Hola shwoppers
The reason for my shwop blogging neglect is that I’ve been on a little adventure to the land where the rhythms of the land meets best butts in the world with a whole lotta hot sun shining down, big smiles and crazzzzzy drivers…
Viva South America!
I’ve tried to pick out a few highlights because otherwise I will go on and on, but I figured out that what I love most of all about travelling is the chance to completely break from routine, to forget about the hustle bustle that we get so caught up in and just live for the moment.
So here they are my 10 top moments:
1. Parading in front of millions dressed like a pink quilted feather peagoose at Carnaval!
2. Meeting a Braziilan lady who was entering carnaval with 3 separate schools. She was 83 – inspirational! I went with one school and it was pretty exhausting!
3. Drinking juices of fruits I had never heard of or seen before – Lulo, Acai, Graviola etc
4. Being understood in Spanish (by someone other than my teacher)!
5. Dancing with the Brazilians and Colombianos – forro, salsa, bachata, merengue, I didn’t have a clue half the time but it was FUN
6. Seeing a fake bum…bum implants, who would have believed it! I have new-found okayness with the size of my bum.
7 .The Gold museum in Bogota, Colombia – fascinating insights into the indigenous cultures and shamanism
8. Hearing our trekking guides’ stories about the people of the Sierra Nevada, the guerrillas and the strife brought about by the cocaine industry
9. Cartagena – one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever seen and also the setting for Love in the time of Cholera which I was reading as I was travelling around Colombia.
10. The eye candy – even the rubbish collectors in Buenos Aires are hot, ridiculous!
I met these guys from New York who were making ‘webisodes’ of their travels and I went rafting with them in San Gil, Colombia – you can see shots of the town and my paddling action at:
http://www.thehostellife.com/home/hostel_life-webisodes.php?video=28
I have to say I didn’t see a single op shop the whole time I was over there, (I visited Bueos Aires, Rio and Colombia) – it seems a little strange given the huge gap between the rich and the poor… it was also disheartening to see the shear quantity of plastic bags they dole out at supermarkets. In rio they double bagged everything because one bag was too flimsy, in a city of some 11 million it really makes you cringe. On the brighter side it was good to see that they were well into recycling in Colombia and every third type of accommodation was called an “eco” lodge – not sure how eco they all were but I liked that the idea was there at least!
– Thanks for reading, Chrissy
The Big Shwop 
Wow! All sounds so amazing. South America is really the place for me!! I danced in the Sambadromo too! I found a few second hand shops in Rio (Santa Teresa) when I was there but nothing like a expected. Perhaps you have to really know where to go?
So happy for you!