World Cup Game in Natal

Decorations in Manaus, Brazil

[3 de Julio, 2014]
Today is a quiet day in Brazil. After the round of 8 single elimination matches for the World Cup ended on July 1st with USA's final match against Belgium, no teams have played. All the athletes, the fans, the international travelers, the shop keepers and bartenders of Brazil, the kids and the parents and the grandparents, who have watched every moment of World Cup football, are now resting. Tomorrow is a new day. And tomorrow is also a Brazil day.

Every day that we have been able to experience the World Cup here has been an unexpected pleasure.

Empty streets of Belem during
the opening Brazil match

We knew that our trip would end in Brazil and that the timing of our visits with friends could overlap with the World Cup. But at the time we left home, we had no intention of going to any games or even necessarily being here for all of the World Cup. For travelers uninterested in soccer, this is not the time to visit Brazil as practically everything has a "Copa" price and a off season price. We are, however, soccer fans. Our Seattle Sounders have redefined MLS games and friendlies as top tier sporting events in our city, and we love them for it. (If you ever visit Seattle and see lime green Xbox apparel, you know now which team this belongs to.) Regardless of a life long devotion to soccer or not, we are here and we are American and

At the Manaus ticketing center (which is not at the stadium
or conveniently marked on any city map)

there is nothing like cheering on your own country when you are abroad. For the second time in my life (the first was to the Olympics with Eli 4 years ago), I got to dress ridiculously patriotic, sing childhood songs (Oh when the saints...) and chant U-S-A over and over again while cheering for my country.

The fever of the World Cup got to us and by the time we got to Brazil, we were thrilled we had already caved and bought ourselves game tickets to 2 matches.

So how did we get here? To Brazil I mean, the rest of the trip will take a lot more time to explain. (However the posts, pictures and trip details are still coming, I swear!) The physical journey into Brazil is one I'll never forget.

Trip to Brazil

Amazon Jungle village

Fast forward through Chile, Bolivia and Peru and you will find Eli and I leisurely relaxing in the heart of the Amazon Jungle in early June. The Amazon region can only be accessed by boat or plane so we flew from Lima to a city, Iquitos, in eastern Peru. From there we explored the Amazon River and stayed in a river lodge.

After Iquitos we were either a 2 day slow boat or a 9 hour fast boat ride away from the Brazilian border. We decided to take the fast boat (this was a regular speed boat but with an uncomfortable seating arrangement, no head rest to sleep on and 9 long hours of nothing to do) downriver on the Amazon to the tri-country border zone of Peru, Colombia and Brazil.

Tabatinga, Brazil

Tabatinga, Brazil was our destination. This little Brazilian town on the tri-country border is no different then it's neighbors:  smelly, dusty, and hot. It was however different in one major way, there was no more Spanish! We found a comfortable enough hotel owned by a sweet Portuguese couple which we were somehow able to rent with no real communication going on between us. The shops were all ready for the World Cup and I enjoyed shopping in Tabatinga because everything was very inexpensive.

The slow boat to Manaus from Tabatinga

Slow boat to Manaus
Following our frontier towns layover, in which we also got to Leticia, Colombia, we left two days later for our real Amazon River adventure. Over 700 miles away is the Brazilian city of Manaus. We bought slow boat tickets, 2 hammocks and planned for 4 days of travelling down the Amazon on an overnight boat headed for Manaus.

So how do you sleep, eat, and shower on a slow boat? I'll leave all of that for another post.  But I will say that we were very surprised by how many people fit on the boat, most of the people were local as this is the way to travel on the Amazon and our beds were our trusty hammocks.

Largest dorm I have ever slept in

This trip had 3 of the most broken up nights of sleep you could ever imagine, the last being woken up by armed National Military looking for drugs, but it was sloooooooow, the boat was calm and the breeze kept the bugs far, far away.

Chillaxing in bed

Enjoying my morning coffee while overlooking the Amazon

Manaus, Brazil

Teatro Amazonas, Manaus

In Manaus our real excitement for the World Cup began. Since this is a host city, the streets were decorated and everyone seemed to be waiting and watching for the foreign tourists to arrive, the streets to become filled and there to be wild, celebrations every night. Which I'm sure there were. However Eli and I left Manaus the morning of the opening ceremonies and Brazil's first match.

Picking up our tickets in Manaus

Belem, Brazil

Eli at the Belem market

We traveled to Belem, Brazil which is very close to the mouth of the Amazon river. We were interested in seeing this city, but also we wanted to avoid visiting only host cities while in Brazil. Not quite adjusted to the heat of northern Brazil yet (Belem is the closest to the equator I have ever been), Eli and I struggled to find the energy to travel outside of Belem. However, Belem has a long river front and the largest outdoor market in South America. On our first night, we had one thing to do. Find a bar with Brazilians to watch the first game of the world cup.

The bar for the first Brazilian match

Our stay in Belem was short due to our new World Cup schedule. We had games to get to in two different cities and the first was the USA game, 4 days after the World Cup kickoff. We flew down to Natal, Brazil and were excited to find that even the airlines had put a great deal of thought into how they'd celebrate the games.

Flying to Natal during the World Cup

Natal, Brazil and the USA World Cup match against Ghana
Natal was a whirlwind. Once we arrived we were already seeing Americans everywhere. People don't just dress up for the game, they display their gear proudly all of the time. There were 3 games on TV every day and all of the restaurants, even ones that didn't have real tables and chairs, had new flat screen TVs. In Ponta Negra, the touristy part of town, there were round-the-clock opportunities to enjoy the matches whether it be live, after parties, or pre-parties.

Sand dunes in Natal and scenes from around town, Eli blending in

If you didn't want to watch every game you certainly could entertain yourself in Natal. There are sand dunes located in and around the city which are beautiful but also fun to sand buggy around. The beach in Ponta Negra is pretty and not overly built up. Eli went to explore the dunes on our one morning off but I had to find a shirt to wear with my newly purchased American pants. Both Eli and I found clothes to wear for the game in Belem. Since it had been 5 months since were in the US we had nothing in our backpacks that would even pass for 4th of July apparel. (Where were all of those Old Navy flag shirts!) So we did our best and in the end I think it worked out pretty well. One lady asked me if I had my pants custom made back in the US. "No," I told her, "They are from a Brazilian market!" Only in Brazil can you find, randomly, this pair of spandex.

Red, White and Blue filled the streets of Natal before the USA game

Before the game there was a pre-party hosted by the American Outlaws soccer fan club. We found the restaurant by the overflow of Americans out on the street. People were singing patriotic and childhood songs and pretty much anything that they could think of that had to do with America. We were as American as we could be, but this time, I didn't mind it.

At the American Outlaws party. I think this girl's pants would look nice next to mine!

At the stadium, we were joined by plenty of Ghana fans. Everyone got along great. The Ghana people are very easy going. Since this was the first week of the tournament, everyone was just happy to be there.

Ghana fans outside of Natal Stadium

As excited as we were to get tickets to a USA game, we couldn't have known how much fun the stadium would be. The crowds were hilarious, the energy was extremely high and the game was amazing. I was so nervous for our team before the game. After one minute, when we scored, the entire stadium erupted and the American crowd ran the high for most of the rest of the game.

The most patriotic of all of our accessories is Eli's hat, from Chile. The back strap is labeled, simply, America.

Ghana vs. USA, FIFA World Cup 2014, Natal, June 16th

The USA Men's Team warming up. Upper right photos include Beasley, Jones, Bradley, Dempsey and Johnson.

I managed to capture our second goal! Brooks (#6) is heading the ball in the next photo.

After the game the fans continued to sing and cheer outside of the stadium. We took some video to enjoy the parade of wildly decorated fans racing in to join the party. Here are a few of their costumes. Absolutely, our favorite is the man carrying the flag that is the most American of them all. It says only one thing: Soccer.

Happy fans outside of the stadium following the match

Falling for Fitz Roy

Trail head right outside of town

[8-11 de Marzo, 2014]  El Chalten, Argentina is a small town in the middle of a National Park (Parque Nacional Los Glaciares). When you stay there you can step outside and start hiking from your doorstep. The town is fairly new. It has wide streets with hardly any cars. There are pretty street lamps and sidewalks on avenues that lead nowhere. Many houses are under construction and a few resorts are being built up on the hill. Large and vacant, it will be interesting to see how the town changes as the rooms become filled.

However, today, the town is charming and inviting. Nature lovers stroll the streets, in winter clothes on warm summer nights, pretending they aren't chilled to the bone by the breeze coming off the Southern Patagonia Ice Field. One of my favorite stops on this South America trip, I particularly liked returning to town tired after a hike. You trudge slowly up the streets looking for smoke coming out of a restaurant chimney to finally relax with a beer and spot next to the fire.


Senda a Laguna Torre The first hike we did was to a glacial lake called Torre Lagoon. The hike followed a river valley back into the mountains that surrounded El Chalten.

Torre Lagoon and Glacier

Well, the first thing we encountered was snow. This was the first hike we took which snowed, though if we were to stay in Patagonia longer, it wouldn't be our last. In March, the end of summer, the snow is there to stay. In fact, Torres del Paine had a snowfall a few days after we left that reached as low down as the campsites. We were very lucky we missed it.

The hike in was snowy and cold. Then it got worse. When we made it up the lagoon, which sat at the base of a glacier, we were nearly knocked over by the wind. To walk further you had to crouch or hug the ground to not get knocked over. It was pretty but you couldn't stand upright for long enough to appreciate it.

Our Polish friends braving the wind

A couple of Polish girls we had met approached us speaking Spanish. Eli immediately exclaimed how happy he was he could understand them and we hung out with them the rest of the day, practicing our Spanish. It seems the girls were having trouble understanding Chileans and Argentinians as well, but our elementary Spanish was perfect!

Back in the warmth of El Chalten

Sendero al Fitz Roy

If there is a reason to fall in love with El Chalten it is because of Mount Fitz Roy. The hike, Sendero al Fitz Roy, follows another river valley out of town.This river is wide and meandering and the hills around it are full of fall colors. It was a very pretty scene, and today, it wasn't snowing.

Not long after starting the hike, you walk up to a lookout and there it is. In the center of this high and jagged ridgeline is Fitz Roy. 

The icon of Patagonia (the clothing brand) is said to be based on this mountain's profile. What do you think?

This hike was, section by section, one of the most beautiful I have ever been on. The mountains are so jagged they often have their own clouds around them blocking the view of the peaks. Walking beneath Fitz Roy and the huge glaciers below it we felt small. The clouds moved quickly and we would see glimpses of granite appearing high up in the sky, looking out of place. We had lunch outside the campsite that sits below Fitz Roy and when we were finally finished with staring at it, we returned back to town.

Fitz Roy

On our final day in town we walked to the top of an overlook on the opposite side of town. From here we could see the dry valley behind the Andes mountains in Argentina. We could see Lago Argentina and other glacier blue lakes. We even had Eli's shoe, our only Patagonia product, photographed in it's birthplace.

Welcome home shoe

Timed jumping pictures gone wrong

Granite of Fitz Roy in the sky

Partying with Los Pingüinos

[4-5 de Marzo, 2014]
Punta Arenas, Chile

If this isn't going to be everybody's favorite post, I don't know what will be. For two days, for two lucky days considering we also had a birthday to celebrate, we got to spend the day visiting penguins!

The first location we visited was Otway Sound. Close to Punta Arenas, this penguin reserve has, at times, up to 4500 Magenllanic Penguins in the colony. Every year the penguins return to their bitter cold birthplace (this colony) to find their mates and lay their eggs, a process which takes about 6 months. Unfortunate for our timing, we arrived just as the child rearing process had ended and the baby penguins were already gone. In March, most of the adult penguins are just about strong enough to leave as well (they use up a lot of energy feeding their young) and so our colony count in Seno Otway... was roughly what you see in this picture to the left! We guessed there were no more than 15 penguins in the park.

As far as tour advice goes, this tour was terrible. There was no tour, you pay for a driver from Punta Arenas, and, as it was in our case, we were picked up 45 minutes late. The driver limits your time in the park and honks if you are a minute late. Of all of the tours we took in South America this had to be the worst. But it got us where we wanted to go, was relatively inexpensive, and for a split second at least, we got to see our first ever penguin colony!
Since there were so many penguins in the park, we got into the habit of pointing to show our enthusiasm (and to help the photographer find the penguin in the picture.) You'll see that this got annoying in larger colonies where we still couldn't stop pointing for enthusiasm, despite the abundance of penguins.

Also note that in this reserve you walk on boardwalks and don't get that close to the penguins.

There is a lot more vegetation here, however, then the other reserve. You can see every which way the penguins waddle around each day. They leave behind a penguin sized trail of trampled grass which has to be one of the cutest little roads in the world.

A penguin trail

On Eli's birthday, March 5th, our morning started with a special kiss on the nose from God:

Sunrise over the Strait of Magellan

Then we hopped aboard a boat and sailed to Isla Magdalena in the Strait of Magellan.

It took about 2 hours to get to the island. On the boat a tour guide introduced us to the colony and she gave us instructions to return to the boat strictly after one hour of landing. The tour was to a protected reserve on the island, the Monumento Natural Los Pingüinos. As the boat approached you could start to see little black dots all over the island. After yesterday's turn out it was hard to believe those dots could all be penguins, but sure enough they were. This penguin reserve has, at times, over 60,000 penguin couples!

more pointing

a penguin stare down

penguin couples

Little black dots

The penguin dens were close, sometimes on, the walking paths

"Hi"

Well, it was smelly, the penguin feathers were moulting so some looked a bit haggard and I'm pretty sure they lie down in their poo so these pictures were hand selected to tarnish no one's impression of these adorable creatures. They have a rough life, it was a sunny day for us but I still had about 3 jackets on. As expected it was cold and unapologetically windy, though the sun helped a lot. If I could ever repeat this island visit, I would. There is something to be said for being very excited, for holding a camera and having so many subjects, that you just stand there dumbfounded and unable to move.

We were, of course, the last two to reboard the boat. But we did make it up to the light house and we did have time to take one more shot together (no time when penguins are around) 

There are more photos in this album Punta Arenas
And one cute little penguins on parade video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3dad0YW85k

Following the tour, we spent the afternoon exploring Punta Arenas. Many people say there is nothing to see there other than the penguins, but we actually liked the city. It was a good size, clean and had a nice waterfront.

Far from everywhere down here

 The best part about Punta Arenas is, this is where the Cerveza Austral brewery is. It is called, "the most southern brewery in the world" and it also happens to be our favorite beer so far in South America. We purposefully wandered past the brewery with hopes that the town tourist information officer that told us they stopped giving tours was wrong. It didn't look good. They brewery had a guard house and no public entrance but we had enough Spanish to at least try asking the guard. "Hay un tour con guia hoy?" "Si," he said! The guy was wrong! Soon after we were booked on the 3 o'clock tour.

 Eli had quite a day. This would have been  my dream birthday! After the tour we had a beer tasting of all of the Cerveza Austral beers, including the limited released Torres del Paine beer. Check out all of their beers here: https://www.hablemosdecerveza.cl/en/

After a delicious meal, we settled down for Eli's one bday request. Some chips with Mexican salsa. Try finding that in South America! But fortunately the supermarket didn't disappoint (as it rarely does for Eli). All in all, what a day!

Cerviche