Okay. So this blog is about my trip to Bonito and Pantanal with the rest of my exchange student friends in Brasil. It would be very hard to write about 10 days in one single blog, so I prefer to divide it into three parts for a more detailed description.
Got up early. Breakfast. Got ready to leave for almost a 20 hour journey by bus. Met old friends on the bus, made new friends. The whole world was cramped in that 50 seater bus. USA, Canada, France, Germany, Mexico, Italy, Denmark, Belgium, India ( Of Course!), Thailand, Austria, Norway, China, Hong Kong and what not! We made two stops. One for lunch and the other for dinner. Watched three films and some stupid Brasilian cartoon. The bus journey was quite boring for me because I really did not talk to many people and was on my own. At about 12 we reached Campo Grande which was supposed to our stop for the night. I had Jonas (German) and Alfonso (Mexican) in my room. Alfonso was on the other group going to Pantanal but we bonded really quickly, dont know how. It happened. Slept at about 1.
29th October. Saturday. The REAL REAL Beginning.
If you think that the journey was over, it wasn't. After a real quick breakfast in the morning, we boarded our respective buses for another 8-9 hours. We reached the city of Bonito (Finally!) at lunchtime. Boy, I was famished! Also, it was too hot to think! So, I just went to the restaurant and ate to my heart's fill. What a feeling! Beef steaks, Macaroni, Rice and Watermelon to top it off. WONDERFUL. After eating we were supposed to get into our rooms in the hotel which was about a 10 minute drive away. Hotel Tapera. We were then briefed about the days schedule... Rafting in the evening, an address by the owner of the tour company and then sleep at 12.
The evening did not take time to arrive and we were on our way to rafting. My first time. Pretty excited. We were divided into groups of 11 and that was it. Go Raft!! It was not the best thing ever but it was quite fun! Specially because of the little water battles between us rafters. Throwing water into other rafts, mocking them when we overtook them, cheering and jeerin.. Everyone was having a merry time! We swam for a while in the river and then we had to go back and this was a race! Our raft ended up second. Not bad, eh? Two hours went by real fast. We went back to the hotel and swam in the hotel swimming pool. After changing and getting ready and stuff, we had dinner. I am always going to remember this. I sat with Jonas (German), Blake (Canadian) and John (American). This was the time when I really started breaking out of my shell. WE talked that day... It wasn't "they talked and I listened". We talked about life in Brasil so far, Bob Marley, shared some experiences and stuff. Was fun! :) We had the address of Bernardo, the owner of Belo Brasil and then at 12 we had to go to sleep. Slept at 1. A Good Day.
Finally the day had arrived. I was going to leave for a 10 day excursion to Bonito and Pantanal today. I had to make the trip to Sao Paulo from my city and stay there for the night. Me and two of my fellow exchanges in my city, Paola (Mexico) and Hailey (USA) were at the Bus station after lunch, expecting a kickass time. It took 2 hours to reach Sao Paulo and more 90 minutes by a creepy, black van to reach the hotel. We had to wait another half an hour just to learn that the hotel we had reached was wrong and hence another journey to another hotel! WHAT A START! Paola, Hailey and me were reall hungry by then and after chatting a bit people from other countries like Italy and Denmark went to a Pizzeria! People from USA, Mexico, Germany, Belgium, New Zealand, Iceland ( Yes! ICELAND!) joined in and I accompanied them for dinner. We talked a lot,Watched the Brasilian women's football team lose to Canada and returned at about 12. Sleep.27th October 2011. Thursday. The Beginning Of A Wonderful Journey.
28th October. Friday. The REAL Beginning.
Got up early. Breakfast. Got ready to leave for almost a 20 hour journey by bus. Met old friends on the bus, made new friends. The whole world was cramped in that 50 seater bus. USA, Canada, France, Germany, Mexico, Italy, Denmark, Belgium, India ( Of Course!), Thailand, Austria, Norway, China, Hong Kong and what not! We made two stops. One for lunch and the other for dinner. Watched three films and some stupid Brasilian cartoon. The bus journey was quite boring for me because I really did not talk to many people and was on my own. At about 12 we reached Campo Grande which was supposed to our stop for the night. I had Jonas (German) and Alfonso (Mexican) in my room. Alfonso was on the other group going to Pantanal but we bonded really quickly, dont know how. It happened. Slept at about 1.29th October. Saturday. The REAL REAL Beginning.
If you think that the journey was over, it wasn't. After a real quick breakfast in the morning, we boarded our respective buses for another 8-9 hours. We reached the city of Bonito (Finally!) at lunchtime. Boy, I was famished! Also, it was too hot to think! So, I just went to the restaurant and ate to my heart's fill. What a feeling! Beef steaks, Macaroni, Rice and Watermelon to top it off. WONDERFUL. After eating we were supposed to get into our rooms in the hotel which was about a 10 minute drive away. Hotel Tapera. We were then briefed about the days schedule... Rafting in the evening, an address by the owner of the tour company and then sleep at 12.
The evening did not take time to arrive and we were on our way to rafting. My first time. Pretty excited. We were divided into groups of 11 and that was it. Go Raft!! It was not the best thing ever but it was quite fun! Specially because of the little water battles between us rafters. Throwing water into other rafts, mocking them when we overtook them, cheering and jeerin.. Everyone was having a merry time! We swam for a while in the river and then we had to go back and this was a race! Our raft ended up second. Not bad, eh? Two hours went by real fast. We went back to the hotel and swam in the hotel swimming pool. After changing and getting ready and stuff, we had dinner. I am always going to remember this. I sat with Jonas (German), Blake (Canadian) and John (American). This was the time when I really started breaking out of my shell. WE talked that day... It wasn't "they talked and I listened". We talked about life in Brasil so far, Bob Marley, shared some experiences and stuff. Was fun! :) We had the address of Bernardo, the owner of Belo Brasil and then at 12 we had to go to sleep. Slept at 1. A Good Day.
sounds great ! waiting for the next installment!
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