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We had a long stretch of driving to do from Foz do Iguaçu, on the border with Paraguay, to Curitiba almost on Brazil's east coast. Around 680km (approx 425 miles). We had to stop for 9 tolls which cost us 108 R$ ($34 US). A toll every 75km / 46 miles which seemed a bit much.
At least the roads were mostly good with some stretches of dual carriageway so that we could get past the lorries. Plus everyone kept to the speed limits - normally we're the only ones who do that!. Obviously when it says "Speed checked by Radar" they mean it!
We stopped at a restaurant where we were hoping to get WiFi so we could watch our football team the following morning. The owner even spoke a bit of German! She showed us a shady spot at the side where we could park for the night but we couldn't get WiFi from there. So we moved in front of the restaurant the next morning to watch the football. (We played really well in the first half but got hit with two goals in the second and lost the match).
Afterwards we went for a meal at the restaurant. We seemed to be the only ones there so it was a good job we had told them the day before we would eating there. The food was really good - a small salad bar for the two of us, followed by steak with fried egg, beans, rice and a yummy chicken stew. It cost 15 R$ each ($5 US each). Seeing as we could stay the night for free and get WiFi it was a very good deal!
On our way to the coast we took a slight detour to go to Parque Estadual Vila Velho (State Park). We didn't get there until 5pm and asked the man at the entrance gate if we could park somewhere close by for the night. He sent us to another entrance gate where the security guard made some phone calls and came back to tell us he had spoken to the Police Chief - El Comandante (!!) - who said we could park next to the police station for the night! We were in a really small village so it was a quiet night for us, albeit hot.
The next morning we drove into the State Park and paid 28 R$ each ($9 US) for two tours. The first entailed a short bus ride and then we went on a 2.7km guided walk to see the parks centrepiece - 23 sandstone pillars created over millions of years that have various names or you can pick your own names for them! The walk went past the rock formations and through a forest.
We didn't stay with the guide who only spoke Portuguese anyway, but took our time taking photos and enjoying the scenery. (There was a board at the start of the walk with the information in English.) It was a nice walk and there were plenty of butterflies and birds to see. The tour lasted almost 2 hours.
The second tour took 1 hour 20 minutes and we went to see another geological marvel - two craters formed by underground erosion. One of them used to have a lift down to a platform at water level and visitors could go swimming. But the lift has been closed since 2002 "for environmental and safety reasons". Afterwards we were taken to Golden Pond where we could see fish (Rainbow trout?).
Vila Velha
We left at around 3pm and drove to Curitiba, a large city. Just as we got to the outskirts it bucketed down with rain! It seems that this part of Brazil has some hefty rain showers, not something you want to get stuck in!
Curitiba is known as one of the world's best models of urban planning due to the bold initiatives of it's three-time mayor, Jaime Lerner, in the 1970s. He created pedestrian areas, express bus avenues with futuristic tubular boarding platforms, encouraged recycling and sustainable design long before it became fashionable, and planted trees and created parks on an enormous scale.
We parked in a street next to the exotic eye-shaped museum, painted with whimsical figures in bold colours, designed by and named after architect Oscar Niemeyer. He also designed Brasilia (Brazil's capital city) in the 1950s and various other buildings throughout Brazil. The museum was being closed for the evening as we got there but we just about had time to take a walk around the open areas.
The next day we walked 3km (2 miles) into the town centre past a number of the above mentioned futuristic bus stops. The design makes the bus system more efficient. Passengers pay to get into the bus stop thereby speeding up the process of passengers boarding and disembarking the buses when they arrive.
Our first stop was the historic centre of the city to see the cathedral. Behind it is the old colonial heart which is pedestrian-only and has many beautifully restored buildings that now house trendy art galleries and cafés. I also found a tourist information centre where I got a paper map. I used this to guide us to the ruins of St Francisco, the Garibaldi palace, and Iglesia da Ordem (1737) which is the oldest church in the city.
Afterwards we ducked into a café for apple cake and coffee. We thought we ordered cappuccino but it turned out to be hot chocolate! Trying to communicate can be a bit of a problem. We really have to concentrate and talking Spanish doesn't always work! Some people speak a bit of English but when they rattle off Portuguese it sounds Russian!! We haven't been in the country long though so we'll work it out eventually. What neither of us want is to learn yet another language - Kirsten's fourth and my fifth!
We continued along a pedestrian area to see the neoclassical building from 1916 which served as the first Mayor's office and past the university which is another striking and imposing building. On our way back we stopped at a bank to use the ATM and whilst there it started raining. Within minutes is was absolutely pouring down.
Just as it started raining heavily a man ran to the shelter of the bank, took his T shirt off and wrung it out!!! That's how much rain came down within seconds! We stayed in the bank for around 30 minutes until it was just a light shower and then carried on walking via the Justice ministry for photos of the guards in their ceremonial white uniforms.
Our next stop was the Botanical Gardens which is quite a large area with numerous sculptures and walking trails. We spent around one hour wandering along the paths. The park opened in 1991 and contains many national species. A large glass and metal greenhouse was modelled after London's Crystal Palace and contains many different plants. It's also extremely hot and humid inside!
There is also a pond with two wooden bridges where we saw carp, including a bright orange one, a blue-eyed cormorant and lots of turtles. A quiet, green space encircled by high towers. Nearby we managed to find a quiet street where we could park for the night.
Well, I say quiet, but here in Curitiba motorcycles or cars drive past the houses every hour during the whole night and beep their horns or blow whistles. It is a form of night security to deter burglars. We had noticed it at the museum but it was also happening near the Botanical Gardens. There must be a hell of a lot of security drivers!
