A typical week in Vitoria

Following on from a typical week in Lima, here is a typical week in Vitoria! 

This was the building where we lived.

And the view from our apartment on the 12th floor before we moved.

We moved to a new apartment in this condominuim two weeks ago. 

We are on the 12th floor of the second tower on the right. 

And this is the view from our new apartment. Quite an improvement! 

We are very happy in our new apartment. Justin can walk to work and comes home for lunch everyday which is nice for both of us. We don't get any direct sun so the apartment is much cooler which is super important with summer coming up soon. We also now have a squash court, pool, gym, kiddies play area, and beauty salon in the common areas. We plan on playing loads of squash as soon as we can get our hands on some squash rackets! (A lot of blocks have squash courts but you can't buy squash rackets in Vitoria....)

Our weeks look like this: Justin goes to work and I take care of the home admin.

This is the building where Justin works, a quick 5 minute walk from home. 

Hooray, no more taxis and traffic! 

Justin's corner of the open-plan office with a similar view to home.

Justin and his taxi driver Bruno for the daily commute before we moved.

Bruno is about 1.90 m tall and only just fits into his car! 

This is the OK Hipermercado, a 5 minute walk from the previous apartment, where I did all the groceries. I really like this supermarket and still shop there sometimes.

Notice the floor? It's all granite! The state we are in, Esperito Santo, has rich natural reserves of granite. It is apparently the cheapest building material available in this area and is used for just about everything, including the floors of malls, unbelievable! 

The closest supermarket to us now is the Horto Mercado, a ~15 min walk from the new apartment. I like this supermarket too but am still getting used to it. 

I really like this green grocer 5 minutes further from the Horto. 

Pronounced 'ortchi frutchi', their produce is always good and they often have difficult to find items such as fresh mushrooms and asparagus and they have better cold meat options. 

And I really like this little organic market, only open on a Wednesday from 3-9 pm.

I'm neither here nor there on organic but the produce is always super fresh and of a good quality. These markets are the only place I can find butternut squash in Vitoria. 

Monte Libano is probably the best bakery in Vitoria. This one was a 15 minute walk from the previous apartment. 

Pharmacies are one every street corner here, kinda like London and Starbucks. Opposite to most countries, it is cheaper to buy toiletries here than in the supermarket. Pacheco is my favourite pharmacy outlet.

The Herring store! 

Fast becoming my favourite clothing store and sort of an H&M replacement. 

Vitoria Shopping is the only big mall in Vitoria and is now a 10 minute walk away.

We don't come here too often but it is convenient to have it nearby. We watched our first movie here recently; hooray for original version movies in English in foreign countries! 

On the weekends there are usually lots of walks on the beach promenades, ice cream dates, and impromptu get togethers with friends. 

Friday night dinner at Rock Burger (pronounced hockey burguer) with Justin's colleagues. 

Clockwise from Justin: Justin, Bronwen, Fernanda's daughter Milena, Fernanda, and Isaac. 

Bronwen and Fernanda at Friday night Mexican!

Marguerita time!

Cheers! 

Justin and Isaac at Friday night steak night at Outback Restaurant. 

We arrived at Happy Hour.... 

Moqueca lunch with Vivian and Niels 

Moqueca! 

Having your nails done is very important in Brazil. We use this as an excuse for the girls to hang out. Vivian and our favourite nail stylist Sereia. She even comes to you! 

Agnes chilling waiting for her turn 

The best part of the week: beach time! 

One of the local beaches Curva de Jerema at sunset.

Boibs chilling on the beach

Sometimes we go further afield, like this day near Guarapari with Niels, Vivian, Luciana and Alexander. 

Those stretches of empty white sand beaches you see on TV. 

And in one sleep it is time for a Costa Rica holiday!!! 

See you on the other side of fun in Central America and the Caribbean 

x x x

Is this Winter?

We are finally back in Vitoria!

After many trials and tribulations over almost a year, our 1 year Brazilian work visas have finally been issued. A thousand hoorays! But it was not without some issue right up until the last moment when we collected our passports from the embassy. And after a 20 week home affairs nightmare Bron’s birth certificate was also finally issued. I was going to do a separate blog post on how to obtain a Brazilian work visa and how to apply for a South African birth certificate but in the interests of my mental health it is probably better to leave that in the past.

A big thank you to all the people who assisted us along the way with the visa process and birth certificate application, especially when we couldn’t attend to it ourselves. Special thanks to Abi for willingness and assistance on the Cape Town end, to Mum and Dad Cross for submitting extra documents and contacting the presidential hotline, and to Bron’s Mom (aka Meeps) for doing the final stretch including collecting the certificate, having it apostilled and couriering it on. Special thanks also to Justin’s secretary in the Netherlands, Edna, for applying for our police clearances on our behalf and arranging everything related to that. We really appreciate all your help!

Last week we did the last of the formal procedures by registering at the federal police (this is similar to registering at the Gemeente in the Netherlands). Even this final step had some last minute issues even though everything was pre-arranged and we were amazed that no one working at the immigration counter speaks English. The bureaucracy and red tape of systems in Brazil can be extremely frustrating and leaves a new visitor feeling quite unwelcome and this is not a good image for Brazil to have, especially for a country whose people are known to be very warm and friendly. But we also don’t see this changing anytime soon. If you ever have to deal with Brazilian bureaucracy, hang in there! It doesn’t last forever and the sun, caipirinhas and friendly people soon make you forget about it.

We enjoyed this last time in Lima much more than the first time and were feeling quite happy and comfortable after 11 weeks there. Even though we were sad to leave Lima in the end, we are feeling happy and settled after 4 weeks back in Vitoria. It is possible that we may go back to Lima for another short stint sometime in the future, but it would be by choice this time.

The apartment we are in at the moment feels very much like a sparsely furnished short-term holiday rental so we decided to look for a new apartment that would be more comfortable for a long term stay. Decent furnished apartments are like hen’s teeth here in Vitoria so we were extremely lucky to find a much better furnished apartment quite quickly and the move date is set for the end of August. The new apartment is a 5 minute walk from Justin’s office and has a beautiful view of the third bridge, the Convento da Penha and the Santa Maria River. We are looking forward to a cosier apartment that is not in the flight path of the local airport, hopefully better internet that is not subject to the weather, skipping the evening traffic and not relying on taxi’s for the daily commute. We will of course miss things from our current area, especially the selection of good restaurants nearby, but for now it is good decision to move. Pics of the new view to follow soon!

In an effort to improve our experience of living here, we are starting a beginner’s Portuguese course this week. The course is 3 hours long twice a week for 4 weeks. This will be a tough schedule for Justin after a long day of work but we feel it is important and will help to improve our daily life here. People here are extremely friendly and we are missing out by not being able to interact more due to language limitations. Portuguese is a hard language to learn but we hope to be able to say more than ‘bom dia’ and ‘obrigada’ soon.

Since Brazil is in the Southern Hemisphere, it is officially winter here. With temperatures ranging from 24 - 28ºC everyday with the occasional 30ºC day, we can totally manage this kind of winter. Considering it is the dry season, we still receive a fair amount of rain. At the moment there seems to be a cycle of about 14 sunny days followed by 4-5 rainy days. At the moment we are in the middle of a rainy period. Even when it is raining it’s not really cold with temperatures around 23ºC or 24ºC. Our winter wardrobe consists of shorts and flip flops, what a refreshing change.

Otherwise life carries on as normal in the work-week routine but we try to mix it up and get out into the sunshine on the weekends. This often includes long walks usually on the beach or on the promenade. We have become friendly with the other expats and locals also working on this project and hang out quite regularly. Activities are usually impromptu and include dinners out, snacks and drinks at someone’s house, tennis or squash for the guys and cycling for the ladies, snacks and games night, treat days with manicures and pedicures for the stay at home wives, and trips to the beach whether here in Vitoria or a bit further afield.

In other news, we have booked a holiday! In September we are doing a 3 week trip to Costa Rica. We have booked a 2 week tour that includes the main sights and an extra 5 days on the Caribbean Coast. I know many of you think we are on permanent holiday but this is our first official holiday of the year. We are super excited and can’t wait! The jungle, volcanoes, hot springs, hopefully swimming with turtles, lounging in hammocks, the sloth sanctuary and the Caribbean Coast: here we come!!

See you next time from our new apartment!

Have a good week y’all! 

We received a special delivery package from London recently: little Joshua art!!

Thank you Shell and Joshie for these super special pieces to brighten up our fridge. 

(And thanks to Tim and Peter in the Newcastle office for your role in the delivery)

View from our apartment one sunset

A sunny Saturday recently we were invited to join our friends Frans and Agnes to a state park near Guarapari, about 45 min drive south of Vitoria:

The path down to the beach

Fun along the way

The best of both worlds: a fresh water lake and the ocean

Winter activities #imlovingit

Those stretches of empty white sand beaches that you see in holiday ads

Agnes, Bron and Frans after fun in the sun

Views while walking back in the evening

Hauraz and Laguna 69

A few weeks ago some of Justin’s colleagues were planning a trip to Huaraz in the Ancash region about 8 hours north of Lima and we were invited to join them for a long weekend away. The plan was to take the night bus from Lima to Huaraz on the Friday night, do a light acclimatizing half-day hike on the Saturday, the more challenging full-day hike on Sunday and watch the football on Monday morning (of course) before catching the bus back to Lima.

Anyone who has been to Peru, or actually most rural places in South America, knows that the roads are not of the best quality and the use of road rules is optional. For this reason the suggestion of a night bus to get from Lima to the mountainous region of Huaraz made us somewhat nervous. Since there really isn’t any other way of getting there, we closed our eyes, held our breath and hoped for the best.

The other concern was getting a good night’s rest to get the weekend and hiking started off on the right foot. We were relieved and impressed to find that the night bus was equipped with seats that fully recline to a completely flat position. The journey and sleeping was going well until we entered the mountainous terrain about halfway into the journey. At this point it felt much like being in a dentist’s chair tilted too far back, your feet higher up and all the blood draining to your head. Prone to motion sickness, Bron’s body decided it did not like this nor the feeling of the swaying bus from the upper floor and she was soon making calls from the less than sanitary bus loo. The good thing was that Bron was the only one afflicted and everyone else slept well and were ready to get hiking! After a shower and breakfast we were ready for our first hike.

Settling in on the night bus

Huaraz is a small town nestled in the valley between the Cordillera Blanca and Cordillera Negra, or white and black mountain ranges. Winter time is the dry season; the days are sunny and warm and the clear nights cold. Huaraz is at 3100 m above sea level and the Cordillera Blanca is home to 27 snow-capped peaks 6000 m and higher. The Huascarán National Park encompasses almost the entire Cordillera Blanca range, an area of 21 km wide by 180 km long. The park takes its name from the highest peak, the snow-capped Mount Huascarán. At 6768 m, Huascarán is the highest mountain of Peru and the second highest in South America. The park is also home to more than 600 glaciers, almost 300 lakes and 41 tributaries of 3 important rivers in Peru. The main attraction of this area is the great hiking and trekking adventures to be had surrounded by amazingly beautiful mountainous scenery. There are hikes and treks to suit everybody’s level of adventure and experience from half- and full-day acclimatization hikes to the 4-12 day guided treks complete with pack donkeys.

The view of Huaraz and the Cordillera Blanca from our hotel room 

One half-day and one full-day hike suited us just fine for a weekend away and without much time to adjust to the high altitude. Our first hike was a half-day acclimatization hike that started close to town. We were hiking through the rural outskirts of town in the Cordillera Negra range up to Lake Wilcacocha. The attraction of this hike is not the lake itself but rather the uninterrupted views of the Cordillera Blanca from the lake.

The hike itself was quite tough considering we had just arrived and also since it was quite hot by the time we got to the lake. The path was rough and stony making it easy to slip, especially on the way down. But it was a beautiful walk through the rural countryside with fields of ripening wheat and quinoa lining the path and mud brick houses draped with hanging bunches of drying corn scattered along the way. We met some friendly locals along the way and a sociable dog joined our group on the way up. There were plenty of cows and pigs on the way and at one moment a whole pack of squealing piglets descended on a tethered pig for lunch time. There were also some fluffy baby chicks foraging in the grass near the lake. City slickers like us are easy to entertain with young farm animals! The part we didn’t enjoy was the constant cloud of mosquitos following us on this hike.

Views over the valley on the way up to Lake Wilcacocha

Pretty flowers in the fields

Lake Wilcacocha with peacefully grazing sheep and white peaks in the background

Mountain gazing

Boibs at Wilcacocha

View of the valley and mountains from the lake

Justin, Perry, Jan and the friendly dog the joined us

Bron and Marta

Impressive white peaks over 6000 m each

The rest of the afternoon was spent enjoying lunch and the football at a restaurant in town and relaxing in preparation for the next day. The plan for Sunday was to hike to Laguna or Lake 69 in the Huascarán National Park. This is the most popular day hike in the area and it’s easy to see why. The scenery in the Huascarán National Park is absolutely beautiful with snow-capped mountain peaks towering over you from all directions, waterfalls cascading down the mountains, streams flowing through the valley, beautiful red paper bark-type trees, bushes with purple flowers and other interesting plants,  beautiful birds flitting about, and tame donkeys and cows grazing peacefully along the whole route.

The Huascarán National Park and the start of the hike is a 3 hour drive from Huaraz, half of which is a bumpy dirt track. We left the hotel at 07:00 and were ready to start walking by about 10:30. The ascent was tough going but also enjoyable, warm and sunny. We all went at our own pace and took rest and water breaks when we needed them. Three quarters of the route is sheltered and protected by the mountain slopes and zig-zags steadily upwards toward a deceiving plateau; the lake was not at the top of this waterfall as we had expected.  On the open plain you are buffeted by the wind as you make your way to the final uphill climb. The last stretch of the hike is a brutal steep climb toward the lake. We had to stop to breathe every few steps and were relieved when we finally made it to the top. Lake 69 is an amazing intense blue colour and is fed by the glacier straddling the overlooking mountain. The views are breath taking and definitely worth the tough hike up. The way down is the same as the route up but is infinitely easier. It took us about 4.5 hours to reach lake 69 and 2 hours to walk back down again after about 30 minutes at the lake.

On the way to Huascarán National Park

This beautiful lake and red paper bark-type tree greet you near the entrance to the park 

The view from the start of the trail 

Brave campers near the start of the hike

Streams and peacefully grazing stock weave all through the park 

Chilling donkey 

On the trail to the top

Lake 69 was not at the top of this waterfall! 

The open plain with no protection from the wind was though. 

Impressive mountain views and amazing scenery all around all the way up 

There were cows on the most steepest paths and even right at the lake 

Lake 69

We made it!!

The 3 hour trip back to Huaraz was quite scary at night; our driver seemed to prefer to drive in the lane of oncoming traffic and everybody drives with their brights on all the time, even when there are street lights, it’s completely bizarre. We finally made it back to Huaraz where we stopped for dinner at El Horno Pizzeria and Parrilla before heading back to the hotel. Fortunately there was no party on next door most of the night like there was on Saturday so we could actually sleep after the long day.

Monday was our last morning in Huaraz before heading back to Lima. The boys settled in to watch the football, Netherlands vs Chile in the 3^rd and final game of the group stages of the World Cup, while the girls walked into town. Huaraz is a tiny town and there isn’t much to be said about it apart from it being a very typical dusty rural Peruvian town with half-finished buildings and poor service in restaurants.

On the bus back we had the three-quarter reclining seats which were sufficient for a day trip. Bron was pleased to be on the lower level and managed not to repeat the motion sickness of Friday night. The route back was also really beautiful driving through the mountains and valleys. It was a long 8 hours back to Lima though and we were thankful to arrive in one piece after some interesting driving and over-taking decisions.

All in all it was a wonderful weekend away and we highly recommend Huaraz and surrounds for some trekking adventures on your next Peruvian holiday.  

Have a good week y’all! 

Moutain views on the way back to Huaraz from the park

Views from the bus on the way back to Lima