. The paths take you in, on, and around many waterfalls; were as the Brazil side just offers you great long distance photo opportunities. Iguazu Falls All the littler falls surrounding the valley are impressive, but the main attraction is the large one called "The Devil's Throat". This was pretty incredible, it is so large that it is almost impossible to take a good photo because of all the mist and water you get sprayed with. We crossed the boarder back to Brazil and caught another overnight bus, this time heading to the coast. Next stop Ilha do Mel. written by  Shawn04 on February 27, 2007 from Iguacuzinho, Brazil from the travel blog: South American Send a Compliment 1 comment...

Ilha do Mel Paranagua, Brazil Illha do Mel Usually I am not the biggest fan of the beach, just laying in a chair waiting for the sun to turn you a different color is not my idea of a good time. However, I have always wanted to learn how to surf and what better location than a carless island off the southern coast of Brazil. This island is paradise, when we read that the island has no cars I still imagined people with motorcycles, atv's, and other forms of motorized transportation, but they were right when they said no cars. People either walk or ride a bike on the beach or through the maze of sand paths. Any goods you want, food, clothes, etc. you buy from the mainland gets brought over by boat and then people either carry it on their back or pull it in a cart. Life moves at a very relaxing pace. Reid and I stayed in a nice hotel just off of the beach. The owner is a retired pro surfer who enjoys taking people like us out to give lessons and to laugh as we struggle. The entire 3 days on this island were incredible. We spent the entire day in the water working on our surfing skills and our evening checking out the different places to eat and navigating around the island with nothing but flashlights. By the end of our way to short stop on the island, Reid and I were both very relaxed and a little bruised from wrestling with the waves. This island was by far the highlight of my stay in Brazil. written by  Shawn04 on March 1, 2007 from Paranagua, Brazil from the travel blog: South American Send a Compliment 4 comments...

Home Minneapolis, United States Well, it is finally over. I am back in the United States. Thanks to all of you who visited and posted on my site, it meant a great deal to me. I hope to talk to or see many of you very soon. Thanks again. Shawn written by  Shawn04 on March 14, 2007 from Minneapolis, United States from the travel blog: South American Send a Compliment 1 comment...

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