Iguassu Falls: Indescribably Epic

9 September 20169 September 2016 / travellingross / Leave a comment

2– 6 September 2016

Travellingross Rating: 10 out of 10

Brazil has long been on my travel to-do list, but getting a visa has always been a hassle and turned me off trying. So when I heard that this year over the few months of the Olympics, Brazil was waiving visa requirements I was hooked. Usually I don’t plan or think of what to do on a break until say 2 weeks out. But this one I had a fair idea about since the beginning of the year. I am still winging it, but I knew that Iguassu Falls was a must-visit after seeing the photos a friend took during a visit some years ago. I have a thing for waterfalls and the more epic the better – Victoria, Niagara…now Iguassu.

But like anything epic, it starts with a journey. 17.5 hours. Including an 8 hour layover. Following a good work rotation where I was actually able to find time to go for a run after work, I was not my usual wiped out self on day 23. I went out for dinner with a friend in Parbo then got picked up at 10:45 pm for the airport. Odd flight time of 1:45 am meant I didn’t even sleep in the city compared to the last few breaks where I have been staying a night or 2 before flying out.

Belem airport was more advanced than I expected. English seems to not be widely spoken though and I quickly remembered that Portuguese is not that similar to Spanish. I got through immigration without a word spoken, and I didn’t even have to fill a form! I am amazed that my bag and I made all the connections including a twenty-minute connection in Rio. With a driver waiting for me at the Foz do Iguacu airport, I was ready to relax.

Belmond Hotel das Cataratas is flawless. I cannot fault a single thing. From the welcome at reception (and free room upgrade!), to the fireplace filled lounge, to the barman carefully explaining the varied types of Caipirinha, to the breakfast, to the views, to the perfect rooms with the little sticker on the toilet paper….I could go on haha. Great recommendation. Although only 2 nights is required to see the sights, I booked 4 because of timing and because I knew I would enjoy the down-time.

The Falls are incredible. Over 270 individual waterfalls occur across this divide between Argentina and Brazil. The photos hopefully tell the story. They say the Brazil side has the view, the Argentine side has the experience. Basically you get drenched on the other side with an immersive experience across a lot of boardwalks, whereas Brazil has the panoramic views and one boardwalk that looks up the main chasm “the devils throat”. I thought a lot about crossing the border to also visit the Argentinian side but decided not to.

The weather was not the best. 2 days were wet and cold (17C). Nice to relax in the hotel with a hot stone Amazonian massage and drink, while catching up on life. The pool is heated but I didn’t swim. I really wanted to do the helicopter trip over the falls and luckily on my last day the clouds cleared and the choppers were able to fly. Fortunately I did not have a flight to Rio until 4pm so I had time. It was only a 10 minute flight, but so good. I did a similar flight over Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe many moons ago and really like the vantage you get from the air and seeing the mist swirl up.

So, I am really happy to be in Brazil. To have seen the Iguassu Falls. And this is just the beginning.

Belmond Hotel das Cataratas. My hotel. I loved everything except the colour.

Sitting room.

Pool

View from my room…wet day

First view of the falls just across from the hotel

Time to stay inside, get room service and drink champagne.

The bar was too good

The bar. Birds.

Ahhh the sun came out to play. Briefly.

The Argentina side and their boardwalks

No thanks…to the boat trip.

The Brazil boardwalk

About to get wet!

Couldn’t see much of ‘The Devils Throat’

Such great photos

Amazing power. The noise!!

After

Naturally…

Feeling smells.

The warnings are everywhere not to feed these bastards

But people do

Flawless breakfast. Yes, I have 3 drinks.

Helicopter tour!

Hahhaa this guys face

I love this

My hotel

The Amazing Caribbean Race: Windward & Leeward Islands

9 August 2016 / travellingross / Leave a comment

23 July – 8 August 2016

This break was all about the islands. Cover as many as I could to get a taste and determine which ones to come back to for longer. Due to best flight times, I had to depart a day late and return a day earlier giving me two restful days in Paramaribo but meant one fewer island to tick off. A part of me wants to lay claim to visiting as many islands as I can while I’m working this location – at this point I’ve got a year left. But it’s also very relaxing, enjoyable, knowledge fulfilling and…who wouldn’t want to travel the Caribbean! Especially when you can be in Barbados in 4 hours.

Barbados – 9/10

5 nights. Turtle Beach Resort. Discounted for low season.
Within a few minutes of checking into my room, I stood on the 4th floor balcony looking at the amazing view and down below in a public laneway access to the beach a tall young local man started talking to me. After a moment to decipher his accent, I realised he was trying to sell me cocaine. Welcome to Barbados. This happened another time on the beach. As someone not at all into drugs, I find it unsavory and disturbing.
Very rough surf on the south coast, when I traveled to the west it was so much calmer. Next time I will stay on the west coast.
Staying at an all-inclusive for the first time was good to not have to worry about food choices or paying for drinks, but I did feel locked up. Like on a cruise ship.
I drank a lot more than normal instinctively trying to get my money’s worth.
Lots of children. Next time I’ll find an adults only all inclusive.
This country is less developed than I expected.

View from room

Turtle snorkel catamaran tour

The hotel I tried to stay at but ‘couples only’.

Golf time

Grenada – 7/10

2 nights. Allamanda Resort. Good location on the beach and cheap.
Again offered drugs within moments of stepping onto the beach.
The fort overlooking St Johns is totally without maintenance and a public safety risk, but great views of the harbor and port.
I had not realised that this country had a communist coup in the late 70’s, then another coup where the prime minister and cabinet were locked up in the fort and executed. Then the USA invaded and ‘liberated’ the nation because they thought the new military government was building an airstrip to support Soviet and Cuban air craft to refuel in the southern Caribbean.
I walked into a nutmeg store and said hi to the young male attendant as I was the only one in the store. He immediately replied “you know me”. I stared and wandered. He said “look at me well”. Then it dawned on me that we sat next to each other on the 1 hour flight from Barbados to Grenada. Small part of the world.
Grand Anse is a nice long public beach with clean water and nice sand.
Found a nice marina with a bar, restaurant and pool. A rare place that was new, functional and welcoming.

View from the fort

View from the fort

Grand Anse beach

St Lucia – 6/10

2 nights. La Haut Resort. Way out of Soufrière town.
Taxi from airport to hotel was an hour and cost 80 usd! A signal that this island is not cheap.
Too mountainous which makes for bad beaches, and long travel times.
Gros Piton hike was the toughest I’ve done. My calf muscles were sore for days.
Incredible views from La Haut plantation resort were amazing but the place closed for good the day I checked out. Up for sale. Spooky quiet at night which had me laying in bed thinking I was in the movie paranormal activity.

View from room

From the town pier.

The ‘trail’ up the mountain. Crazy.

View from the top of Gros Piton

After hiking up for 2 tough hours

Up in the clouds

Petite Piton

Having a beer afterwards. Watching the CPL – T20 west indies style.

The hotel owners house!

The hotel owners house! – random rain storm

and rainbow

Martinique – 9/10

2 nights. Can’t remember the hotel as I literally walked off the ferry and checked into the first hotel I found. But it was nice. Except the level 3 elevator door didn’t work. And I was on level 3.
Finally a developed island! A carrefour grocery store, paved sidewalks, street lighting and people leave you alone rather than try to sell you cheap bead necklaces.
Only downside is it’s French speaking, but that could be a positive since people leave me alone!
21st century buses, roads and intersections. Hub of a ferry system.
Bakeries and food that is beyond chicken and Creole
Although I almost got run down crossing a road. I hate crossing roads.
The beaches close to town are not very nice. And full of local children.
Service is snail pace.
I’d definitely come back and couple it with other French islands. I think the French funding and connection to the European Union means they must abide by EU standards which are much higher than the former British colonies that are poor.

Dominica – 3/10

1 night that turned into 2. Fort Young Hotel. Lovely refurbished hotel and best part of Roseau.
Do not return. Undeveloped, wrecked by a recent storm, mountainous with long travel times on bad roads, dull landmarks. Although, no one bothered me to sell stuff on the streets or offer me tours like I was in Lucia.
Roseau is a simple under developed town with nothing noteworthy. Except for my hotel, which was modern, sprawling and good service.
The activities desk while seemingly professional, postponed my organized tour of the island not once but twice. Fully knowing that I only had 2 days 1 night on the island. And although I’d paid already for something they couldn’t offer anymore, did not provide a partial refund or even a genuine apology. Giving me the sense this happens often.
As if Dominica knew I didn’t like her, she punished me further by hovering a rain storm over the island at the time of my evening flight causing it to be cancelled and being put up by liat airlines in a hotel room with no ac and a ceiling fan moving so slow it may as well have been switched off.

Hotel

President’s House and Office, opposite the hotel

Trafalgar Falls

Hot baths. Literally baths.

Says everything about Dominica

Antigua – 8/10

3 nights that was supposed to be 4 except for Dominica. Airbnb apartment in English Harbour. Well located with lovely views, but in a loft with no cross breeze so it was stinking bloody hot.
Very modern airport.
Renting a car was simple and easy to cruise around. Although some hairy corners on what should be single lane one way roads.
Again no hassle from the locals and I rode a public ‘bus’ to town with ease for a dollar. The bus is a mini van that loads in the people, most without seatbelts. Similar to what I rode in Grenada.
Beaches are lovely but not as postcard worthy as I believed from Google images. But I do believe the phrase that there are as many beaches as there are days in the year on Antigua.
I’d likely come back and use this as a base to explore Barbuda, St Kitts and St Barts.

View from my room

Pigeon Beach. My closest beach. Ok

Climbed a hill

Halfmoon Beach. Lots of seaweed washed up recently. Not as nice as claimed.

Jolly Beach

And that’s it. No hurricane. Although it threatened. Some islands I’d come back to, others are firmly on the DNR list. Definitely prefer ferries over planes where I could. Easier to get around than I thought and lots of research online that you can just google and make it up when you wake up!

Beautiful Waters of Semuc Champey, Guatemala

24 June 2016 / travellingross / Leave a comment

17 June 2016

Travellingross Rating: 9 out of 10

11 hours. 3 vehicles. 3 bad movies. That’s what it took to get from Antigua City to the middle of flipping Guatemala. Changing vehicles because the roads got rougher and skinnier. I was told it would be eight hours arriving at 4pm for free time before dinner. Oh no. But hey, that’s what to expect in a developing country. The very fact I got here and the hotel had my reservation was a surprise.

Only yesterday, I booked a 4 night tour for the simplicity of not having to think about booking anything for the rest of my Guatemala time. Having not heard/researched about anywhere in this country other than Tikal, I saw a photo of Semuc Champey and thought it looked pretty. Done.

On the final vehicle from Lanquín, I met a great Scottish/Florida couple and we had laughs and fun the next couple days. The hotel was all Guatemalans except for us and I set my alarm to make it for the 8am tour stated on my voucher. Only to find out after toe tapping at 8:20am that I, of course, was on the 10am tour with everyone else!

The tour included an intense hike up to the look out (mirador), then down to the natural pools, a cave tour with just a candle to the light the way, and a leisurely float down the river in a tyre tube. The pools are beyond beautiful and consist of a natural limestone bridge over the Cahabón River. The water is refreshing (read: cold), with fish that nibble your feet, jumps and slides along slippery rocks, and an incredible waterfall that tunnels under the pools. Stunning. Worth the long trip and hassle to get here.

How to Make this Trip

Tour: booked through Aviatur in Antigua city for $450 usd including a single supplement. Great agency that speaks good English right near the arch. Only downside was the tour vouchers are written very generic without hotel names or tour contacts. But in the end (after a couple of phone calls along the way) it all worked out ok. I have become much better at spontaneous travel and ‘just going with it’.

Accommodation: Hostal El Portal. A pain ( literally) to get to. Riding 45 minutes from Lanquín in the tray of a truck holding on to bars while misty rain falls. But perfect location just outside the Semuc gates and overlooking the river. Electricity only 6-11pm and no telecommunications at all (I wasn’t expecting this). Oh and no hot water.