The Future City...

Brazil´s capital, Brasilia is a city full of stunning architecture. The city itself is only 50 years old and was designed by the Brazilian architect Lucio Costa. The whole city is base on the layout of an aeroplane, with a main central spine and too sweeping wings, and every sector of the plan has is purpose. There is a sector for banking, one for electronics etc etc. There are no street names, instead a numbering system has been put in place..at times this does get rather confusing, but there is logic behind it.





On of the main reasons for us visiting Brasilia was to see the architecture, in particular the work done by the famous Oscar Niemeyer, a Brazilian modernist architect who turned 100 this year! His work is very monumental, at times puzzling, but many ideals that he has within his buildings are still influential with today's designers. The vast open spaces around his buildings and the futuristic designs make it seem like you are walking around a movie set for the next Star Wars film.



We were all looked after unbelievably well by Margi and Gerard Moss who put us up in there home for the 4 days we were there. I think that we all appreciated some home comforts, and some time to relax. Thanks again guys. Margi and Matteo´s mum Daphne when to school together back when they where living in Kenya and when she heard that we would be travelling through central Brazil Margi kindly offered to have us stay. Both Margi and Gerard have travelled all over the world and have visited over 100 countries, so they had some great travel stories and tips to give us for the rest of our travels. Margi and Gerard are no strangers to adventures, having travelled around the world together in a single engine plane, and Gerard until recently held the world record for the most economical flight around the world, done on a glider with a small single engine to use when needed.



Apart from seeing all the buildings that were on offer, we did have some time to do a bit of work on the bikes. After Dave picked up a new set of Tyres (50/50 tread ready for the ruff stuff in Bolivia) and both the bikes had an oil, oil filter, and spark plug change, we went over the bikes looking for any loose nuts and bolts..its surprising how often things can rattle loose.

A must see destination recommended by Margi and Gerard was a small town called Bonito, and after having a look at a few of their pictures we all soon agreed that that was to be our next port of call.

Itacaré...

Earlier in the trip we had, at many times, thought that coming this far north was going to be too far out of the way. But thankfully our willingness for adventure came through in the end. We had heard from many people that Itacare was one of the must see destinations in Brazil, and after spending a week there I´m sure that we would now argue that same point.


The two bikes rolled into town in the dark, after riding a solid 600km day. Weaving our way down the main, recently paved cobble stone street, we luckily ran into Blair and Simon who where having dinner street side (an Arabic style restaurant which was so good that we ended up eating there on three of the nights). The boys had arrived earlier that day and had organised a place for us to stay. ´The Billabong´ Pousada (owned by an Aussie chap, Paul) was to be our home for the next few days. Happy to see another fellow Australian, Paul kindly offered to have us around to his place for a local style BBQ, which in Brazil is called a Corrasco. Seriously good feed might I add, which also included 24 long necks of the fine local brew, Skol.

On an other occasion Paul, his wife and his sister in-law took us all out for a night of dancing, at a place called ´Papaguis´. The evening was a good chance for everyone to embarrass themselves. But it was a fun night out.


Now to the main reason Itacare is so great...the beaches. There are four main beaches in close proximity to the main town center, all of which are surrounded by palm trees and have decent waves rolling in to please the many surfers, including Simon who has been carrying his board since Ferrugem in the south of Brazil. Although the close beaches are nice, we took a small trek to reach another bay about 45 minutes away. This beach was a winner for everyone..perhaps it was because there weren´t as near the numbers on the other beaches. Bloody fantastic. Clear turquoise water with clean squeaky sand and nice big waves.




One day was spent out fishing, although we didn´t even get a bite. A good chance to sink a couple of cans anyway. We went out with three other travelers we had meet in the town, Leo, Emily, and Juan (Italian, Australia, Argentinian) all good people who we ended out hanging out with on a couple different nights.



Another was spent riding 50km north up the coast with Paul´s son in-law and his girlfriend. We rode along some nice road, as well as the beach to reach a small unspoilt town called Barra Grande, which had water which was dead flat and about 25 degrees warm! Swimming was like taking a hot bath. But that whole stretch of coast north and south was truly stunning...a place we would definitely be returning to some day.




On our last night at Itacare we all decided to camp. The reason we gave up our air conditioned room for a spot under the stars was really quite simple. How often to you get to camp right on the Brazilian coast and basically have your own private beach at your door step. Definitely on of the best camping spots that we have had on the trip so far.





Next stop Brasilia...

Buzios to Itaunus...

A really nice town set on the Atlantic about 200km due east of Rio, Buzios is a place well worth visiting. Known for its timeless cobblestone streets and its amazing beaches the once old fishing village is now a holiday hot spot for most living in Rio.

Buzio is quite unique as it is set on a peninsular which shelters the northern beaches, offering calm water for swimming and boating and on the southern side the surf still rolls in for anyone keen for a paddle. One let down was the snorkeling. We had been told that various beaches around Buzios were good for this, but all that you could really see where a few fish and a sandy sea bed. Not to bother we found a number of other ways to pass the days.

Along with the beaches the true charm of Buzios shines through in the town center. Consisting of about 4 streets, the area is packed full of shops, bars, and restaurants and the fact that the street turns into a pedestrian zone in the evenings adds a lot to the character. Most nights people where treated to a display of capoeira performed in the streets to the beat of load drums and singing. This Brazilian martial art is a mix of dancing and fighting and is quite astonishing to watch.



The six of us staying there all shared an apartment which worked out quite well in terms of our budget. The reason being was that the place had only 3 beds, which meant that we had to do a nightly rotation to provide some relief from the hard floor..but no one could complain.

After a couple of days we decided to pack up and head further north up the coast to a place called Itaunas. We were taking a chance on this place, as we hadn't meet anyone how had traveled there or read much about it. After two days of riding, with the rain switching on and off, we set up camp in a some what average campsite, with the only upside being that we were the only people there. We soon decided that Itaunas wasn't a place to spend more than two nights and we set our minds on heading 1000km further north to the much talked about Itacare. But not to be too harsh to Itaunas, the place did have a lovely beach lined with some pretty spectacular dunes.

Rio...

Rio de Janeiro! We made it...another great milestone in our journey around South America. Here we where about to meet up with a bunch of our friends to celebrate Carnival. The biggest party for all Brazilians on their calendar year. Everyone was staying in Copacobana, spread over 3 apartments...so our first challenge was to find them!

We rode in to Rio from the south. Here there was another main route which could take us to Copacobana without taking us through the city center. To our delight, not only was the route well sign posted, guiding us easily to our aprtments, it also wove us along the southern beaches of Rio directing us left and right, up and down and through a number of hill headlands which seemed to dive into the depths of the Atlantic. Yes the racing trafficand the ruff stone cut tunnels made us feel as though we we part of a F1 racing in Monaco.

Meeting up with everyone and unpacking at the apartment was a nice feeling knowing that once again we could unwind for a good couple of days. Having arrived on we had a few days to hangout on the beach before the real Carnival parties started on Friday. Both Copacobana and Ipanema beaches are great for to relax at for a couple of hours. For R$6 you coupld grab an umbrella and a deck chair and the with an endless amount of peopel walking by offering cold beers, what more coupld you want!

Amoungst the many parties that were held all aound town, one of the highlights for everyone was heading out top the sambodrome to see an evening of the big parade. The amount of effort the was obviously put into the show was unbelievable. The night was enjoyed be all. Other nights out at various bars, clubs, resturants, both at the beach and in the city center also offered great entertainment.

Along with all of the night time entertainment Rio is a city which provides its visitors with the opportunity to do some great sight seeing, and with 7 of us working in the architecture related field we where spoiled with the vast array of modernist architecture on display.

With the Carnival period coming to a close we had to switch our attention to matters more serious. Our personal visas and the visas for the bikes were due to expire on the 6th of March. As we were still planning to spend to spend another month traveling up the coast and then over to Bolivia, we had to orgainise getting an extension..and as we soon found out was not the most simple of tasks. After many, many trips too and from the airport, to the city center, to one office, to another, from one chap, to the next. All in all the whole process was quite annoying and not one that we would like to go through again. In the end we got everything sorted and were able to kick on for another month.

All up our Rio experience was a fantastic one. It was truely a great city to travel in. The setting, the beaches and the people have definately spoiled us. In fact on our last night there, we were invited around to Latish's (thanks Blair) house where we were treated to some fantastic food and lovely hospitality.

Next stop Buzios 200km east from Rio. Clam beaches and clear water awaits!