Whilst not the highest waterfalls in the world, nor the widest or most powerful by water volume, the Iguacu Falls do have the reputation as being amongst the most spectacular, combining height, width and volume to create an amazing spectacle.

After a couple of days visiting them, from both the Argentine side and the Brazilian side, we were definitely in awe.

From our hostel in Foz de Iguacu, our landlady, Evelina, gave us very clear and detailed directions on how to get to the falls and what to do when you get there – “look to the right, look to the right, look to the right and all along you can see animals, wildlife, the river, the animals, the jungle and the falls – amazing!”. She has been running Pousada Evelina for we guessed over 20 years and had various photos and cards of thanks to prove it! She stated that the hostel was like a home and that she was now like our Mum – inclusive of a few house rules but generally just a concern for her guests to enjoy themselves.

So in addition to seeing the falls, we did our own churriscaria (Brazilian BBQ!), met some other travelers and just relaxed after 6 days on the road! We took a young guy from the UK (Kevin from Lamington Spa) with us to the Brazilian side of the falls and he was glad of some English speaking company after a week camping in Argentina. He was surprised that people didn’t just speak English (with an accent!) in South America so was struggling a little with Portuguese and Spanish. Yet he was in South America experiencing a different world whilst his mates wasted their money on the usual as he explained it.

We also met some newlyweds on a 4 month honeymoon – Tim and Vicki from London (via Buckinghamshire and Liverpool). When I returned our hire car to Curitiba, 8 hours away, they hitched a ride to keep me company, much appreciated at 3 in the morning! Tim is (almost?) famous as the lead singer and writer with The Sneer………..really good tunes and available at iTunes!

The most noticeable thing was that in the state of Parana, everything seemed better than what we saw in the North and East. Certainly wealthier than the Eastern towns we passed through but with no more (or less) charm than them. Little things in the small city of Foz de Iguazu stood out as more modern than places like Rio’s Copacabana – condominiums that were modern and livable, not  old and caged, churches that were clean and proudly located in the town centre with lots of trees and gardens. When Tim and Vicki and I turned up in Curitiba to return the hire car we found that Curitiba is maybe the most modern, clean city in Brazil – certainly the most impressive city I saw and by all accounts I have read I saw it as it is – just like a modern city you might find in Australia. A nice part of Brazil to leave from – off to Argentina.

So what is it like on a 60,000 ton ship with 1300 other passengers and 800 crew? Peaceful, tiring, relaxing, exhausting, fun, fun, fun and above all it is super fun!

We are no cruise experts, having only spent two nights on a cruise ship before, but we do know when we are enjoying ourselves and when we are getting good value. For 18 days from Venice to Rio de Janeiro, we enjoyed every minute of our cruise and would do it again tomorrow. In fact we are going to try and do it again next month, bound for the USA via Peru, Ecuador, Mexico and Costa Rica, completing a visit to 5 continents without flying – a shame no-one challenged us to that little feat!!

But back to the last cruise! What we liked was the service, the dancing, the games, the passengers (both the friendly and the curious) and the variety. Did I mention how relaxing I found it??!!!

We entered a five day quiz with a team of 8, including Shelly, Rhenda and Gil, as well as entering playing daily deck games, going to occasional dancing lessons and just generally getting involved with ship activities.

We had the same two waiters each night – Constantin from Romania and Luiz from Brazil. They were excellent both in their service skills and their social skills. Every dinner was amusing and we regularly chatted with people from tables around us – Klaus and Eva from Munich, George from Belgium, the sometimes stern, sometimes happy German couple whose names we didn’t get and a Canadian family of 4 travelling for a year also.

As well as the equator crossing already described, we also celebrated molly’s birthday in style. A late start for the party girl due to the usual late night on the 1st, then lunch with Shelly and Rhenda at the all you can eat buffet – excellent start!

In the afternoon Molly and Julia went shopping whilst Shelly, Rhenda and I set up a surprise party in one of the lounges. We managed to get Gil, Barbara, Doreen, Chris, Anne and Dave there before Molly walked in and wondered what was going on!! Pass the parcel went well and Shelly managed to win even though it was not a well known game in the U.S……………she was very impressed with her Hannah Montana Candy Make-Up Compact kit. Talk about just the thing to make a purdy mid-west girl even more snoggable! Take me to Jamaica, please, she said!! 

Dinner also included a surprise, a huge chocolate birthday cake complete with singing waiters, and we were joined by 10 year old Elodie from Canada.

Then dancing to finish off – including a birthday call onto the stage for Molly!

Unfortunately, neither of these towns were the introduction we wanted to Brazil, Brazilian people or to South America.

At Recife we took a shuttle bus to the centre of the old part of the city. Old is an understatement – run down, dilapidated or dirty would be better descriptions. We really wondered how this country with considerable history, wealth, population and economic advantage in the region, could have as it’s third largest city a menacing, dirty and disorganized jumble with beautiful old buildings (including churches) going to ruin amongst temporary stalls and stores.

Some would say this is a little harsh but what you see is what you get and the Venice of South America is not what we saw, despite assurances to the contrary. Fortunately, friends on organized tours saw a very different side to Recife (beaches and panoramic views – better from a distance?) and were keen to see more so we figured the best option was to do a tour in Salvador and see the “best” of that city.

Not to be though – another day of menace and an overwhelming desire to be back on the ship. Something in these two cities wasn’t right. Apparently we were the first cruise ship of the summer season so perhaps there were more touts, salespeople and inexperienced guides out and about? There were certainly too many shifty looking kids and men hanging around waiting to take advantage of the unwary but worse was the fact that we seemed to stand out like sore thumbs, particularly on the Salvador tour – no more cruise tours for us, thanks!.

Despite the above description we still found the overly cautious warnings being delivered on the ship before arrival in Brazil quite amusing – apparently gangsters will cut your fingers off, take your rings and just hand you back your fingers!! Nothing like a 3rd hand, twice translated story to give a message a special air of ridiculousness.

Reading back over this it does seem a bit extreme but I think that is because I am finally posting this having been in western and southern Brazil where we found the towns and people much more interesting. Salvador does have some spectacular old architecture, an overall nice coastal outlook and minus the tour groups and touts an afternoon in the cafes along the town square would be pretty cool……………

And what of arriving into Rio de Janeiro by ship? Well, from Salvador to Rio took 36 hours so there was a day at sea that needs a mention……..

Our last full day at sea and for most of the day we were constantly treated to appearances by pods of migrating whales. Sitting on our balcony we only saw one side of the ship but there was rarely 20 minutes that weernt by that we diudn’t see whales. Spouts of water in the distance, tail slapping, babies, adults and then dolphins in our bow waves – a really amazing day at sea!!

Next morning was one of those special events as well – arriving into Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro!

Glimpses of Copacabana Beach are nothing compared to the dominating image of the Sugar Loaf mountain and behind that the statue of Jesus Christ the Redeemer (Cristo Redentor). There are many mountains with spectacular peaks, mostly covered by forest and of course there are the districts of the city itself. A great last morning to finish a great cruise.

We were scheduled for 5 days at sea, making for 6 nights without seeing land – or so we thought! It was actually 6 nights and 5 days before we would go ashore again but boy did we see some impressive land on the way!

Having left Tenerife, sailing South West we encountered some of the other Canary Islands at some distance.

The next day we sailed through the Cape Verde Islands, including an incredible volcanic mountain that rose straight out of the Atlantic. It is amazing that the view we had was no different to that of the explorers 400 years ago as they sailed South along the West African coast. It is also incredible to imagine the lifestyles of the inhabitants of these islands, so remote and seemingly pristine.

By the time we were into day 3 of the crossing I knew that Cruise Holidays were the way ahead for me – there is something very relaxing about not having to think any more than you want to….. and on a cruise it seems that you certainly don’t have to!

On Molly’s Birthday, 2 October, we crossed the equator. I tried to explain to Molly before hand that this would be a big event but she wasn’t so sure – she seemed to think it was about as fascinating as Trainspotting, Planespotting or reading the technical specifications of motorbikes -  I just don’t get 10 year old girls!

Anyway, as a 10 year old, she was uncertain, but having turned 11 and joining the faithful few who volunteered to parade with King Neptune to gain the ship passage south of the equator, Molly soon realised that this would be a special occasion making for a very special birthday.

Firstly we were ushered away to the privacy of the ships top floor disco. Then we were painted in a way that made us a look a little ridiculous and a lot different to the rest of the passengers. Then those burley men amongst us were handed a flag to carry and off we went to parade with King Neptune, his maiden and a particularly ugly looking squid. The entire ship watched on as we escorted Neptune to the pool, were baptized with champagne, kissed the squid and then awaited the Captains offerings……………

Firstly Neptune felt the ship was not ready to cross, so the faithful were doused with milk. Still not ready, the Captain offered to cover us with flour, then vegetable shortening (think really smelly, greasy, fluffy cream). Then tomatoes, still not ready so time for cocoa powder and then raw eggs.…then we were ready. Not really the pool party you want to be a part of but fortunately the pools on the ship simply flush out and then refill from which ever sea or ocean we were sat in. By the evening there was a clean pool and mostly all clean passengers again.

Our first sight of Brazil was not the mainland but a series of 3 islands named the Fernando de Noronha, 345km from the mainland. The main island is reasonably substantial but still no more than a few kilometers long and less than a kilometer across. Clear traces of the volcanic origins exist in the from of vertical plugs of rock towering above the rest of the island, yet the golden beaches were obvious and I guess the absence of black sand shows how old the islands must be. The life on these islands, as with the Cape Verde Islands, must be both idyllic and maddening at the same time – for me they look to be the perfect place to visit on a 40 foot yacht.

Next stop, Northern Brazil!  

Sailing from Croatia to Tunisia gave us our first full 24 hours at sea – a great chance to enjoy the “rhythm” of the ship. A Captains Cocktail party was a great chance to dress up and there was plenty of games on the pool deck and after dark on the dance floors. Julia and Molly both won some prizes whilst I sat around and read. By now we were discovering that the cruise holiday is a great way to have fun and relax – especially after 9 months of getting on and off trains, looking for hotels every couple of days and trying to work out where we were going to eat 3 times a day!

We only had half a day to explore the area around La Goullette and Tunis, plus we had a bit of a sleep in having spent the evening meeting other passengers and entertaining on our balcony! So we opted for a simple tour of Carthage, the ancient city once the 3rd most important city in the Roman Empire, and a quick visit to a small fishing village, very Greek in style with white washed buildings and blue features.

We avoided the taxi drivers at the port terminal and wandered into the local town, ignoring the various touts who were suggesting that we should take a taxi now as there was nothing to see locally. As it turned out, there was plenty of local attractions but we were charmed by a French speaking Tunisian guy with a beat up old Peugot and a very tattered map that he used to explain how he could show us beautiful sites!

Whilst visiting a large mosque I noticed a railing leaning up against a high stone wall and ran across to clamber up and see what was hidden behind. It looked to me to be part of one of the old Roman theatres so I snapped away perched 10 feet up on a piece of old steel fencing. I could tell the taxi driver was a little dis-pleased so eventually I turned round to see what he was yelling at and came down. Apparently I had been looking down into part of the Presidents estate so he suggested the Police would not be happy with me if I had been caught……probably not wise of me in Tunisia but we live and learn.

Heading back from our expedition we were complete with some new shoes for Julia who had really made a local shop-keeper realise just how frustrating it can be getting Julia to make a decision when shopping – and how difficult it can be to get a girl from Yorkshire to part with money. Stopped at an intersection I candidly snapped away at local signposts, taxis and the traffic policeman, complete with white gloves. Meanwhile, unbeknown to me but equally as harmless, Julia was in the back videoing the same. Then as we crossed the intersection the taxi driver was forced to pull over and had to run back to the policeman.

At this point, we had a feeling it may be related to our cameras but it seemed a bit over-dramatic………….then he approached and the taxi driver said no pictures. Wondering if the officer was after a bribe, we played dumb (not that hard for us to do!) whilst I started to think about the consequences of him looking through the camera’s play back and then found my recent snapshots of the Presidents private amphi-theatre! Perhaps we looked too poor or perhaps the taxi driver told him we were from a cruise ship and thus a shake down was considered inappropriate – either way, a few words from the taxi driver, a friendly hand on the policeman’s shoulder and we were waved off with a warning!

Once again we found the time in Tunisia too short to be able to really enjoy the experience, particularly the pace of events in the markets and the constant, although mostly polite, offers being thrust in your face by various touts.

We sailed off with a rather unusual completion of a circle once out of the port, and headed for Spain, a 36 hour sailing time meaning that we could relax back into our “at Sea” routines!

We have arrived!! Currently in downtown Rio de Janeiro, having spent a lovely day at Copacabana. Apart from lot's of warnings from locals about crime, we are getting into the rhythym of South America..................it was obvious when we came ashore several days ago in Recife that we weren't in Kansas anymore Toto!!! Not like Asia, not like Europe and not as I remember North Africa. It does have similar weather to Australia................
Anyway, much blog updating to be done before heading off to try and catch another ship!!!!!! Flying is so passe'....