Aug 25, 2008 - Curitiba

Our next stop was a bit of a pit stop to break up the 28hr bus journey to Iguazu falls. We stopped off in the Southern city of Curitiba for a much famed scenic rail journey from the mountains to the coast. This was after much discussion – with the man who I might remind you loves a good view but will in future be known as Terry – because he thought it was too much money. However, finally the appeal of views won out = and it turned out we had a great time. We arrived on Saturday after sleeping not so well on the bus, so after a magnificent...

Aug 21, 2008 - Foz do Iguaçu

After a shitty 2 day transit we arrived in Foz do Iguaçu almost unscathed. Our brilliant truck driver Suse narrowly avoided joining in on a car accident and came rather close to running straight over the top of a little black car. So far in Foz i´ve been to the world famous Iguaçu falls, took a chopper ride over them, went to a bird park and got to pat a TUCAN!!!!!!!!! and had my photo take with a macau trying to eat my ear. Then went to a crazy local bar called Capitao. Hrmm cheap cocktail and silly words... Today, the 22nd, i went to...

Aug 18, 2008 - Photograph Update

Greetings! Last time we updated you, we were in Sao Paulo. We spent our last evening in this chaotic city at Tower Italia - at one time the tallest building in the city - sipping cocktails in a very posh bar on level 42 and taking in the sights and sunset from the 360 degree terrace. The urban sprawl of this concrete jungle of a city is truly phenomenal - see photo 1. The next day, we took a 6 hour bus journey to Curitiba - one of the most prosperous and organised cities in Brazil, and have been passing the time eating, drinking and soaking...

Aug 15, 2008 - Swimming with pirana and caiman in the Pantanals

***This is only temp: I´ll edit this properly later as i~m running out of time*** After a grueling 2 days stuck in Rosita(she´s a truck, not a bus!!) we reached the police check point to the Pantanal. We had to change to local transport as the bridges in the Pantanal only have a 15T limit and Rosita is a heavy bitch at nearly 26T or something. -Went Pirana fishing and ate them. From river to plate in less than 2 hours :) -Went walking through Pantanal looking for Anaconda. Saw Wild pigs, Cavobara, lotsa birds including stalks, terns,...

Aug 12, 2008 - Worlds Largest Operational Hydro Electric Dam - Itaipu

The day start with us being at bit of a loose end, as we were going to get the bus to Florianópolis which is a island on the coast of Brazil. But our hostel manager phoned the bus station for us and found out that the bus 13 hour bus journey doesnt depart until 6pm! So we had a bit of lunch at the hostel, used the internet and then get a taxi which the hostel manager, Marcio, operates to the Itaipu Hydroelectric dam to do the tour at 2pm. The morning it had rained and looked like it was going to dry up, but sadly when we got to the dam is...

Aug 11, 2008 - Brazil - Iguaçu Falls

We got up around 8.30am today and went for breakfast at the hostel. There was a great buffet of random things, I had a cheese and ham sandwich, then some mellon, but having some chocolate cake and mini donut things. We then headed to the taxi rank to get a taxi to the waterfalls, there we badly communicated with a taxi driver about how much it was going to cost to get there by taxi. We thought he said it would cost 8 reales but it ended up costing us according to the meter 40 reales so that wasnt good, but oh well we live and learn once...

Aug 10, 2008 - Brazil - Foz do Iguazu

Today we headed for Brazil, we caught a bus from the terminal around 9.30am. This took us to the border to get our exit stamps from Argentina, and then on to the Brazilian imigration office where it left us to get our entry stamps. We then waited a while before getting the 2nd bus to come along as the one before was rammed full. In Foz Do Iguazu we got talking to a tourist information guy that was very helpful but a little clueless, to cut a short story shorter, we should have just got a taxi to our hotel as this guy gave us loads of chat...

Aug 5, 2008 - Iguacu Falls - A Natural Wonder

August 5-8 We spend the next 3 days in the south of Brazil at a city called Foz do Iguacu (Iguacu Falls). One word to describe this area is nothing short of "Spectacular". We've never seen anything quite like this natural wonder. We recommend a quick google search to see the falls in their entirety. Iguacu is a smaller city of sorts, so there isn't a whole lot to do other than tour the falls, however these falls are an absolute must see. There are 275 individual falls that occupy an area of 1.8 miles. The falls are shared between Brazil and...

Aug 1, 2008 - Foz do Iguacu and Puerto Iguazu

Days 19 & 20 Through a series of events, sold out and broken down busses, we made it to Foz do Iguacu - the Brazilian city that serves as both the border town to Argentina and Paraguay and hosts the local side of the amazing Iguazu Falls (275 falls up to 80m high, along 2.7km for those that are interested). These falls are supposedly more impressive than Victoria or Niagra and although neither of us have seen the others, it´s certainly not hard to believe. The Brazilian side offered the best panoramic views across the falls and the place...

Jul 30, 2008 - Rio to Iguassu

Well here goes for the first entry - hope it works. Thanks for all the messages and emails so far. I´ll try and respond to you all but may not be today. So we met our group and luckily everyone is lovely so that was a huge relief. There are 13 of us altogether including the tour guide. There´s another couple with us and then everyone else are single travellers. The age range is from 21-50 so we´re not the oldest either!! The bus we´re on is hilarious - once I´ve worked out how to upload photos I´ll put one on for you to see. It´s massive...

Jul 3, 2008 - Iguazu Falls

We flew to Foz do Iguazu (or Iguaçu) this morning - home to 60% of Iguazu Falls. The other 40% are on the Argentinian side. As soon as we checked in to the hotel, we got a cab to the Falls. Our cab driver was young-ish guy who spoke great English and he did a great job at being our tour guide. He helped us get our tickets at the office of the National Park and recommended a jet boat ride along the river to some of the falls. Now that was fun! Luckily, we wore our waterproof jackets because the spray coming off the falls was getting us quite...

Jun 24, 2008 - Day 9: Iguassu Falls-Argentina

After touring the Brazilian side of the Iguassu Falls yesterday, we were anxious to see a different view from Argentina today. We left our hotel and crossed the border around 8:30 this morning. After entering the park, we immediately made our way to a small train, which took us to La Garganta del Diablo (Devil´s Throat). We hiked on pathways through the sub tropical jungle, and then over metal bridges to see the falls up close. Devil´s Throat has water pouring into it from three sides. We were able to walk right up to the falls, and we had...