Iguazú Falls are located on the border of Argentina and Brazil on the Iguazú River. Together, they make up the largest waterfall system in the world. The falls divide the river into the upper and lower Iguazú. Over 500 species of butterflies and animals including capuchin monkeys and jaguars live in the Iguazú National Park.
Iguazú Falls was incredible. This has been on our list of places to visit for quite a while. Due to time constraints, we made this a day trip which forced us to wake up at 4am to get to the airport for our 2 hour flight to Iguazú. After meeting our private guide, we spent the rest of the day traversing the maze of walkways and bridges to various viewpoints within the park.
The water is actually low at this time of year, yet the roar of the falls was palpable. You could feel the power of the water as it rushed over the cliffs and the cooling mist was refreshing on such a hot day. Our guide told us to visit in May to see the falls at their fullest. Since we were on a tight timeline to get back to the airport for our return flight, we were only able to walk a few of the trails within the park. We hope to return someday, preferably in the month of May, and explore the rest of the trails we missed in this beautiful National Park.
At the end of our tour we cooled off at the Gran Meliá Hotel which has a gorgeous view of the falls and waited for our driver to take us back to the airport. This is the only hotel within the Iguazú National Park grounds and no further construction is allowed. This is intended to keep the falls and views as pristine as they are now and prevent high rise resorts and hotels from taking over like they’ve done at Niagara Falls.
This was a beautiful stop on our journey. We hope to be back someday and may even look at staying at the Gran Meliá and possibly at the Belmont Hotel on the Brazilian side of the falls.
Devil’s ThroatCoati, cousin of the raccoonInchwormWe saw 1000s of butterflies!View from Meliá hotel
Rio was our first Brazilian stop. Since we had a short time here we booked an excursion to take us to the three main sites (Christ the Redeemer, Selaron Steps, and Sugarloaf). This was the most efficient way to see these highly visited tourist locations in a short amount of time.
The views from this towering iconic statue were breathtaking. We could see for miles in every direction. It was extremely crowded. Next time we would visit right when they open to reduce the number of tourists at the top.
Selaron Steps
This was an attraction we didn’t know about before the tour. Art is prominent throughout the city and these steps are fully tiled in unique mosaic patterns with materials sourced locally while some others were sent to the artist during construction from around the globe.
Selaron Steps
Sugarloaf
Sugarloaf is another famous viewpoint and unique mountain in Rio. It takes two cable cars to get you to the top. Unfortunately on the day we visited, there were low clouds at the top limiting our views below. Oh well, I guess we will just have to come back again!
Cloudy view
The city was covered with graffiti. We were sad to see some of the beautiful historic buildings covered in it. Our guide explained the tagging is actually a status within a subculture of Brazil. The higher up a wall they are able to tag apparently gives them more status within the tagging community. Art is subjective, but this really made us sad to see.
On our way back to the ship, our guide gave us a bonus stop at an overlook for some photos at Ipanema beach. The white sand was beautiful!
Ipanema beach.Artist adding our names to the muralCan you find KaRex?
Our visit to Rio de Janeiro was wonderful but we only touched the surface of what Rio has to offer. We look forward to returning for a more in depth visit someday.
Brazil: Buzios
We took a highlights tour of Buzios. We learned quickly Buzios is known mostly for beaches. One of the most unique on the peninsula is Forno Beach located in a sheltered cove and is made up of gorgeous silky pink sand. The beach gets its color from garnet. It’s beautiful.
Pink sand beach
Brazil: Ilha Grande
Ilha Grande is an island just off the coast of Brazil. We fell in love with everything about it. The trees, mountains, hiking trails, beaches, wildlife, and cafes. We walked to the famous black sand beach and then found a restaurant to enjoy drinks and appetizers on the beach under a huge shade tree. Ah, life is good!
Our shipBlack sand beach
Brazil: Santos
Santos is the port town gateway to São Paulo. We choose not to take an excursion, but instead used Uber to visit a few of the sites. First we heard the best cup of Brazilian coffee could be enjoyed at Cafe Carioca. So we headed there first thing. It wasn’t quite the best, but it was across from the old city square which was all decked out for Christmas which was nice to see. Our main destination was Monte Serrat which had been a monastery, nightclub and casino during its lifetime. You take a funicular ride to the top to experience panoramic views of Santos.
In total we took four Uber rides to see everything we wanted. With the funicular fare and coffees our total spend for the day came to $24 USD for 4 people. Wow!
Funicular
Fun Facts: Brazil
Language: Portuguese
Currency: Brazilian Real
Population: 214 Million
Cost of living: 50.99% lower than US
Known for: Amazon Rainforest/River, Christ the Redeemer, Caipirinhas (beverage), Carnival, and Soccer
Uruguay: Punta del Este
Our final stop was scheduled to be Punta del Este, Uruguay, but it was cancelled. The cruise line chose to cancel our stop out of precaution. Our cruise disembarks in Buenos Aires, Argentina the same day as the World Cup finals and Argentina will be battling France for the Wold Cup. Argentinians take fútbol very seriously and we are expecting the city to be buzzing with a few million fútball fans cheering on their team. We are excited to be there for this massive world event and will be cheering on Argentina right alongside the locals.
We will stay in Buenos Aires for two weeks. More to come.
Cape Verde is an African country made up of a chain of islands off the coast of Senegal. It has its own currency (Escudo) and the primary language spoken is Portuguese. However, due to the African influence there is a blend of several languages resulting in a Portuguese creole spoken by the locals.
We took a bus tour which took us to the highest point on the island with magnificent views of the ocean and surrounding islands. The road to the top was mostly cobblestone which made for a very bumpy ride.
We also got to try their local spirit called grogue. Similar to rum, it is made from sugar cane which is grown on the island. At 44% alcohol by volume, it was fire water! It definitely could have used a mixer to make it more palatable for Rex.
Lastly, we stopped at a local sea turtle rescue/hospital which is run by volunteers to help injured turtles who get caught in fishing nets. There were two turtles with serious injuries who were living out the rest of their days there as they would not be able to survive being released back into the ocean.
Narrow cobble roadTour guideGrogue!
Atlantic Ocean: Three Days at Sea
We spent three peaceful days at sea as we crossed the equator and made our way to Brazil. We had very pleasant weather across the Atlantic which kept the waves relatively low for the journey.
The ship celebrated the equator crossing with a ceremony to haze the crew members onboard who were crossing for the first time. “King Neptune” presided and crew members were subjected to all sorts of public ridicule and food being dumped on their heads while the crowd cheered. It was all good fun and even the cruise director got thrown into the pool at the end.
Trivia Update
We ended progressive trivia in third place. Not a bad finish for us since we were playing against teams who had seen some of the questions on the previous cruise and had six people on their teams.
Bingo!
One highlight of the sea days was both of us hitting bingo at the exact same time. Neither of us had ever won at bingo before. Crazy!
Bingo!Bingo!
Brazil: Recife
We finally made it to Brazil. Our first stop was in the far-eastern city of Recife. Recife was founded in 1537, during the early Portuguese colonization of Brazil.
We booked a city tour which showed us the highlights of the area. Recife was similar to lots of large cities we’ve been to. They experience their share of graffiti, homeless and run down areas.
Nice beach viewThe Golden Chapel
We have more Brazilian cities to visit on the final leg of our cruise. This ship will continue to be our home for 7 more days. Tomorrow, we stop in Rio de Janeiro!
We’re cruising across the Atlantic on the Norwegian Star. Our cruise has been a busy one with port call tours as well as sea days filled with plenty of onboard activities. It has been non-stop since we boarded. The Star is one of NCL’s smaller ships and this sailing is only at 67% of total capacity, which is nice because it hasn’t felt crowded.
I am excited to say my parents are currently roaming with the Rountrees. It was great to meet up with them on board when we arrived.
We currently hold an early lead in a cruise-long progressive trivia game. We are surprised to be in the lead, but know it’s a long cruise. Wish us luck! Rex and I love playing trivia when we sail.
Over the last week we’ve stopped at a few ports.
Spain: Cádiz
In Cádiz our excursion took us to the trafalgar lighthouse. This lighthouse lies on the western limit of the Strait of Gibraltar and has been a guiding light for ships navigating the straight since 1862.
Trafalgar lighthouse
Canary Islands: Arrecife
The Canary Islands are located off the Spanish coast. Arrecife was our first stop in these islands and we chose to just stroll the boardwalk and enjoy the views of the sea shore.
Are the Canary Islands named after canaries? No. Their name comes from the Latin word for dog (canaria). According to legend, European explorers encountered a large amount of dogs or “sea dogs” (seals) upon arriving and named the islands “Islas Canarias” or Canary Islands.
Canary Islands: Tenerife
Tenerife was our second Canary island stop. The island is dominated by a large volcano named Mount Teide, the tallest volcano in the Canaries. The volcano is still active, but hasn’t erupted since 1909. We took a bus from sea level to over 7,200 feet in elevation to the base of the volcano, learning a lot about the island and the volcano as we drove. Fun fact: NASA used this island to test the Mars Rover since the volcanic soil and rocky landscape are very similar to the conditions on Mars.
If you are interested in roaming with us in the future, please like our travel page where we will post groups and other opportunities for you to join us.
