An Eventful Day
All will be revealed during the course of the blog.
This morning we woke to swarms of mosquitoes inside our mosquito net. At first we thought we might have let one in while climbing under the net, but we soon realised there were dozens and every one we killed was full of blood. So they had been feasting on us while we slept. I soon saw why when I went to get out from under the net. There were swarms of them flying up under the end of the net which drops down over the back of Poki, almost to ground level.
This has never been an issue before, but in future we will tuck the net in. The reason why this was an exception was because after the recent rains here and last night’s heavy downpour, the mosquitoes had come out in huge swarms. My left arm is now smothered in bites and my right eyebrow too.
Dennis mentioned considering my illness might be malaria. There isn’t malaria in this part of Brazil though, but what there is, is Dengue Fever. Last year, up until the end of October, 6.5 million people in Brazil had been infected with Dengue. It is carried by the Aedes mosquito. Fortunately I didn’t have anything seriously nasty, as I’m fully recovered now.
BR101 to Rio
We took the coastal BR101 towards Rio. This was the most stunningly beautiful ride. Jungle covered mountains to our left and the ocean on our right. Verdant, lush vegetation with constant glimpses of pristine, white sandy coves, islands and islets. Small resorts along the route. It would have been nice to have stopped off at one.
Passing a sign that talked about a nuclear observatory, we wondered what that was. All was soon revealed. A large complex on the beach appeared through the vegetation. A nuclear power plant. It seemed awful in this beautiful environment. We pulled in to the observatory to investigate.
The two reactors. The original one on the right.
Nuclear Power Plant
There were a number of staff members waiting to give advice and we were allocated a lovely young gentleman who spoke perfect English. He suggested we first watch two short videos. The first on how electricity is generated by nuclear power. The second on the history of the power station.
The first reactor here was built in 1985, a second larger one in 2001 and a third is now under construction. Once the third one is completed, they will supply 4% of the country’s energy supply. Hydro is the largest source at 60%. It was an unexpected and surprisingly interesting interruption to our journey.
The road took us above the beachside town of Angra dos Reis. Logan, it looked a very nice place. It is certainly located in a beautiful part of the country. Logan had mentioned having a friend in New Zealand who came from Angra dos Reis.
On 3 or 4 occasions we came to tolls. On the BR101 they are all electronic. Apparently at the beginning of the year a directive came into force to make all tolls electronic. Up until now we have paid cash at all toll stations. Now we are in a bit of a quandry, as we don’t know how to go about paying them. We’re not sure if we need a sticker on the windscreen, as in Uruguay, or if we just pay online.
Coming into Rio
Approaching the outskirts of Rio the scenery changed to a rather scruffy urban environment. Very different from São Paulo. Until you get to the centre it is very low level. Not a mass of tower blocks. Even in the centre it is less high rise. The traffic moved very freely. We didn’t come across a single traffic light until we reached the centre.
As usual we hadn’t booked a hotel. I had one in mind, if their parking was suitable in the busy central part of the city. It was getting quite late in the day and now traffic was heavy. We were driving along when an idiot tried to push in front of us and caught his bumper on Poki. This partially removed his rear bumper which proceeded to be dragged along behind him.
I thought this is all we need. We’re late looking for our hotel and now we are going to have a problem with our lack of Portuguese sorting this out. At first the guy kept driving. It was his fault. Eventually he pulled over and got out to look at the damage. By this stage we were turning left and kept going. Hopefully there will be no repercussions.
Finding a car park
We found the hotel I had in mind and as usual the parking wasn’t high enough for Poki. The young lady receptionist didn’t speak English and didn’t have a clue about parking. I was getting a bit concerned as time was marching on. We looked in the street the hotel was located in for parking.
Dennis got out and talked to some locals, one of whom spoke a few words of English. They advised there was parking around the block behind a shopping mall. We found a large, but uncovered parking, but whether it was the same one, who knows. It isn’t too far from the Bambina Hotel, so I quickly booked a room online. However, the cheaper rooms were all sold by this time, so I booked a suite with a jacuzzi bath! It wasn’t very much more expensive.
Our Hotel
Hastily, we packed some things in our backpacks and walked to the hotel. Our room is something else. We entered into our own dining area, where we will be served breakfast tomorrow morning. Then a huge jacuzzi bath, followed by a king size bed and then the bathroom, which even has a separate sauna – as if you needed one in this climate. The furnishings include a tiger skin covered couch and a weird shaped red chair. It looks as if it could be used as an instrument of torture
All this fancy stuff, but nothing practical. No drawers, no wardrobe, no clothes hangers, no safe. Must have been designed by a man!
We went back to Poki to cook dinner. It was 9pm before we ate. It would have been nice to eat out, but we had food and I don’t like waste.
The hotel has no map or tourist information. When we checked in an older gentleman, probably the manager or owner, came into reception. He spoke English and explained Brazilian hotels weren’t equipped with tourist information like European hotels. He gave us the address of a tourist office. Rio seems very spread out and I don’t know what sort, if any, public transport systems are in place. It will have to remain until tomorrow before we find out how we go about seeing this city.
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