TheJake

NYC
2004-09-06
New York city is amazing. The buildings are of course massive and even though I got lost a few times I felt like I knew uptown rather well just from so many movies. It was quite crazy. My original quest for NY pizza turned into a White Castle binge.. 13 cheeseburgers and large fry. It was amazing!
Sao Paulo
2004-09-07
My buddy Evandro and his fiance luciani picked me up from the airport tuesday morning at 9am. They drove me around Sao Paulo for a couple hours showing me the sites... I dont think Sao Paulo is a city i want to spend much time in. They took me to the bus station at noon and I bought a ticket to Foz do Iguazu about a 16 hour overnight bus trip. I met Jack a 21 yr old irish bloke on the bus and we have become pretty good pals.


Foz do Iguazu/Buenos Aires
2004-09-08 to 2004-09-10
The waterfalls on the brazilian side on wednesday were a bit disapointing but the gathering at the hostel for some laughs more than made up for it. On thursday a group of us from the hostel went to the argentinian side of the falls they were AMAZING. I hope i can get my pictures loaded soon so you can see. Jack and I caught a 5:45 bus to Buenos Aires. I know I wasnt planning on argentina but it sounded like a good time and other than the bus ride (which was only supposed to be 18 hours) well lets just say it was almost 24 hours on the bus. Policia decided to do background checks on all of us at midnight and didnt let us go till 4am. so we arrived in buenos aires around 5pm. Buenos Aires is a beautiful city. If i didnt know better i would think i was in western europe. Jack and I went to a all you can eat buffet for 25 pesos each (about 7 dollars) and it was basically all meat... really really good meat. We arrived at the restaraunt at 7:50pm and they still werent opening for another 10 minutes... Just an idea of how different life is down here. So we will see how the night shapes up. tchau


buenos aires
2004-09-10 to 2004-09-13
The three days i spent in buenos aires have been crazy! This city never sleeps... I went to a club the other night and things didnt get started till well after midnight then i heard about an after party that started around 8am which i didnt go to then at 2pm i was walking back from the bakery and a couple doors down there was an after after party that started around noon and went until dark.

So like i said this place is nuts.... farewell buenos aires... Hello florianopolis... 26 hour bus ride...ugh
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florianopolis
2004-09-14 to 2004-09-17
Ilha Santa Catarina is a the place for brazilian holidays. It was a very very clean city with some incredible beaches... Very nice place check it out for sure.... sorry my computer time is limited today...
Ponta Negra
2004-09-19
Yesterday i left salvador by bus at 5pm and arrived in Natal somewhere around noon i think. I caught a cold in Salvador and got fleeced 50 reals... Needless to say salvador de Bahia didnot leave a good impression. Natal and surrounding area though is very nice. Ponta Negra is located about 14 km south of Natal and is situated on a very nice bay beach thing. I am crazy glad to finally be out of the cities and near the water. Now i just need a hammock, some more hemp around my neck and ankles and wrists and a coconut in my hand and i can fit right in. Just for the record dad hammocks cost about 30-50 reals here... so between 10-15 dollars... so who wants one?

I think i will stay here in ponta negra for at least 3 days if not longer and then maybe relocate to Fernado de Norhano <---bad spelling apparently its an incredibly beautiful island.

I traveled from Florianopolis by plane to Salvador with an american named Sam but he wanted to spend another night in salvador. So i am on my own for the first time really and i must say its exhilerating and terribly lonely at the same time. While i enjoy companions i am in desperate need of some serious relaxation so i am searching for the happy medium. The hostel I checked into here in ponta negra is very hip... has a castle theme to it and i think it will be a good place to relax.