Brazil Travelogue

VISITED: OCTOBER 30 - NOVEMBER 15, 2005

For our 10th anniversary, we were looking for somewhere exotic to visit.  We planned to meet Sandra's mother, Kicki, and her longtime beau, Bertil, and share our vacation.  They wanted to stay in Rio de Janeiro for the duration of the two-week trip, but we wanted to see a little more too. 

Our Itinerary:

Day 1 - The Road to Iguassu Falls Day 2 - Iguassu Falls National Park Day 2 - Macuco Boat Safari Day 2 - Porto Canoas Restaurant Day 2 - Foz Tropicana Bird Park Day 2 - Rafain Churrascaria Show Day 3 - The Road to Noronha Day 4 - Fernando de Noronha Day 5 - Fernando de Noronha Day 6 - Farewell to Noronha Day 7 - The Road to Rio de Janeiro

Day   8 - Ipanema Hippie Market Day   9 - Sugar Loaf Mountain Day 10 - Copacabana Palace Day 11 - Too Much Gluten Day 12 - Botanical Gardens of Rio Day 13 - Buzios Day 14 - Copacabana Day 15 - Ipanema Beach Day 15 - Plataforma Day 16 - Corcovado Mountain

The Cast

Johann U.S.A.

Sandra U.S.A. / Sweden

Kicki Sweden

Bertil Sweden

Our Guides

Luiz Amaral	Luiz was extraordinary in arranging not only all our tours, but a special occasion for our anniversary. We highly recommend him for travel reservations and tours in Brazil.  His English is Excellent.  You can see contact Luiz through his website at http://www.travelrio.com. Please tell him Johann & Sandra sent you.  We want him to know how happy we were with his services.	Eddie	Eddie was our guide in Iguassu Falls.  He did a very good job with us - very nice, went out of his way.  Ask a lot of questions and you'll be more satisfied.  We would use Eddie again.  He works for Interoeste, but we booked through Luiz.
Marcelo Esteves	Marcelo was our guide in Rio de Janeiro.  Well-read, friendly, and informative, we'd recommend Marcelo to anyone. He did a great job, customizing our tours to fit our schedules and interests, and showing us a wonderful time in Rio.  Highly recommended to anyone.  His English is excellent as well.  You can contact Marcelo at [email protected] or through Luiz like we did.	Renaldo	Renaldo was our captain on our sailing trip.  He was very well-read, an attorney in his spare time I believe.  His English is very good and he was very friendly.  Gave his best effort in less than ideal conditions.  You can book a sailing trip with Renaldo through Luiz.

Our Flight Schedules

Alaska Airlines - Portland to San Francisco - 10/30/05
American Airlines - San Francisco to Miami - 10/30/05
American Airlines - Miami to Rio de Janeiro - 10/31/05
Varig Brasil - Rio de Janeiro to Foz do Iguacu - 10/31/05
Varig Brasil - Foz do Iguacu to Curitiba - 11/2/05
Varig Brasil - Curitiba to Sao Paulo - 11/2/05
Varig Brasil - Sao Paulo to Recife - 11/2/05
Varig Brasil - Recife to Fernando de Noronha - 11/2/05
Varig Brasil - Fernando de Noronha to Recife - 11/5/05
Varig Brasil - Recife to Rio de Janeiro - 11/5/05
American Airlines - Rio de Janeiro to Miami - 11/14/05
Alaska Airlines - Miami to Seattle - 11/15/05
Horizon Air - Seattle to Portland - 11/15/05

Highlights

• The guide and tour service given to us throughout the trip by Luiz, Marcelo, and company.

• Rainbows filling the air at Iguassu Falls

• The Beaches of Fernando de Noronha

• The view from Corcovado Mountain

• The wonderful nightlife at Rio Scenarium, Centro Cultural Carioca, and Vinicius Wine & Piano Bar.

• Anniversary dinner at Copacabana Palace.

• Ipanema Beach on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

• The Weather in Foz do Iguacu and Fernando de Noronha

Lowlights

• 13 Flights

• Bertil's Gluten-induced illness

• The weather in Rio until the last two days.

• Brazil Nuts, who once we decided to rent an apartment in Rio instead of a hotel decided we weren't worth their time and never returned our calls or e-mails about travel reservations.  We wasted a lot of time with them.

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