After spending the most incredible few days in Bonito, our new favorite “nature-y” destination, I wasn’t sure I was ready to have Mother Nature blow me away again with Iguazu Falls. After taking a bus back to Campo Grande and flying (via 3 stops) to Foz do Iguacu (Brazil side), we finally made it to the Green House Hostel. The hostel was pleasant – clean and decently located near buses and a supermarket – and we made use of the …

Leaving the wonderful home and comforts of Madalena’s house in Belo Horizonte was going to be difficult regardless of where our next stop would be, but we didn’t make it any easier of an adjustment by picking Pantanal as our next stop. Everyone knows about the Amazon rainforest, but not too many non-Brazilians know about the Pantanal and Bonito, the Brazilian savanna (mixed with a little rainforest too). Lucky for us, Otavio showed us pictures of both while we were …

We hadn’t planned much of our Brazil trip before entering the country, opting for the plan-as-you go method that has worked well for us on this trip. Due to our advantage of time and the burden of having to get the maximum value out of every day of travel is removed. We learned about Itacare in Salvador from a Dutch girl that we ended up running into subsequently both in Morro do Sao Paulo (our destination between Salvador and Itacare) …

Foreward: Tyler really wants to write a post about Itacare, but hasn’t had a chance yet. For this post’s purposes, just know it’s a beautiful Bahian surf/beach town south of Salvador where we spent a week staying in a gorgeous beachside pousada and Tyler surfed his heart out. Our journey has been a sequence of mostly unplanned and happenstance events, and the events of the past week were no different. After Tyler got his last surfing fix of South America in …

First – some bragging. Our Indian food “thank you” dinner on our last Saturday in Fortaleza was an all-day affair and a total success. I have never cooked for 10 people and certainly don’t cook Indian food very often and definitely not in other countries, so I was a wee bit nervous. Otavio drove us to a fancy grocery store that fortunately had quite a few spices (in Portugese, so we had to open everything and smell it to figure …

America may have my body & mind and India may have my soul, but Brazil has taken my heart. As much as I loved the cities of Colombia and the history and children of Peru and will surely love the vibrance and tastes of Argentina and Chile, none can compete with the profound beauty of Brazil and its people. It is to Brazil that I owe a renewed appreciation for living life to the fullest, for relaxing without feeling ashamed, …

So it’s been a while again – oops. After our crazy Machu Picchu climb, we hit a bit of a wall, both physically and mentally. Our bodies are just starting to feel normal again – no fevers, no double-digit bathroom visits per day, restoration of appetite (though not weight, in T’s case, but we’ll keep force feeding him). Our physical sickness led to some very nostalgic homesickness, to the point where we ate Domino’s pizza for 2 dinners in the …