Parque Hotel Perequê Paraty

... like being in England except with different scenery and very big waves.

...we may have time later on to tell about the lady who appeared on the beach with a huge, dead creature resembling an anteater/armidillo and then chucked it in the sea before showing us it's hairless tiny babies...another time

See ya,
Mike (and Gem)

p.s. having trouble uploading pics - sorry. We're off to Foz de Iguazu via Sau Paulo tomorrow. 24 hours journey, by bus.

... looked a bit dubious so we decided to leave the boat trip till the next day. We instead went for a walk to the fort and over to Jabaquara beach. We decided to take the coastal route on the way over, scrambling over rocks and wading through water, we nearly got stranded at some points because the rocks were impassible - it made for an interesting trip. We eventually made it to the beach and had a great day just relaxing on ...

... thank you, Uruguay). After my 3 days of walking and light eating in Buenos Aires, I was convinced I would come back a good bit lighter, but after sitting and sitting and having meals of cookies for dinner on buses, I began to see why my tour leader said she gained weight from her job. I was in for an early night after catching a cold, but was determined to find a 2nd half to the swimsuit I had just bought and lost (without having ever worn in). I walked around the main ...

... to take our bag, on our second to last day. Of course, things can happen to anyone at anytime and we were lucky, but the horror stories told by all travelers don't necessarily happen on 100% of visits to Brasil. My conclusion was to be cautious and vigilant at all times, but that the country wasn't any more overtly dangerous than a lot of other places that it should prevent travelers from visiting. I was anxious to see, given its historic dangerous ...

... on a bike who was trying to make us stay at one of the local guesthouses. When we finally found a nice one, they didnt have any double rooms but we were happy to stay in a dorm after walking around in the heat for so long - until it turned out that they were fully booked for the 2nd night..So we started walking again and ran into the bike again a few more times until we found a nice hostel in the historic town that is run ...

... plan was to go see him. He is so high up that you can see him from almost everywhere in Rio & the views from his feet are spectacular. Unsuprisingly (but quite frustratingly) there were loads of people all trying to get the perfect pic but we were all challanged by the clouds - i did finally get a picture where his head was not hidden in a mass of white swirlling clouds as well of one of me (plus at least a dozen other tourists) with ...

... Flamengo lost actually 1-3 but it wasn´t really for the football itself that I went but more for the great atmosphere you have watching football here in South America. Football is a passion here and people are chanting and dancing in the stadium long time before the game even starts. When the game starts, people then get really excited with every little action happening on the field, really a great experience...

After all ...

... Shady vendors also travel with the crowd as it seeps along the balmy streets, conveniently selling ice-cold grog for a pound a can, making Carnaval days possibly the cheapest benders you´re likely to experience.

To add yet more fizz to the proceedings, nearly all Brazilians are adorned in fancy dress; from pirates to sailors, Angels to Devils, Superman to Spiderman, The Smurfs to Pink Panther. We even spotted two burly ...

... the first day before setting sail and honestly, it was lucky we had our shades on as during the Captains welcome-on-board speech, our eyes were rolling in the back of our heads and 10 minutes later we were out like a light even missing the call for dinner ( I dont think Reemah or I have EVER missed a meal!!) Sad to say goodbye to the ship but so excited to get back on dry land, a normal bed and sadly, I was completely ecstatic about doing all my washing!! Hmm....

... on the third day to rain showers that would last the next three days. I would find myself heading out to the beach for about an hour each day when the rain would briefly stop. It was quite disappointing to be at some of the world’s most famous beaches only to be rained out.

Since I went to see a tango show while I was in Buenos Aires I figured it was required to attend a samba show --- hands down the tango ...