Overland Trip - Brazil

4th February - Day 5

Brazil!

So here we are, in Brazil, over the other side of Iguazu Falls.

In desperate need of some cash, so glad to see an ATM here at the falls, though not so glad that my R60 withdrawal is issued in R2 notes. Glad I didn't need R500!

Similarly great views of the falls from this side, though less ground to cover, so we finish by early afternoon. In fact, kick ourselves that we left so early as the Bird Park is quite expensive (R22 each - over a fiver!)and we choose not to bother going in anyway.

Because the camp site we are staying at is so poor, and in fact we were supposed to have rooms rather than camping, Duncan scores us a hotel in town. Manage a quick game of pingpong before we head off - a narrow victory by Chris.

The hotel in town is fine - A/C, own bathroom etc etc. All had planed to meet around the pool for an early start to Mike's birthday celebrations, but the rain comes and Chris and I snooze instead.

Meet up for dinner at 7.30, though takes a while to get everyone to agree to where we are going. Bloody rain has continued, so we arrive at the restaurant, damp. Good food, better cocktails.

Back in the room to watch the final quarter of the Superbowl. Have no idea what is going on on the field, but the Indianapolis Colts hammer The Chicago Bears, 29-17. Like here in town, it's soggy in Miami.

5th February - Day 6

Left early, 7.55 after buffet breakfast. Yes, cakes for breakfast.

Drove all day, 14 hours. Grateful for Ipod, and Uno cards.

Scenery becoming more hilly, well, more than Argentina, also more tropical.

Wow, what a long day, sitting on our backsides.

Cross a timezone today, so arrive at a grotty hotel at 10pm, rather than 11pm.

Did I mention that the hotel was grotty?

6th February - Day 7

On the flipside, grateful for the long drive yesterday, as it means we get into Bonito nice and early, and the pick of the best camping spots. Again, we are at another campsite, that doesn't really cater for campers - it's just a small patch of dusty land within the hostel compound. I suppose we're quite lucky - the other guys on the other Exodus truck will be setting up their tents on gravel spots, next to where the trucks are parked.

Played volleyball in the pool, beat the Dragoman guys, though that was only because they were worse than us, rather than us being in any way skillful.

Lots of activities to do out of Bonito, though disappointed that the quad bike trip is off.

We sign up for the toobin' (tubing), later this afternoon.

Great fun down at the river, though never seen, or been bitten by, so many mossies before.

The water is crystal clear, though not flowing a quickly as we would like, to turn the toobin' into something a little more reckless. Anyway, things are interesting as the group navigate the first waterfall - most of us go under, then struggle to get back into the saddle.

Of course, this sort of excursion wouldn't be the same without many attempts at dunking. Then, some more waterfalls and rapids. Then some more dunking.

Sorry that the trip is over within the hour, before we're back on land and at the mercy of the mosquitos. Christine thinks that there are at least a million mosquitos, or more, here.

Paul's group have their turn at cooking tonight, so Gerry, Andy and I get cracking at 5. Celia nowhere to be seen, though we understand that she is 'cooking' elsewhere, with one of the guys from the other Exodus truck....

Dinner took a while to finish, so not off onto town until 9pm. Walked down the main street, but not much going on - maybe we're a little early - so, head back to the small bar opposite the campsite, where there's a bit more action going on. Enjoyed a few beers, before a hot night in the tent. Sorry, that's a hot, uncomfortable, night trying to sleep in the tent. It's too hot for 'that'.

7th February - Day 8

During the night, Paul had a big strop after Christine had earlier suggested that we remove the fly-sheet from the tent. A good idea on the one hand, though it meant that we then couldn't have the side doors open for some breeze to come through, also, the thatched roof over the tents has lights underneath, so we were lit up like a Christmas tree. Dazzled, and dripping with sweat, we managed a couple of hours uncomfortable sleep. As I transfer the details of this from paper diary to online one, I read that I was 'out of order'.

As well as the discomfort side of things, we also had a big thunderstorm to contend with. The rain wasn't a problem, as we had the thatched roof above us (though that could have ignited from the lightning!), but the thunder was deafening. And little Chris was scared.

Oh, and sorry Tom, for mentioning it, but you were snoring like a trooper tonight.

In the morning, after a pretty good breakfast at the hostel/campsite, we walked down the main street, though it's not particularly nice, nothing much to see.

Splashed around in the pool a bit, had a snooze (Chris) and caught up with the diary (Chris again).

BBQ at the hostel tonight, very nice, though just enough to go around. Poor Veggie Sonja arrived just in time for only meat left.

Across the road at the little local bar a group of us settled down for some drinks, including our new favourite, Caiprinha, though they do seem to give Paul a red face. Sarah and I chatted by the pool for a while, leaving Chris and Emily to the Caiprinhas. A little while later Sarah and I returned to find Chris a little more gobby than before, though Emily seemed to be in one piece.

In bed (or a hot tent) by 4.30am. Slept like a baby after a gallon of Caiprinha.

8th February - Day 9

Last night not the best night to have a late one, as we're up early for a drive out to the river where we'll be snorkelling.

The bumpy road to Rio de Prata not agreeing with anyone in particular, though Emily the only one to physically respond to the bumps. Out of the back window, though remarkably, completely clear of the side of the truck.

Annoyed that we arrived so early to find that our groups wouldn't be going off for 3 or more hours. Yep, the lunch was nice, but it was sooo hot, and desite the lure of hammocks, the fact that they were in direct midday sunlight put most off.

The 'trip' starts with getting your wetsuit on - uncomfortably hot and tight. We 're then driven a short way to the jungle for a 30 minute walk - again, not great in a skintight wetsuit, though good to be mostly covered from the billion (roughly) mosquitos around us.

Couldn't wait to get into the water - it's perfectly clear, and the sunlight illuminates the underwater scene perfectly. Lots of (big) fish around, and we're excited/mildy petrified that we might see Caymans or Anacondas. Unfortunately neither of the latter show, but the underwater views as we're carried down the river are fantastic. One spot where the springs come out of the ground, stirring up the sand like lava.

Chris took charge of the underwater digital camera that we hored from the hostel - got some great shots of our group and the scenery, above and below the water.

Enjoyed the sunset views from the front of the truck as we drove back. Saw a pair of Toucan's flying around.

Had nice, but relatively expensive, dinner with Sarah and Emily in town.

Sorry to hear when we get back that Tom has been to hospital and on a drip. Maybe someone could swap his beer cans for water. Grown-ups, eh - when will they ever learn.

At least Tom is getting a good sleep - he can probably be heard snoring in Rio. That's not over in Rio de Janeiro, but the fancy nightclub in the north of England.

9th February - Day 10

Head out of Bonito, and drove towards the Pantanal.

Long and bumpy road - we had to take a longwinded detour as the part of the usual route had been washed away.

Lucky folks at the front of the truck get to see an Anaconda, though most of the rest of us see a Capybara (biggest rodent, size of a big dog), and some Cayman snoozing by the edge of the water.

Plagued by mosquitos whenever we stopped, but was too hot to close the windows. Got overtaken by a tourist group on the back of an open truck - lots of laughs as they speed past us. 10 km's up the road, we trundle past them as the driver looks under the hood to see what's broken. Oh well, keeps the mosquitos off us for a bit.

Whilst most of the small wooden bridges along the way are quite safe, we come across one that's looking somewhat dangerous and has two huge holes (and lots of little ones), so off we all get and our stunt driver gets the truck across safely. Of course, there is a high risk that some of us have contracted Dengue Fever whilst waiting and being preyed upon.

Due to the high waters in this area, we need to be collected by boat for our final part of the journey to the 'Lodge'. Took us about an hour to get there, but was a nice ride on the way. Paul and Sarah administered Wet Willies to Graham and Emily sitting in front of us.

Arrived at the lodge at about 5.30, and met by Chica, the pet Howler Monkey at the Lodge. Friendly little monkey, seems to like human contact, though makes some strange noises!

Rooms lovely, though it's a bit naughty that the single girls have to share a room for 5, where everyone else is in rooms for 2 or 3 at the most. Cue a few long faces, but I guess I wouldn't be happy with that either.

Thought we'd get out of the heat (temperature, not the mood) by jumping in the pool, only to find it's like a bath. Still nice all the same and we play some mock-volleyball - Andy & Gerry, Andy, Chris and I.

Nice food and good chat around the bar area. Thumped Duncan at Backgammon.

10th February - Day 11

There's a few excursions planned for us here, and we're split into a few groups.

Up at 6.30am for a nice breakfast, then Chris goes off on a hike, a short boat trip, then back on foot for a trail. A little disappointed with the lack of birdlife, though the group came across a Jaguar footprint by the water. Other wildlife seen - a Coati, a deer and Cayman (is the plural Caymen?).

Whilst Chris was on this trip, Paul went off to do some Piranha fishing. We stopped at several sites, and cast our line-on-the-end-of-a-bamboo from the boat. Gerry was the first to catch a Piranha at the second site.

Most folks caught something, though not every one a Piranha. They're smaller than I thought, though the teeth look menacing. Never found out the truth to the myth that a group of Piranhas can strip a cow in 3 minutes.

After lunch we relaxed around the lodge, then Chris went off horseriding. The ride was for 90 minutes and the group managed a couple of gallops towards the end. Had a great time, and Chris pleased with the condition of the horses, though they did have ticks (the insects rather than facial twitching).

At the same time, Paul went out on the same walk that the other group did earlier. Probably due in some part to the number of people walking through the jungle (about 20), I guess we managed to scare away any wildlife, though we see a deer, Caymen and various birds. Thankfully it stayed dry after the earlier rains. Saved a small bird that we saw floundering in the water, and put it on the bank. Sadly it's likely to simply be death by starvation (or being eaten by something else) than drowning.

After dinner we have a short slide show and talk through the Pantanal area. We haven't even scratched the surface of the 89,000 sq miles that the park covers.

11th February - Day 12

Due to popular demand, the guys arrange a further chance to do some Piranha fishing, though it's off the bank this time as the boats are being used to ferry the other Exodus group back to their truck.

Paul gets some welcome extra sleep - unfortunately the guys catch 'nada', except a few more mozzie bites.

Before lunch we had one last dip in the pool, then onto the boats for our journey back. Clouds looking threatening, but in the event, some folks get a little sunburn.

From the boat we saw a few Hawks, Caymen and huge Storks. Shame we spent so little time in the Pantanal - we though we'd get three full days, however, we get about half that. Was nice though, and glad to have a comfortable room and good food.

Lots of ground to cover this afternoon, and we drive up and through Campo Grande until 10pm. We grab some food on arrival, then off to bed for an early start the next day.

12th February - Day 13

Not a lot to report on today - on the road by 7.30 am, and cruised until it was dark again. Arrived in Itatiba after driving around the area for at least an hour trying to find somewhere to stay. No luck at the Comfort Inn, and further good luck when we hit a speed bump and something sounds like it has broken. Oh well, we're still moving, so we won't ask any questions.

Finally find somewhere to take us in, but it's past 1am.

Apparently, we have a broken anti-rollbar mounting. No big deal...

13th February - Day 14

Supposed to be away by 8.30am and make some ground on all the other trucks making a beeline for the coastal town of Paraty.

However, last night's damage is a little bit worse than expected and we need some welding. Could have been worse, and we're away by late morning.

Once we're on the road, the scenery perks up as we make our way over the hills and towards the coast. Went through some beautiful rainforest - again, fantastic coastal views, totally unexpected.

Arrived at the campsite in Paraty about 5ish, though our group is a little smaller now, with some folks opting for more comfortable accomodation nearer to town. Splitters.

Oh well, the rest of us are happy and get on with dinner for 12 instead of 20.

Paul stayed up for a few drinks (what?, I thought the bottles of wine were truck stores and needed to be used up.... - sorry Kim, hope you found a replacement bottle of Argie Red at the back of the truck), but Chris gets her head down to try and get rid of the headache.

Thankfully, the drummers practising for Carnaval stopped at midnight-ish.

14th February - Day 15

Not a St Valentine's reminder in sight.

With the group now smaller, and the idea of cook groups now out of the window, most of the rest of us club together to get breakfast done.

Spent part of the morning on the beach, just, literally, across the road from the campsite.

Nice and peaceful, and very green surroundings - reminds us of some of the island beaches in Thailand. Water remains shallow for hundreds of metres out from the shore. Quite murky.

Afternoon, and we're wandering around the pretty, 'old' town. It's nicely decorated ahead of Carnaval time, with lots of street bunting and masks hanging down at all the crossroads between the buildings.

Found a self-service icecream shop, where you pay by weight. Lots of flavours, toppings, sauces etc. Will be coming back here!

Whilst exploring the cobbled streets we bump into Kim, Julia and Celia - we're reminded that we need food for the next couple of group meals, so Chris and Julia head for the supermarket, Paul heads back to do some 'chores', which ended up being a snooze in the shade by the water.

Whilst we'now got lots of food to cook, tonight was prearanged for a Thai meal in town. Most of the group re-form, including Tom and May who had spent more time at the hospital, getting Tom's nasty-looking leg sorted out.

Food nice, though we share a dish cos it's a bit pricey. Good to have something spicy for a change.

Drinks in a local bar afterwards, though we don't hang around too long to avoid the covercharge for the band about to play. Cheapskates, again.

Walked back to 20 minutes to the campsite, and listened to some loud music playing nearby. Didn't go on too late, thankfully. Still finding it hot sleeping in the tent, though determinded not to cave in and get a room elsewhere. Only a few days to go until we get to Rio, though we're panicking a bit because we hadn't sorted out paying a supplement for a double room for our 'Rio extension trip' - never heard of such a thing before, yes a single supplement, but never a double supplement. As well as being split up into single-sex rooms, it now sounds like we could be in different hotels. Not looking good, and Exodus don't seem to be able to sort anything out for us now - tough shit, apparently....

15th February - Day 16

Out on a boat trip today, so after breakfast we make our way to the pier. Emily and Sarah doing their own thing today.

There's quite a lot of us crammed on the boat, but we're probably just about on the safe side. Luckily we're on quite quickly and snag a couple of spots to stretch out on - there's also big canopy covering the sitting/lying areas, so not aggro from the sun today, unless we want it.

Off cruising, the scenery is great, the water calm and smooth sailing (well, under diesel power).

We pass lots of smaller islands, including some which are now 'exclusive' resorts.

An hour or so into the trip we pull up, unfortunately all the boats seem to have a similar route, and have a snorkel. Not a lot to see, even though the water is clear. Most folks doing some sort of acrobatics off the side - lots of belly flops.

After a bit more luxury cruising (it's really relaxing under the shade), we stop at a beach, where we jump off the side to swim to shore. Took a short walk up the length of the beach, again, scenery gorgeous around us.

Next stop, lunch, and we pull up next to one of the islands - this one belongs to one of the bigshots who runs Fiat here in Brasil, apparently. They must be selling more Punto's than I thought - this place looks amazing. Good food, thankfully served one by one, so no mad rush, and no running out of buffet food.

The next gorgeous bay awaits, though this time Paul is content to snooze whilst most others get into the beautiful green water.

Really nice, relaxing, day.

Couldn't have been polished off better than by our second visit to the pay-by-weight icecream emporium.

On the way back we stop and have a look at the crafts stall - we need new temporary engagement rings - the current ones have lost their colour and are now a plain pale tan, though you can still make out the octopus shapes on Paul's. Really went to town on the new ones, at 5 Reais EACH! That'll be about GBP2.50! Much better fit this time, and they're metallic shiny black.

After dinner (perhaps the best truck dinner yet(?) - sausages!), we make our way into town for some drinks - Pina Colada's and Caiprinha's, from the little stall by the pretty square.

Soon got rained under cover - luckily the nearby basketball court had been covered by a huge marquee. Chatted with Graham, Mike, Gerry and Andy whilst watching Brazillian martial arts. 'Capoeira' came about because the Africans who were enslaved by the European colonists weren't allowed to practice their fighting arts for obvious reasons. So they disguised their art as a ritualistic dance. Thus Capoeira has a very distinguishable rythym and is still often practiced to music, as it was here tonight. It is believed that modern break-dancing is a decendant of this art.

Good to see the group simply performing to be social, rather than a tourist show.

Managed to make it back to the campsite in-between burst of rain. Music still loud nearby, still 250 degrees in the tent. Manage some sleep....in the end.

16th February - Day 17

Always a pain to be moving on, though we'll be arriving in Rio in just a few short hours...

Up early to get on with breakfast, most folk chip in to help get things ready. Then we're all on truck cleaning duty - everything needs cleaning, all the cooking gear, all inside the truck etc etc.

Didn't go too bad, and we're done within an hour or so. Kim gives us a clean bill of health.

On the road by 9.30am - we're the first Exodus truck to leave, which gives Chris and me a little more hope that there'll be something we can sort out room-wise when we arrive in town.

The scenery is breathtaking along the high coast road and we enjoy at least the first couple of hours, until we move more inland and nearer to the city.

Bit of a crush as we arrive outside the Imperial Hotel in Catete - everyone trying to pack and/or get their mountain of gear off the truck. Chris jumps off to speak with the man who can hopefully help us with our room. We've decided to go the pleasant route, rather than kicking and screaming...

5 minutes later, Paul gets into reception with the bags and Chris seems to be making little progress with securing our own rooms. Whether it was the right thing to do or not, Paul steps in with his size 11's (US size 12) and tries the kicking and screaming route, well, not quite literally.

Big relief as we are offered the chance to upgrade, for the same price as we could/should have paid for a double supplement when we booked. We seem to have scored a suite too, so we're up on the deal, especially as we were offered a suite upgrade a few days ago for US$190 each. Still disappointed that Exodus choose to arrange the Rio accomodation so that you need to pay a supplement for a double room - no-one when we booked ever mentioned that we'd be split up if we didn't upgrade, and it's not a cheap part of the trip at the outset - about GBP500 for this 5 day 'extension'. Oh, and since we booked, many months ago, the price went up on both the Buenos Aires to Rio trip, and the Rio Carnaval extension. Annoying!

Anyway, enough moaning, we're relieved and happy. The room is great, and a few steps from the small, but perfectly formed, pool.

Rio experience continues on next thread.....