22 April 2007 - Trip to Brazil

After eating and walking around Buenos Aires for six days, we got back on board and flew to Rio de Janeiro, me in search of the Girl from Ipanema and her dental floss. Well, I found her and a few others. Rio is one of the most beautiful cities on this or any other planet and the girls on Copacabana and Ipanema beaches live up to their reputation. Brazilians are available in every color from the whitest blond Caucasian to the darkest Negro. When I say available I mean it. If they make eye contact and smile back, you’re in, literally. They love all Americans men except Bush, but that's the case all over the world.

Copacabana beach has the world’s longest mosaic the famous black and white winding waves that form the sidewalk. Along this stretch are numerous kiosks offering every kind of refreshment from natural Coco Verde, ($1.25) served in the original packaging to the “Caipirinha” ($2.50), a potent drink of mashed limes, sugar, ice and 151 Rum. Ipanema is another beach on the other side of Copacabana. It is smaller, has a different mosaic sidewalk, and a greater concentration of the lovelies.

While sitting there, enjoying a libation and the never ending human parade, street vendors stop by to offer you their wares. They don’t take the first “No” and they can be irritating. Finally I found that if I smiled and wished them luck they would usually walk away. Also stopping by are street musicians, friendly guys who play and sing Samba music and then present an upturned tambourine to catch your offerings. If you award them only a pittance they all moan in unison and cheer when they get a little more for their efforts.

We stopped ogling the girls long enough to take the tour to the top of “Sugar Loaf” and another tour to the top of the famous statue of Christ the Redeemer. The views from up there are as good as those wonderful views on the beach below.

We had a lot of good food there too. I haven’t had any decent sushi since moving to Panamá and made up for it at several of the beach front restaurants.

Brazil was not cheap, where as prices in Buenos Aires were more reasonable. Brazilian prices for food, beer, wine and clothing were reminiscent of the USA. I learned that Brazil adds a 30+% tax. Cars 40%! Life is cheap in Brazil everything else isn’t.

Buenos Aires is more affordable, but not like it was five years ago. They are headed for another financial collapse according to those guys who should be running the government but instead are cutting hair and driving taxis.

In Brazil they call it Barbeque and BA it is called Churrasco and it means a never ending parade of grilled meat served by waiters who come to your table with huge skewers and slice off some grilled beef, pork or chicken. The preamble to this carnivorous feast is a salad buffet with an overwhelming assortment of cold dishes, including sushi and sashimi.

I took a side trip to Belo Horizonte, making a huge mistake, having been told that was where we had to go to see the famous Iguaçu Falls. North of Rio, Belo was a beautiful city of a few million people. It is in the hills and very tropical but not the least bit humid. It too had an enormous Sunday street fair but this one had a farmer's market, a craft section, a section for clothing, one for music and musical instruments and another for art. It was nice to get a different perspective of Brazil other than the touristy Rio. But next time I double check my sources and make sure I get to the falls.

One noticeable thing about each city was the absence of fuel thirsty SUVs and big German or American sedans. Most cars were small and old Asian and European breeds. Brazil manufactures Fords, Mercedes, GM and a few others, but all were small cars or enormous buses. There was one especially noticeable Ford. It was the Ka, about the size of the Smart Car from Europe. It has two doors, four seats and must get great gas mileage. In the 70s, Argentina manufactured Ford Fairlanes and Falcons. The Argentines loved them and they are still there. In Rio old VW Micro buses and beetles were everywhere.

Another thing was the absence of noise. BA’s population is about 14 million, Rio about 13 million and both cities were very, very quiet compared to Panama City with less than a million and the noisiest city I’ve ever seen. BA and Rio had no endless stream of car alarms, loud mufflers, un-muffled school buses or horns honking the normal life style we endure here. Brazil also sells four different kinds of fuel for their fleet of vehicles, gas, diesel and two blends of bio mass fuel. There were no diesel fumes and it was a real pleasure to walk in the shade of tree lined streets in each city and enjoy just being there. The two cities also have timed traffic lights so traffic was thick but it moved.

Going to Rio has been a dream of mine for years and I finally got there. The trip was worth the long hours in the winged aluminum tube, made possible by the pharmaceutical assistance to combat my claustrophobia. Having the world’s best steak and Pizza in Buenos Aires, discovering a new wine, and enjoying the wonderful views of Rio only made the trip that much more enjoyable.