BRAZIL July 14 and 15, 2006: Gringo in Brazil – Completion of Days 1 and 2 and Now Curitiba

Ola –

So, here’s the completion of the days in Iguacu…
It is a truly spectacular site — about 270 independent and interconnected waterfalls of amazing height and width plunging into deep gorges surrounded by rain forest and natural growth.  The Argentine side is more complex with grander views,  but some of the largest falls are on the Brazil side so it’s difficult to say which is “best”… We stayed at the eco-lodge — Tropical de Catararas.. which was a lovely lodge beautifully sited (and as all the eco-tourism locations, overpriced)…

We had to get up at 3:30 a.m. in order to get to the airport in time for the flight to Curitiba this morning.. so we had dinner at the hotel. The Brazilians seem to have this thing for buffets… breakfast buffets, lunch buffets, dinner buffets, seafood buffets, etc.  So we did the buffet thing! Not my favorite form of eating. And like most of Latin America it’s meat, meat, and more meat!..

We asked for two wake-up calls for this morning, since I was really fearful we’d miss the flight (6 a.m. takeoff).. Somehow our message to the front desk was a bit confused (We’ve found very little English spoken, even at the hotels… and Spanish is of only minimal help)… So they did call twice, but the two calls were within about three seconds of one another.

We literally woke up one of the taxi drivers sleeping in his taxi. We got to the airport in time, went on the non-existent line for Varig Airlines and got seats for the plane. Lots of people were taking the other airlines (As I think I mentioned Varig is in bankruptcy)… Went through customs and waited for the plane… Actually everyone was waiting for planes. Turns out there was fog in both Curitiba and Sao Paolo so both airports were closed. We all had to wait about 3 hours. ..  as did passengers for all the other airlines. When we eventually did take off, our plane was very under-capacity. .. so it was a really comfortable flight. And Varig staff are quite nice.

By the way, security seems fairly loose.. no one cares that we are carrying laptops; security takes seconds; nobody really looks at identification once you’ve checked in… and a funny thing happened while we were waiting for the plane. The guy from the Varig Counter suddenly showed up in the waiting area and came over to tell me (in somewhat limited English) that the hotel was looking for me (the hotel we just left in Iguacu)… so he suggested I come back out to the check-in area to take the call.  I tried to understand how easy or difficult it would be to get back inside (a total no-no in the US)… but he nodded   which I took to mean “no problem)… So I left the “secure” area and took the call at the check in counter… Turns out in our exhausted stupor we never really checked out of the hotel.. which isn’t really a big deal since they had the credit card number.. but we had some restaurant and fax and computer charges, so they needed a signature.. The hotel guy was concerned it would come from his paycheck. But we arranged to send an email when we got to Curitiba and all was fine… Then I just walked right through security without showing anything.. and went back to waiting for the plane.

We arrived in Curitiba — a bit exhausted — but excited. Curitiba is a very special city in Latin America. It was led for many decades by progressive governments and they created some unbelievably innovative programs related to public transportation, sanitation, community well-being, parks, recycling, etc. First thing you notice is how clean the streets are. Apparently they pay homeless residents to clean the streets — providing income to those without jobs and at the same time goodwill for residents.

Then you see the public bus system. They have not spent inordinate amounts of money on light rail and/or subways. Instead they have dedicated bus and taxi lanes throughout the city and special mini-stations everywhere to board the buses.. The buses pull alongside these tubular steel and glass cylindrical shapes that house a protected platform (no graffiti) where a ticket-taker  sells and collects tickets.. When the bus arrives (some are tandem) passengers are ready to board from the “station”.. The buses are immaculate, new, and appear to always be on time (since they don’t fight traffic)… Everyone seems to take the buses, creating a very extensive system of local and express services (color coded)… and in addition there is a third category of bus called “tourism” which doesn’t mean it’s for tourists.. it’s just the line that takes you to parks and museums and other points of interest. Tomorrow we’ll probably take one of these “tourist” buses to see the city’s well-known parks — several of which were former quarries.

We took one of the local buses — mostly to try it out, since we weren’t really sure where we were going next — but everyone tried to be helpful, and we actually went to the “centro” where our hotel is… but we hadn’t quite planned it well.. and got off at the other side of the centro, requiring a very long walk. The city has a network of “walking streets’ without cars, so it’s quite pleasant to walk in many directions — along tree-lined, and shop lined, and people-lined streets.

We also went to the Oscar Neimeier- designed museum which is the one that looks like a big fish-eye atop a big column. It’s kind of a testament of the failures of modernism… but it’s highly regarded and everyone asks if you’ve been there. (So now we can say “Sim” — yes in Portuguese)….

I confess that upon coming back to the hotel at about 5:30 — we totally zonked for about two hours and then headed out for dinner to what is considered the #1 restaurant in Curitiba — a French upscale joint called Boulevard. Food was quite wonderful and I’m sure the calories matched the bill. We’ve been having our share of caparinhas, which they make pretty strong, so we’re feeling quite fine! Following dinner we took a little stroll on the Rua de 24 Horas.. the street of 24 hours.. which as its name states, stays open 24 hours.. with little cafes, and free computer usage, and ATMs and hairdresser (in case you just have the need in the middle of the night to look extra good!)

Oh another thing we are trying to get to see are the “lighthouses of knowledge” — special little buildings located in communities that house libraries, computer clusters, information kiosks, and social services — They tend to be located close to schools …

It’s about 1 a.m. now, and I have a little work to do before calling it a day, so I’m going to sign off. All is well. Take care —

Ciao — Fern