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Monkeys & Sulawesi

Proboscis Monkeys Breakfast at the Gajah Mada was pretty good local food with two generous big fish (two share) and lots of meaty chicken curry.  I left the hotel around 0800 for the Mangrove and Proboscis Conservation Area about 5+ minutes away by foot.  The weather was still pleasant and not too hot. Speaking in […]

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Down the east coast of Borneo

Breakfast at the Lucky Hotel was simple with soup, fried small fish and rice.  It’s not very often I get a smiley fish for breakfast with chilli.  It was actually delicious and I had two, almost went for a third. As I relaxed in my room offered to take me out for coffee, to which […]

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Borneo’s international sea crossing

Kuching to Tawau by flight I left home by Grab car at 0830.  The driver took an unusually long route directed by Google Maps getting me to the airport around 15min later than I had expected at 0915.  I had breakfast at the lounge before settling in to do some last minute work on the […]

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Hazy experience

It had been kinda depressing being with aunt.  Few years ago, she was still swimming 20 laps in an Olympic-sized pool but now she is barely walking.  I try to put it into perspective with the fact that she is 90 years old. Fortunately, my uncle (and aunt) from Christchurch dropped in and we went […]

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Bye bye Brazil

Final exploration We we say goodbye to Brazil and fly out of Rio to Buenos Aires, to connect to our flight back to New Zealand. We didn’t want to fit too much into the morning and had decided we’d just go to the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Sebastian.  But first up, I went to the […]

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The unadvertised face of Rio

Despite a bit tired, I forced myself to go to the hotel gym for a light workout before a small breakfast at McDonald’s nearby. We had a free walking tour of the historic centre and Lapa.  Three Spanish-speaking people turned up and the both of us were the only English-speaking ones.  So, our English-speaking guide […]

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Christ Redeemer & Copacabana

Some exercise, finally The Windsor Asturias Hotel is equipped with a gym and pool on the rooftop.  I woke before 0700 and checked it out.  Both proved to be tiny.  The gym had three treadmills, a bench and some free weights.  After not having done any proper exercise, this was better than nothing and I […]

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Bus & Sugarloaf

Bus ride to Rio de Janeiro Today we have a 4h40 bus ride from Paraty to Rio de Janeiro.  With a departure time of 0920, we had to wake a little earlier than usual. It’s terrible that we had come from Europe and adapted too quickly to local time and sleeping in, when I had […]

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Island hopping

Today we take a day cruise around the bays and islands near Paraty.  We had asked around and prices varied between BRL40 to BRL50 for a trip departing 1100 and returning 1600, having 4 stops.  Boats vary in size from 120 to 160 pax capacity. We settled for the cheapest and smallest.  We made our […]

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Old town by the sea

Our free walking tour in Paraty at 1030 was led by an Argentine of English ancestry.  That explained his very good English with a posh accent.  The English group was small but the one led by his Portuguese-speaking counterpart was much bigger. He gave a good history of the city, explaining how it grew because […]

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