As my doctor recommended, I began taking the pills 1 day prior to arriving in the Amazon. It’s suggested to take your pill with a full stomach and I did, most of the time. The problem is that it’s difficult to plan all this when you’re on some crazy adventure in the Amazon! And so, I did take my pill without eating and I paid the price for it! The “rare” side effects include abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and headache. And guess what? I experienced sharp abdominal pain and headaches. But the question is: Was it worth it?

I had difficulty sleeping that night so I spend some hours speaking to the tour guide about malaria pills. He suggested that malaria pills weren’t necessary because we wouldn’t too far into the Amazon. He also told me a story about how one of the girls at the lodge had a severe reaction to malaria pills and had to be rushed to the hospital in Manaus. So now what? Should we be taking malaria pills when traveling to malaria prone destinations? My answer is still yes!

Discomfort and pain. I agree. But taking the pills is well worth the pain to avoid the chance of getting malaria. Malaria is transmisted by the bite of an infected female Anopheles mosquito. Its side-effects would include influenza-like symptoms such as chills, headache and malaise. Although it can effectively be cured at the early stags, it does become increasingly difficult to treat it if you miss the bus. But the thing is that once you have it, you run the chance of bring  stuck with recurrent malaria symptoms for the rest of your life. Is it worth the risk of foregoing the malaria pills? That choice is up to you.

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View of Rio

The story behind the name “Rio de Janeiro”

Rio de Janeiro stands for the January river. When sailors found the Bay (where Rio de Janeiro is now located) on January 1, 1502, they believed it to be the end of the river.  In honor of the King of Portugal, the name of Sao Sabastiao do Rio de Janeiro was born.

Most Famous Brazilian Singer

The most famous Brazilian singer is Antonio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim, the singer of “The Girl in Ipanema”. Written in 1962, the song was based on a young 15 year old girl, by the name of Helo Pinhero who would pass by a cafe on a daily basis on her way to Ipanema beach, a famous beach in Rio.

When in Rio, go back in history and have a meal or drink at Garota de Ipanema.

Christ of The Redeemer

The Christ of the Redeemer is the statue located on the Corcovado mountain, overlooking the city of Rio. The monument has been part of the Seven wonders of the World since 2007.

The Maracana

The Maracana, the soccer stadium in Rio was built n 1950. It’s now considered the most beautiful stadium of the Third World countries.

Rio’s Population & Beaches

If you are born and raised in Rio, you’re considered a Carioca. Rio holds 50 km of beaches along the State. It’s more than enough sand for you to enjoy!

When traveling in Brazil a few months ago, I made a quick 6-day stop in the Amazon. Although there were many highlights of the week I spent there, I’d like to emphasize my experience in a particular amazon village. Wooden houses, fruit plants, soccer fields were all common things one would encounter while walking through the it. But the one thing that really caught my attention were the kids living in that village.

But first, let me tell you what the difference is betweem a tribe and a village since I wasn’t really sure myself. A tribe is a social group of indigenous people from the area who are related by blood or marriage. They continue to practice their tribe’s rituals and religion and are normally disconnect from the rest of the society.  A village, on the other hand, is a community of people.  In the village I visited, you saw the mix of Indians and Europeans. They weren’t as dark as an Indian person would be and yes…they were fully dressed! But not, their faces weren’t painted!

Through my travels, I’ve visited quite a few villages in Europe, Mexico, South America and Asia. Unfortunately, I’ve  seen poverty many times. And for some reason, it gets to me everytime. How kids who have so little still have smile on their face. How the boys help their dads hunt the food for that dinner and how the girls help their moms around their wooden house. But the kids still find time to play together and surprisingly, they still find a way to smile to the foreigner wandering around in their village. It’s funny because one feels happiness when they see the child’s smile but  feel pain when staring into their eyes. In the meantime, kids from Western societies are home complaining to their parents about not wanting to eat the food on the table or for not having the most recent Playstation in their room.

Inequality is obvious when you begin traveling to non-Western societies. And let me tell you that it’s really frustrating when you go back home to hear people complain about nothing. Things that we take for granted would mean the world to someone else. So next time you complain about something, think about that little boy who needs to wake up at 4am to go hunting with his dad to eat that day.

Check out the vibe in Carioca da Gema. I suggest you go there if you’re in Rio. The place was filled with Brazilians.. it was awesome! I feel like dancing everytime I watch it!

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Rio de Janeiro is a city filled with places to see and things to do: ride on the cable car of Pão de Açúcar, watch the sunset from Arpoador, bike-ride around the lagoa, hop on a tram in Santa Teresa, visit the National Park of Tijuca, party in Lapa and of course, sunbathe on the famous beaches of Copacabana, Leme, Ipanema and Leblon. But what better way to experience Rio than from a bird-eye view?  This being said, Rio is famous for one activity- an activity called HANG-GLIDING.

Hang-gliding is a sport where a pilot flies an unmotorized aircraft called a hang-glider. The pilot and passenger are both attached to the frame of the hang-glider using a harness.

Hang-gliding is popular in Rio due to the numerous hills surrounding the city.  The normal price to hang-glide is R$240. Depending on the conditions, the ride can last anywhere between 10 to 20 minutes. Hang-glides take off from Pedra Bonita, on the edge of Tijuca National Park and 520m above the beach of Sao Conrado. You’ll fly over the forest and ocean as well as alongside the mountains before landing directly on the beach of Sao Conrado.

I think everyone should go hang-gliding when visiting Rio! The scariest part is take-off. You need to wait for the right winds and once they come, you need to run towards the cliff and then fly off! Check it out!

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And oviously, once you’re up the in the air, the feeling is simply awesome! The view is gorgeous and the feeling of being up there is even better.

Hang-Gliding in Rio

A Gero guide came to pick me up at the airport when I arrived in Manaus. He was patient enough to wait for me while I booked my internal flights at the Gol counter. After a short car ride to the city center from the airport, I met Geraldo, the owner of Gero Tour- a very friendly and nice man. He dropped me off at my hostel and invited me for dinner with his family that evening. Unable to refuse an offer where I can spend my first evening in Brazil with locals, I accepted. After traveling 20 hours to Brazil, I then spent the whole evening eating, drinking and talking with locals. It was awesome!

The next morning, rise & shine, it was time to wake up and begin my 6- day tour in the Amazon. December is low season in the Amazon as the tide is low and they consider it to be winter. Winter at 20ºC is pretty good for me! As I was the only person beginning the tour on that day, I traveled to the jungle lodge with a respectable couple in Manaus who happened to own the jungle lodge I was going to. Gero’s lodge is unreachable by boat when the water is low so I’ was staying in a fishing lodge instead.

Once I got to the lodge almost 3 hours later, I met Claire and Ben, an English couple who had already begun their tour. Being only 3 on the tour wasn’t a bad thing because we had more flexibility to do a variety of activities and we took advantage of our guide, Matias, an extremely knowledgeable person of the region. Throughout the 3 days I was at the fishing lodge, we went piranha fishing, watched the dolphin’s, trekked in the jungle, visited a village in the jungle and of course, learned so much about the Amazon and its culture through Matheus. After 3 wonderful days, it was time to say goodbye. As Claire and Ben were off to Natal, I was continuing my Amazon experience in another jungle lodge.

Gero came to pick me up that morning and brought me over to the other jungle lodge by boat. It started pouring on the way so we stopped at a family’s house- a floating house on the river. There, I met the kids and spent an hour learning Portuguese with them as well as teaching them English. It was quality time with a local family from the Amazon. You just come to realize that these are the small moments that mean so much in the end. Once it stopped raining, we continued our ride to the jungle lodge. I then met up with Max, the owner of Maia Tours, a friend of Gero.

When I arrived at the second lodge, it was empty because the group was out on an excursion. So Max and I went canoeing along the river. Upon our return to the lodge, I met my new friends. Sally, Jeff and Nick from England, Emma from Australia, Blair from Canada and Jackie from the US but both live in Switzerland. I then spent the following 3 days with these great people! Let’s not forget to mention our guide, a Gero guide, Kenrick. Throughout the 3 days, I went on another trek in the jungle, caught another cayman and piranha and spent Christmas Eve sleeping in a hammock in the rainforest. It was one of the most memorable Christmas ever I ever experienced. Surrounded by good people, in the Brazilian Amazon. What more can someone wish for?!

All in all, Gero Tour took great care of me throughout the 6 days. He made sure I’d have a memorable experience in the jungle. He didn’t have to go out of his way to send me to another lodge. However, I am very grateful that he did because I got to experience a different scenery and met new people. Also, a special mention to Max (Maia Tour) for the great food and excursions at his lodge.

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Although I wasn’t in Salvador on the night where Olodum performed, is is strongly suggested that you work your schedule around their schedule! Olodum appeared in Michael Jackson’s second video “They Don’t Care About Us”.

The culture in Salvador is awesome. People here just love to dance. It’s nice to see and experience of course. I’ve visited a few beaches inland (Arembepe and Praia do forte) and then headed off to Morro de Sao Paulo. Nice little island but way too many tourists for my liking. Of course, I wasn’t by myself. On my first day in Salvador, I met up with Ruchir and Eduardo whom I had previously met in Rio. Through them, I met Ana, an actrice from Curichiba so I went to Morro with her. And there, we met more people, mainly Brazilians. Let’s just say my brain needs a break from Portuguese!

As the time to go home is approaching, I really don’t wanna! My 3 weeks in Brazil felt as if I were in 3 different countries: from the Amazon, to Rio, to Bahia, I experienced culture shock each time I traveled to a new location. I met awesome people and fortunately, I did not spend 1 day alone. I have so much I’d like to talk about but so little time because I actually want to be enjoying my time here. But I do promise to write about many different topics related to my trip in Brasil. I looooooooove it here!

So far, I still don’t have my internal flights in Brazil and I didn’t book anything in Bahia- which, honestly, I’m not really worried about. However, the more I talk to people, the more they are trying to scare me! What if I miss one of my connecting flights to Brazil? What if the airline loses my luggage? What if I can’t hop on a plane to get to Rio? What if, what if, what if! I’ll deal with the “what if” if it does happen!

The total duration of my flight schedule is about 20 hrs. It will give me time to catch up on some reading that I have neglected in the last few weeks and get some sleep! I love sleeping on planes. It makes the flight pass by so much faster! Once I arrive to Manaus, I’ll find my hostel, meet people and visit the city with whoever wants to be my friend! The next morning, rise & shine, my tour to the jungle begins.

Here is more info on my tour:

Rain Forest Nature Expedition 6 days / 5 nights

1st Day - I’ll meet my group (between 5-8 people) and leave to pick up the speed boat so we can head to the other side of the river to Careiro village a typical fisherman spot for commercialization of river fish. On the way, we’ll get to see the magnificent “Meeting of the Waters” (the junction of the two rivers Amazon and Negro River).

After arriving at Careiro Village, we will continue along the famous TransAmazônica road for 40 kilometers until our arrival at Arara River where the motorized canoe will be waiting for us to take a journey through the Paraná do Mamori and Arara River basin. We’ll have the opportunity to enjoy a little tour to better understand the area, with an explanation about the ecosystem, flora and fauna.

2nd Day – Wake up early for a Safari! Jungle trekking in the morning and we will depart in motorized canoes and do some piranha fishing in the afternoon. The day will end with a night tour so we can discover the nocturnal environment and alligator spotting.

3rd Day -  We’ll visit native dwellings to see how the people deal with the jungle and their typical way of life.

4th & 5th Day – Stay far out in the jungle. Camping and cooking out.

6th Day – Free morning and then we’ll transfer back to Manaus.

As you can read for yourselves, it will definitely be an adventurous 6 days. I didn’t bother asking too many questions about where I’ll be sleeping or what I’ll be eating because in this case, the less I know, the better it is! What I do know is that I will be sleeping in jungle lodges and hammocks. I’m not quite sure on which nights but I guess we’ll find out soon enough! Stay tuned!