Petropolis

Very interesting full day tour today to Petropolis, a city two hours from Rio. Beautiful drive into the mountains and seeing the many sights. The city photo -third in Rio - shows the contrast of the big hotels along the beach front of Ipanema and the Favela in the background residing next to each other. The rich and the poor. Tomorrow we will have our last two highlights with a walking tour in one of the "shanty towns" call Favelas where 20% of the population of Rio lives. These are the poor neighborhoods of the working class. It promises to be a reality check. In Brazil, 70% if the people live in poverty. Then after we check out of our hotel and start heading for home, we will tour a Botanical Garden since our flights are all very late. We will be flying back to Miami most of the night and won't get back to Little Rock until late on Friday. We have had a great time, learned so much, but we are all ready to return to the lives we left behind so many days ago. Hope you have enjoyed following these posts as much as I have had sharing them with you. The photo of Luis, our tour director, and Lido, our guide while in Rio, did a great job of packing so much into such a few days. Unforgettable Grand Circle Tour. Will complete this section once I return home, so don't quit yet.

Road to Rio

We left Iguassu Falls yesterday, and got a great view of the entire falls from the plane. So exciting. On to Rio, had city tour today. We went up to the top of the Mountain where the famous statue of Christ stand 210 feet high with outstretched arms welcoming and protecting the sea port which leads to the City of Rio. Very impressive. Also visited the famed Sugar Loaf Mountain which we ascended by Cable car. What views we had. Besides the panoramic views, we viewed some Marmosets. Will post what I can.

Bird and Flowers in Iguassu Falls Area

Can't leave out the birds and flowers and there were many. Here are the best of what I got. Enjoy.

Critters from Iguassu Falls

After spending all day on the Argentine side of Iguassu Falls, we decided that this is one of the most awesome, beautiful places on earth, but apparently the work is out because the place was very packed with people and critters. I will attempt to show you the critters. Falls were also spectacular and we did take a speed boat to the bottom of the falls and were guaranteed to get wet which was absolutely true. The butterflies are tropical, a Coati Munde is like a raccoon and they are all over. Different kinds of reptiles.

Iguassu Falls Brazil

We arrived in Brazil yesterday and went to the Falls for the afternoon. Awesome. Spent the afternoon on the Brazil side and will spend all day today on the Argentina side. It is a sight to behold. You must see some more of this. At times I have problems with the internet connection, so these posts get fragmented because I might get cut off. This is the first I have had to pay for WiFi, rest has been free to this point. They say one has to pay for everything in Brazil, nothing is free. And they say Brazil is expensive, so it is good we have a little money left for this last part. I would love to use many exclamation points in these notes, but the blog won't publish if I use them, so fill them in where you know they need to be.

Iguassu Falls Brazil

We arrived in Brazil yesterday and went to the Falls for the afternoon. Awesome. Will spend the entire day Sunday at the Argentine side of the falls. Very impressive. Thunderous roar of falling water. Must share, and as we are in a Jungle, much vegetation, butterflies, etc. No mosquitoes yet.

Tango Show Plus

We attended a Tango show and dinner last evening which turned out to be very good and really showed the flavor of Buenos Aires. A lot of fun, good dance music, we even had tango lessons prior to the show. Got back to our hotel very late, and had a big day today. Tomorrow we head for Iguassu Falls on the border of Argentina and Brazil. Supposed to be very warm there and moist, of course since it is in the rain forest and jungle. Looking forward. Many of our traveling partners will be departing for home tomorrow so our group will be back down to about 25. We are enjoying the moment.

Streets of Buenos Aires

City tour today with many side line attractions. Many Many people. Movement. Noise. Food, and on and on. When Bob rests, I put the pictures together. Tonight we are going to a Tango Show and Dinner. We will be out late. Learning so much, seeing how the other part of the world lives, learning how others think and perceive what they hear and see. Nothing is really as it seems. We have it very good in our place of residence. We will count each blessing, each day, where ever we are.