Brazil

After leaving the beautiful island of Ilha Grande by speed boat (Ilha Grande – Angra dos Reis),bus (Angra dos Reis – Bus Terminal, Sao Paulo), taxi (bus terminal– airport), and plane (Sao Paulo to Iguazu de Foz), our arrival time was set to 01:30 am. There a pick-up service should wait for us – and it did! The drive was “only” 20 mins and we arrived shortly before 2:30 at our B&B where Nilton (the owner) awaited us. The reviews of his place were very positive, especially pointing in his direction. The moment we shook hands we knew why.

The next morning we went to the Brazilian side of the Iguazu Falls. Wikipedia knowledge: “numerous islands along the 2.7-kilometre-long (1.7 mi) edge divide the falls into numerous separate waterfalls and cataracts, varying between 60 to 82 metres (197 to 269 ft) high”. They are amazing and bigger than you expect them to be. Especially the walk on top of the waterfall is something to remember (see picture below).

The next stop that day should be something Niels was highly interested in: one of the biggest water powerplants in the world. The Itaipu hydroelectric dam produces up to 75% of the electricity used in Paraguay and 17% in Brazil (a country with roughly about 201 Mio inhabitants!).It is the largest operating hydroelectric facility in terms of annual energy generation (yes, even more than the Three Gorges Dam). The dam itself was more remarkable to me than the Iguazu waterfalls. It is gigantic!

The coatis are all over the place looking for food

Maggis big day - fighting his fear of heights

Itaipu hydroelectric dam

Capybaras, the largest rodents in the world

Ilha Grande is a small paradise around 150 km southwest of Rio. After visiting Christo early in the morning we went to the bus station and lined up. After half an hour of waiting we got told that there are no busses to Ilha Grande for today. Therefore, another transportation needed to be found. Niels ask a taxi driver who offered a very good price (220 BRL = ~ 72 €) for the 2 hrs - 144 km ride. At port of Conceição de Jacareí we took a boat to the main village on Ilha Grande. The next days we went to diffrent beaches, did some hiking and enjoyed life at several nice restaurants and bars.

The guys found the cup and the cup found the guys 😉

German beer is also famous on Ilha Grande ...

... but Baule prefers the local SKOL

Old aquaduct in the middle of the forrest

A giantic earthworm crossed our way while walking (approx. 1 m long)

Today we went to see the world famous statue of Christ. The statue itself is round about 30 m high and is located at the peak of the 700m Corcovado mountain overlooking most of Rio. The view is breath-taking...

Maracana Stadium where we saw the WM tile coming!!!

Yes we have been in the stadium, yes we have seen the German national team win the World Championship, yes it was amazing, awesome or what ever other superlative you could possibly think of! But lets start at the beginning...

Besides Neymar every single Brazilian was cheering for Germany before the game. Brazilians were even more friendly than they have been the last days (as far as that’s possible). But there have also been way above 100.000 Argentinians reported by officials in Rio de Janeiro at the day of the finals. They were everywhere and not all of them have been friendly towards Brazilians 😉 Most of the German fans met up at the northern end of Copacabana. From there we walked together to the next metro station, taking the train to the stadium. The atmosphere on the way and in the stadium was amazing. I guess everyone has seen the game itself, so no words will be lost about the ref, two yellow cards in the first half, off-side goals and so on. Lets put it that way: we nearly died 😛

Making friends with some agentinian

Meeting with with my colleague Maik

Long after the game

There is nothing more to say...

Today we "climbed" the Sugar Loaf...

View of Botafogo and Flamengo (and also some CBD)

To the left: Leme and Copacabana - To the right: Botafogo and Flamengo Copacabana

Copacabana zommed in (including the fan fest)Papfkfsdjf

Panoramic view

Our ride home...  

The "dramatic mode" of Baules camera works well...

Rio, where should we start? It’s a fantastic city with the most spectacular settings we have ever seen! The people are among the most friendly we have met so far, its flanked by gorgeous mountains, white-sandy beaches and forests. We stayed 250 m from the Copacabana close to Ipanema. The city itself is very green. The world-famous beaches of Copacabana and Ipanama are truly amazing and the scenic outlooks of Corcovado and Pão de Açúcar are breathtaking (two posts will follow the next two days :).

Morning sun at the Copacabana

Rio is soccer!

Ipanema Beach

A street in Hamburg? Nope... its Rio!

Nice view of Rio: Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon

A night out with Helena (she saved our lifes by guiding us to the supermarket)

Baule in his chair/bed in our cozy apartment 😉

The world famous Ausländer

What else is there to say besides "AN AMAZING GAME"