Can't believe our 6 months of traveling is coming to an end. We could definitely keep going and are not quite ready to come home but decided that it's better to have had such an awesome trip that you don't want to leave rather then one you can't wait to get home from:) We have been so lucky to have this time to explore all of these amazing countries! Thank you to everyone for following our blog! We had a safe trip, great weather, learned lots and met some amazing people. We will be spending our last bit of time on the beach and look forward to seeing everyone soon!
We think this sums up our trip!
4176 Hours
174 Days
35 Different accommodations
12 Countries
14 Boarder crossings
11 Different currencies
3 Languages
A truly unforgettable experience and memories that will last a lifetime!
Love Jen and Glenn
Jen and Glenn in Latin America
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
All good things must come to an end...
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Hope everyone had a great weekend! We have spent a couple days on ipanema beach which has been awesome! The sand is white and the water is clear! It is definitely great people watching as it is a very popular hang out for the locals. Friday night we went to a street party in lapa, they shut down the streets every friday and saturday night and all the restaurants and bars play music. You can wander for hours and there are lots of little vendors selling good strong caprihinas:) Saturday we went to a market in a huge stadium there was definitely some very interesting things for sale you wonder who buys these strange things but obviously there is enough people that do or why would multiple stores sell them? Tomorrow we will explore the downtown center and head up to sugar loaf mountain to watch the sunset:) That's all for now:)
Friday, February 22, 2013
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
We have made it safe and sound to the beautiful city of Rio! We are staying at a great hostel in a bohemian neighborhood called Santa Teresa that is on a hill over looking the city. It is right on the edge of lapa which is known for it's great restaurants and night life. Yesterday we went by bus to corcovado which is the Christ statue that over looks the city. There was amazing views of the beaches and different areas of the city. They have built a trolley to get up to the top through the forest which was very nice. The public bus in the city is great it is very frequent and easy to navigate minus the fact that they drive like maniacs:) Last night we wandered through the shops in Santa Teresa and went to a brazilian restaurant and enjoyed a typical dish of rice, meat stew and some green vegetable. You all will be impressed by how much Glenn is venturing out in the food department:) Today it is once again 40 degrees so we are going to head to the beach in Impanema. That's all for now!
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Ilha Grande, Brazil
So right now we are on an island off the coast of Brazil. The island is quite large with a beautiful national park and a small town u can walk through in 10 minutes. On Saturday we went by boat to a beach on the island called lopes mendes it is definitely one of the most beautiful beaches we have seen on our trip. The sand when you walk on it squeaks like snow and the water was so clear! Yesterday we went on a day trip to some of the other beaches and parts of the island where we were able to snorkel and feed turtles. It was a small speed boat so there was only 8 of us which was super nice not being on a big tour boat. The turtles were super curious and came right up to u! All in all it was a great day and we are loving this island. We are here for a couple more days and then we head to the big city of Rio de Janeiro!
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Paraty, Brazil
So we are in paraty which is a nice beach town on the coast of Brazil. We have been enjoying the beach! They even celebrate carnival here so there has been lots of live bands to listen to as well as a parade. They have an old town here with lots of character and crazy cobble stone streets that are even painful to walk on. Yesterday we went on a little hike to a secluded water fall where the locals hang out. You know you are out of the tourist streets when you have to take off your shoes to make it through the 6 inches of mud without getting stuck. It has been super humid and hot, just walking down the streets we look like we just got out of the shower! Tomorrow we take a bus and boat ride to an island off the coast called ilha grande the island is home to one of the top 10 beaches in the world so we are looking forward to that. Any way that's all for now, Happy Valentine's day everyone! xo
Monday, February 11, 2013
Foz do iguacu, Brazil
So we are officially in our last country wow does time ever fly! We hired a driver with another couple he picked us up took us through the border, we didn't even get out of the car he took our passports and got them stamped, what service:) Then he took us to the Brazil side of the falls and waited for a couple hours while we wandered around. He then took us to a restaurant buffet for lunch, by far some of the best beef and just food in general we have had on this trip who would have thought?! after he dropped us at our b&b and the other couple at the airport. It was the perfect way to do it. The Brazil side of the falls is cool because you see a complete over view of the Argentina side. Yesterday we flew from foz to Sao Paolo which is one of the top biggest cities in the world only 20 million people:) if we put Rio and Sao Paolo together just the 2 cities have as many people as there are in all of Canada! crazy! from there we took a 5hr bus ride to paraty which is where we are now. It's a good thing we were getting so good with our Spanish just in time to change to come to Brazil where we now have to learn some Portuguese! it helps knowing some Spanish cause things are spelled similar a lot of the time but they do not pronounce anything the same so it's very hard to understand what people say to you. But that's what traveling is all about, new adventures! That's our update for now:)
Friday, February 8, 2013
Puerto Iguazu, Argentina
It's official they are going to let us into Brazil! We are in the Argentinian side of iguazu falls we got here tuesday night after 2 delayed flights one that we almost missed thanks to once again unreliable info boards in the airport! seriously how hard is it to get the gate up on those boards correctly? but we did make it thank goodness and were able to skip 23 hrs of a ferry and a bus:) Wed morning we headed straight to the Brazil embassy to apply for our visas. It was smooth minus the fact they needed a printed bank statement to show you have enough money to be there, I'm not gonna lie I feel a little violated. They were able to do them for us in 24hrs so we are good to go! Yippee! If you ever need a Brazil visa come to Puerto iguazu it's by far the fastest any where! Today we went to the Argentina side of the falls! so beautiful it's a amazing park you walk through on these bridges to each of the different water falls it was pretty spectacular! we also did the boat trip into the falls which you got soaked but it was very cool to be under such power. We had an amazing day, we went with a couple we met from the UK and we are going with them tomorrow to foz do iguazu which is the Brazil side of the falls. Looking forward to our 12th and final country on this incredible adventure we have been so lucky to do! we hope everyone is well! Here we come Brazil!!!