Iguazu Falls

Big waterfall, very very big. Check the photos. The falls are on the border between Argentina and Brazil. From the Brazilian side we got a great panoramic view but made the mistake of staying in the most miserable town known to man for 2 days – Foz do Iguaçu. Bad idea!! But that made us even happier to land on Argentine soil. A language one of us could sort of understand and much much cheaper for a pint...smiles all round!!

On this side we could get up pretty close to the falls and had the opportunity to get a boat ride under them...the river had risen to more than twice its normal height so all of the boats were cancelled from one point on the river. To get the boat from further down we had to get the whole package which included a jeep tour. Was a bit more pricy but definitely worth it because we got to see a toucan and some monkeys swinging about as well...one was very rude and decided to masturbate in front of us...lovely stuff!! And we also nearly walked on a snake on our way back to the bus. Anyway, it was certainly a few days to remember and a great start to our trip into Argentina...next stop Córdoba!

Florianopolis (20th - 25th April)

We had heard so much about Florianopolis (or Floripa as the locals call it) so we couldn’t wait to get here – surf, sea, sandboarding...what more could you ask for? For it not to rain for the entire 5 days we were there! That ruled out the sandboarding so we’ll have to put that on hold until we get to Peru so I was a bit gutted about that but that didn’t put the surfing on hold. I finally convinced Mitch to go for his first lesson! And what a lesson it was. Getting over the initial mortification of Mitch doing stretches in his wetsuit (so not cool!) we grabbed our boards and headed into the water with our surf instructor who had 3 phrases in English and not a word more...”Shayne (as in me!), put pressure in front”, “Meech, stand up, stand up now” and “very good”. But what can I say...Mitch was a natural, standing up on his very first wave and riding it into the shore. I couldn’t believe it. It was the definitely the best fun we had on the trip so far. For a guy who didn’t have a word of English, he was the best instructor I’ve had as well...a far cry from Californian Mike (private joke between me and my sis!). After a few days of rain we decided that we’d had enough and made our way west towards Foz do Iguacu to see our first wonder of South America and make our way onto Argentinean soil...I couldn’t wait!

Shar x

(pic: Barra Lagoa)

Paraty (16th - 19th April)

And so we made our next trip down the coast to the little colonial town of Paraty. Initially getting off the bus we wondered why the hell we decided to stop here but after a little exploring to the other end of the town we discovered the beauty tucked away beyond the canal. We decided to take a trip to some waterfalls on the first day. A Brazilian dude in a crazy yellow jeep from the sixties collected us and another couple to bring us on our day trip. Mitch dared the freezing waters in the first waterfall bravely enough which was quite entertaining. Then he got even braver on the next waterfall and swung off a rope into the eerie waters below. The next waterfall was the best where you literally slide down them into the pools below...I took a massive hopper at the beginning not realising how slippy the rocks actually were...cringe for me! And the trip to the last waterfall was definitely the most entertaining of the trip so far (see video below!!). I’m still giggling away to myself thinking about it. We didn’t stay long in Paraty...just a few days to enjoy the sites was all we needed and then endured our first long South American bus ride of 18 hours to Florianópolis...another stunning island.
(pic:me in front of waterfall...obviously!)

Ilha Grande (11th - 16th April)

Ilha Grande or Isle de Grande as I like to refer to it, was in many ways the opposite of Rio. Breathtakingly stunning and completely relaxing. After finally arriving on the island we booked into our hostel which overlooked the beach. Later in the week we attempted our first dose of camping. We soon learnt that leaving food out in front of the tent overnight was not a clever idea, as we discovered a sea of ants covering the area around our tent when we got up in the middle of the night for a pee. I soon took charge of the situation, destroying an entire fleet of the blighters with a combination of feet stamping and insect repellent.
We took a five hour marathon trek across the island towards a beach located on the other side. The beach was located just off a ghost town. Apparently a Prison once operated there so a mini town was constructed, now all completely abandoned. Interesting huh?
We’re gradually becoming more sociable and meeting some interesting people and some annoying losers. One guy decided a conversation about the Holocaust would be a good ice breaker...apparently numbers of the dead were exaggerated...it was actually 5 million not 6 million. We thought he was missing the point. Luckily we found a great couple from Argentina (who we later discovered aren’t a couple) who brought us on the trek. I tested the water a bit whilst we were on neutral soil, and brought up the Falklands. That went down like a lead balloon. Luckily we made a good impression on them and are meeting up with them in Buenos Aires for a tour of the city.
Despite the traumatising ants and getting lost in the pitch black on another trek through the jungle Ilha Grande left a great impression and we were sad to say goodbye. Next stop: Paraty.
Kisses and hugs
Mitch
(pic: me on the Dios Rios beach after our hike)

Rio de Janeiro (7th - 11th April)

So after the initial drama in Sao Paolo and replying to the million texts from home asking if we were killed in the mudslides in Rio even though we were on a plane the entire time the floods were happening, we settled into our pleasant hostel in Rio located about a hundred metres from Ipanema beach. We spent 4 interesting days in Rio...luckily we managed to somehow aviod being soaked in the unbelievable torrential downpours every half hour but still managed to get roasted alive in the half hour sunshine in between...it wasn't hard to spot the tomato coloured Irish! It wasn't the most relaxing few days after hearing some stories...our room mate telling us he was held up at gun point (which actually turned out to be the guy's hand in the shape of a gun under his shirt...but still kinda scary) and an elderly Irish couple we met were held up at knife point but that also ended up quite funny with him chasing this Brazilian lad down the street screaming obsenities at him...quite funny to imagine! Anyway, despite the jetlag we had a blast! And so we packed our bags for a relaxing few days in Ilha Grande. We decided to pay the extra tenner to get a direct transfer straight from the hostel to the island which we were told would save us 2 hours but actually ended up taking 4 hours longer...because the boat they usually used sank that morning...luckily I managed to keep this information from Mitch until we landed on the island.
Shar xx
(pic: surfers on Copacabana beach)

Dazed & Confused in Sao Paolo...

After many months of planing we final arrived on South American soil, dazed and confused as we were in Sao Paulo rather than as expected Rio de Janeiro. After a mini heart attack from Mitch we found out that we were in fact having to do another connection!! So here we are trying to find out when the hell we’re going to get outta here!