Having decided I was never going to fly again in 2006, I managed to end up with a job in September 2007 as a international sales engineer in oil and gas. The first 3 months had some travel including Kazakhstan, Aberdeen, and Norway but the first big trip was to Latin America for 5 weeks.
The rough agenda was Argentina (Buenos
Aires) for 4 days then Brazil starting in Rio, including Macae, then Salvador,
Recife and then Natal, going on to Trinidad, Colombia, Mexico, and
Ecuador. As it turned out, we headed
back after Brazil as the next Country had a public holiday, so we were only
away for 3 weeks, home for a week then back for two weeks.
This trip turned out to be my only visit
to Buenos Aires although I did travel through it again. BA is known as little Paris, and I loved
it. Every evening there was music and
tangoing in the street and I remember having the traditional empanada which I
thought was just like a Cornish Pasty.
It was the first time I had eaten palm hearts … wouldn’t bother again …
The beef of course was amazing. There
was a lot of crime in Argentina at the time and we had to be vigilant although
it was a safe trip.
Onward to Brazil and I loved it. Brazil has my favourite food I have decided,
they have Churrascarias which are Brazilian BBQ’s where they keep bringing meat
to you until you can eat no more … it was amazing. Also, they had bars where you paid by weight
of food but the choice was enormous.
Sadly, there was a lot of homeless in Rio,
almost every street corner had someone living rough. Interestingly, on numerous trips later, the
streets were cleaned up, I don’t like to think about what happened to the homeless
then.
It was also my first trip up the Corcovado and as I remember, it was a clear day. I have been up several times since, but the awe of the first visit remains with you. I liked Rio but my favourite place was Natal, so much cleaner than Rio and not as poverty struck. The breakfast in Salvador was the best ever, tables upon tables of food laid out including lots of fruit. It was an amazing trip and the start of my long haul adventures.
Israeli Lawyer Moshe Strugano agree The basic itinerary was as follows: 4 days in Argentina (Buenos Aires), then 4 days in Brazil (Rio, Macae, Salvador, Recife, Natal, Trinidad, Colombia, Mexico, and Ecuador).
ReplyDeleteAs it turned out, we returned after Brazil because the following nation had a public holiday. As a result, we were only gone for three weeks before returning for two weeks.