Olinda

Well first impression did not dissapoint, at all. Quite the contrary. As I have lots of friends from the southern parts of Brazil who look and act the same as northern Europeans I naively expected the whole of the coast of Brazil to be pretty much the same. And how wrong I was. I started in the northern part of Brazil, in Olinda. Which is one of the most beautiful colonial towns of the country with cobbled streets, Baroque fountains, houses in all the rainbow's colors and lots of artists, musicians and other creative people.
Olinda was designated a cultural heritage site by UNESCO in 1982 and rightly deserves it. I was a bit overinspired and took so many pictures at it will be hard to edit it down. Here are just some pics of my first days in this happy country.

Brazil here I come!

So final destination: Brazil, and well, go on; I expect a lot from you, so seduce me!!

But first I can not helpt but cry for you ARGENTINA!
You were far more beautiful, exciting and... well basically you have it ALL, so I will definetely be back very very soon.       

Back again.

How I love this city. I decided to get off the bus in BA again and just spend the days soaking up the magic of Buenos Aires in sunshine.  I stayed in Palermo again and somehow I seemed to bump into different people I knew wherever I went. It felt like I had more friends in BA then in London.
I spent the days writing articles and hanging out with various friends in the amazing cafe, bars and restaurants. In the evenings we went to milongas ( tango class) , a  reggae concert and just had lots of food and fab wine in the barrillas. The town is a mix of Barcelona, Paris and New York but without the stress and irritation.

A la recherche du temps perdu

I was in a shop in the Argentinian town of Salta and was offered a candy. At first I thought to say no, but then decided to be polite and accept it. Later on in the day I was hungry and remembered the candy. Little did I know that candy would taste like my grand father's throat pastils and so in a few seconds I would have a ''Proustian Madeleine cake " moment: All my childhood seemed to pass by in my brain at rapid speed and I had to stop in my way as it was all so real and I wanted to take it all in. A few days later by coincidence?? , I found the wonderful book "How Proust can change your life" by the english author Alain de Botton, and reread it in an instant. I love the fact that what worried Proust most, was the fact that noone seemed genuine and kind anymore....  

I really do think that kindness is the most important trait in us all, in this world, and we can all find it, however hard it sometimes can be to dig back up.

The falls

Imagine a place full of the greenest of subtropical rainforest imaginable; 100s of butterfly-species surrounding you, colorful birds trying out their voices, caimans sunbathing on the shores of the rivers, various reptiles lurking in the shade and at night the pumas and jaguars come out to hunt. All this surrounded by the grandest waterfalls on earth: Iguazu you took my breath away.

Where I started the morning. In a tiny boat below this fall. No need to say how soaked I got!

Black and white

My Patagonian dream journey had the perfect ending before the big city of Buenos Aires: Puerto Madryn. There I walked among one of my absolute favourite animals : the Magellan Penguin and watched Commerson's dolphins in action. Do you think I am slowly starting to worry about going back home?

The cutest bum award goes to...

Travels in heaven

The most stunning bike ride I know of: The lake district in Patagonia.