Brazil

16th February

Catete - Rio de Janeiro

So, our room is sorted and our Rio experience begins.

Last group meal at a nearby restaurant, the Catete Grill. Food good here, buffet style, though you pay for your meal by weight. The meat is very good. Nice for everyone to be here together, though maybe the atmosphere is a little split - Kim's upset about some of the feedback that has been given, and maybe the group has splintered a bit over the last few days, especially where folks have stayed in different accomodation here and there.

Before the first big night out, the 100+ group get a briefing session from Exodus, including some do's and dont's around Rio. We're a little apprehensive about being here, you read so much about the robberies/muggings - of course, Sarah on our group braved coming back to Rio after getting robbed at knifepoint just a couple of months ago. So, we do our best to look like scummy tourists who have nothing. Quite easy, then.

We head into Lapa in a couple of taxi's - there's a small street parade due to happen, and it's quite a busy nightlife area too.

Lots of food and drink stalls around - plenty of noise and the atmosphere is exciting. Of course, wouldn't be right without a Caiprinha in hand, so get a large one. Chris remains on the beers in the meantime.

Generally hung around by the viaduct, soaking up what's going on around us. Unfortunately, also continually reminded about needing to be safe, and all of us sticking together.

Met some friendly guys from another overland truck. The Dutch, what a friendly bunch.

Not too late to bed, around 1ish, probably when most folks are heading out.

Saturday 17th February

Busy day today - we've signed up for both the City Tour (part of the extension package) as well as the football down at the Macarana Stadium later this afternoon. There's a chance that we'll need to jump off the tour and get a taxi to the stadium if time gets tight.

First stop on the tour is the Cathedral - an unusual concrete 'cone' - huge stained glass windows. In some ways it's an eyesore, but it's still an impressive building, especially inside - it's huge. Unfortunately, only 10 minutes here - I guess this tour will be rather whistlestop.

Next, we stop at the Macarana Stadium, though only the view at the gates, so really no view at all. The stadium once held over 200,000 fans, though now maxes out at around 100,000 since it was converted to allseater in the 90's. Also, it's the home stadium for local teams Flamengo, Botafogo, Fluminense and Vasco da Gama. We're seeing the latter two later on. More about that later...

Back on the coach and we're heading towards the Corcovado Mountain, in the National Park, via Santa Theresa.

On the hill, the neighbourhood of Santa Theresa is a mix of rich and poor. On one side of the road is a favela, on the other sits a mansion! Apparently the rich folks avoid trouble (robberies etc) by turning a blind eye to the crime/drugs in the area.

So, the Corcavado, (Portuguese for Hunchback and at 710 metres (2,330 ft)), the granite peak is located in the Tijuca Forest. Corcovado mountain lies just west of the city center but is wholly within the city limits and visible from great distances - it's amazing how close the National Park is to the city.

It is best known for the 38-metre (125 ft) statue of Jesus that graces its peak, entitled 'Cristo Redentor' or 'Christ the Redeemer'.

The views from here are amazing - there can't be many cities that boast these views, spreading across the whole city, but also taking in the neighbouring islands, Sugarloaf Mountain, as well as the beaches, including Ipanema and Copacabana. Which look packed from up here!

Quite lucky with the weather today, the skies are clear blue - yesterday, the top of the mountain was covered in cloud.

Bit of a nightmare getting back down to the coach in the minibus, the narrow road is gridlocked!

Soon on our way though, and now for a lunch at a grill restaurant near Copacabana. Similar to the Catete Grill - each as much as you like/can - mountains of meat! One oddity, the rubber band I found at the bottom of my beer, just as I was finishing it. Oh well, no harm done, and a free beer in hand.

A lot of these typs of restaurants also have sushi, where of course you'll find that tasty green 'paste', Wasabi. Chris and I don't really do sushi, though Chris really likes Guacamole, which looks very similar.

There are several differences, though in this situation the main one is how hot Wasabi can be, especially if you try and eat a spoonful of it!! Cue a shocked looking face and the clearest sinuses in town!

After lunch we're off to Sugarloaf (Pao de Azucar), where we board two cable cars that take us to the top.

Paul a little unsure - these cable cars are high, and travel between peaks (with a big drop in the middle), rather than hugging the side of the mountain and going up, pylon-by-pylon.

Anyway, we all get on (the cars take up to 70 people at a time) and it's actually a nice ride, especially when we go through some low patches of cloud.

The first stop is at 215 metres, then the main peak at 396 metres. Great views of the city and surrounding coastline from here, again lucky with the weather conditions.

Thankfully not too rushed and we have plenty of time to enjoy the scenery.

Met up again at 3.15 for the ride back (looks like we'll be back in time to catch the coach from the hotel to the footie) via Copacabana.

So, on another coach we head towards the Maracana Stadium, to see Fluminense play Vasco de Gama - two of Rio's main teams. The 'package' was booked though the hotel and cost R90, about GBP23.

No huge crowds as we arrive, though we about 90 minutes away from kickoff. Most folks notice that the ticket price has been cunningly hidden - well, nearly hidden - we can see the ticket price R15, just over GBP3! Bit of a rip off that we've essentially paid R75 for a short coach ride there and back.

More annoying is that we all jumped to put our names down for tickets as we're told it'll be sold out, a huge match etc etc. Well, when we get in the stadium, it's less than a quarter full, though there's still an hour to go. 55 minutes later, we about a third full - whole blocks remain empty, though there's still quite a bit of noise.

Atmosphere therefore not great, though the match is pretty good, with 4 goals on each side.

Dire traffic on the way back, especially through Lapa - wish we had just got off here, place was buzzing.

By the time we got back to the hotel, about 10pm, most folks went to bed, including Chris who wasn't feeling great. Paul went out with Graham, Julia and Andy, just local, though not for too long.

Sunday 18th February

Met folks at breakfast and a few of us took the metro (nice and clean, cheap - felt safe) to Copacabana Beach, the station just a few minutes away.

It's roasting hot when we get here, just before midday, and it looks like the whole world got here just before us.

The beach is amazing, 4kms long, and the sand is beautiful. Of course, we did expect it to be busy, but we've never seen so many people on a beach before. Must be 100 metres deep with people, right up to where the surf is crashing in - yes, and it's really crashing in, but lots of fun.

We set up our sarongs and towels on the street side of the crowds, and feel like the only white tourists here.

Paul disappointed with some of the sights on the beach - not what we see in the postcards, and lots of big girls, and boys, barely fitting into their gstrings. Please, less flesh.

Didn't spend too long in the sun before needing to get into the water - quite a bit colder than anticipated, but very refreshing from the heat. Graham lost his hat and glasses after failing to see a freak wave coming in, though found them luckily.

Simply too many people here - you wouldn't be able to walk along the front without climbing over people.

The heat gets us after just a couple of hours and most of us head off in various directions - Chris, Julia, Andy and I walk along the front to see the interesting sand sculptures, then towards the nearest icecream shop, where Chris finds her best ever Coffee icecream.

Got a little lost walking back to the station - took ages, but found it in the end.

Tonight we're off to the Sambadrome for one of the main processions, and to prepare ourselves for a nightlong party, we head out for dinner and an all you can eat Pizza, which serves pizza with chocolate and icecream toppings. Tastes a lot better than it sounds, but we've all overdone it with too many slices.

Back to the hotel via the supermarket and we stock up on some vodka (GBP2 a litre! - paintstripper probably) and some Red Bull (substitute) to take the taste of the cheap vodka away.

Bit pushed for time so we mix our vodka/red bull in the hotel lobby as we collect our tickets for the Sambadrome.

Armed with mixed drinks and 'crazy' wigs we get on the coach for the ride across town.

Traffic heavy as we're dropped off by our entrance into the Sambadrome - the group makes it's way through the entrance and we get into our block. Great tickets (sector 11), great view. These tickets are also part of our extension tour with Exodus - surely would have been a nightmare to source them ourselves...

The Sambadrome is a purpose built 'runway' for the competing Samba schools to take their procession through. It's half a kilometre long and a bit like a grandstand section of a grandprix track, with seats high up on each side.

Each school will have around 4000 dancers, and they get 1hr 20 minutes to get through their run - penalties apply if they take too long!

The atmosphere is amazing, and that's before the floats start to make their way through! When they come, it's a real mix of sound, colour and action - never had this experience before. The processions generally follow a theme, or mix of themes, so each procession is very different in itself. Whilst the accompanying samba music is full of energy, the songs do get repetitive - one song in 100 minutes!

The 'show' continues through the night, and we leave at the end, around 5.30. As a fairly big group, we are happy to make our way to the nearest metro station, rather than wait for a taxi, with the thousands of other folks going home.

Whilst lots of people around, the journey back is surprisingly easy and quick - we're back at the hotel just in time for breakfast, though bed is desperately calling.

What a fantastic night! - everyone has a great time, and no injuries.

Monday 19th February

Bearing in mind we didn't get to bed until 7am, we're not going to be doing too much today.

Paul got fidgety and went out to try and get some photos put onto DVD - another wasted 2 hours, discs don't work!

Chris had stayed in bed a little longer, did some laundry and then enjoyed the pool for a bit.

Met up in the lobby to see what everyone else was up to that evening - in the end we went out with Graham to a bar in Copacabana, to find it populated by hookers, and dirty old men. That said, we stayed for a couple of drinks! Only.

Left Graham at the bar at about 1ish, and on the metro we wondered whether we should go down to the Sambadrome and enjoy the atmosphere down there (the second half of the league was performing tonight). Decided against it as just the two of us - would have felt safer in numbers.

Tuesday 20th February

After breakfast, Chris went to the Botanical Gardens with Gill, Neil, Tom, May and Andy - a lovely venue of very tall palms and lots of nice flowers - highlight was seeing a hummingbird, and watching it nibbling the nectar.

Didn't realise how small they are!

Had lunch at the Gardens and got back about 3.30ish, then she went out with Gill, May and Andy to pick up a few bits for tonights Gay Ball! Paul had already sorted his 'outfit'.

Paul had spent most of the day either sleeping, or trying, again, to get the pictures onto DVD. This time it was simply taking too long and probably would have taken another 3 hours on top of the two I had already wasted. AAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH. At least he managed to relax in the pool for a bit.

More importantly, we're now getting ready for the Gay Ball, at the Scala. Glad that most folks on our trip are coming, and everyone is expected to be in some kind of outfit.

Paul's is nice and easy, a below-the-knee, Brazil-flag dress. The material is a little flimsy, so won't be going commando tonight. Of course, there's a sprinkling of glitter to add some emphasis to the shoulders.

Chris is going something like Daisy Duke - we managed to cut her jeans into some hotpants, and she has a mesh-like scarf loosely secured around the top bits. There's two little bits of discreet duct-tape in there too. Actually, I don't remember seeing Daisy Duke's boobs like that before.

Feel a little nervous as we head down to the lobby, where about 50 of us are meeting.

Everyone looks great in their outfits (or lack of, thanks Celia) and should be a great night.

"Taxi, for a bunch of freaks.............."

Off we go to Leblon, for the Scala, and there crowds of people outside, just along to see who is going inside the club. Quite strange - camera crews, red carpet, bright lights. Thankfully, we were totally upstaged by the drag queens, so no big fuss over us.

Inside, it's already busy (just before midnight) and there's a frantic samba band onstage, banging it out. Not literally, you understand.

The atmosphere is good and most folks dancing around in one way or another.

We had been warned to expect some absolutely outrageous behaviour, but other than the way people were dressed, there was nothing saucy going on, that we could see....

Once we got to 1ish, the party was in top gear, so were some of the ladyboys. Lots of seminaked men with boobs that girls would die for, though not so many women letting it hang out.

Chris was distraught to see one drag queen fall slightly outside of his thong.

Carried on through the night getting merry on G&T's and Caiprinha's.

Paul got his picture taken with a 6ft stunner - surely not a chap....surely...

As the night wore on, we noticed that quite a lot of our group had left by 2.30 - strange, the party was getting better and better. The samba band stopped playing about 3.30, to make way for some hardcore techno.

Loved it, had a great time, and we left just after 5am, with Paul's long dress now a narrow gathering of green material around the waist. Well, you gotta live once at least.

Asleep by dawn.

Wednesday 21st February

Won't be much happening today.

Didn't plan to, but ended up catching the buffet breakfast before it finished.

Quite a few folks leaving today, sadly.

Went back to bed, only to miss saying goodbye to Mike, Tom and May.

Spent some time in the afternoon pondering which way to travel back down to Buenos Aires. Had thought about the cheap option of the bus, though were incorrect in thinking it was 30 hours - it's 42 hours from Rio to BA.

Not a whole lot cheaper either, at GBP100 - so, happy to pay the extra 75 quid each and fly back down in 3 or so hours. Gives us an extra couple of days to play with too, so we'll be staying in Rio until Sunday.

Decide also to live it up a bit and stay in the hotel, even though it's about 40 quid a night, but it is nice.

Late afternoon, say goodbye to nice Gill and Neil, then have dinner with Julia at Catete Grill.

Julia is away by 7.30, leaving us to eat some chocolate in front of the TV. That's the television, not someone we brought back from the Gay Ball.

Thursday 22nd February

Up for breakfast, then relaxed around the pool with Graham and Steve (Steve was from the other Exodus truck that travelled up from BA with us).

Afternoon, we head over to Ipanema for a walk around. Other than the beach, not a lot happening, though there's a few Volleyball classes going on along the front.

Quite odd, the strip of buildings along the front are mostly residential or offices - no restaurants or bars.

One block behind the main strip is where the shops are, also a small city garden, where we find another hummingbird.

Copacabana and Ipanema beaches kind of join each other, so we walk back to Copacabana and along its whole 4.5km to the other end. A little quieter, now the Carnaval is over. but still very busy, even at the end of the afternoon.

Grab ourselves a corn on the cob and watch a group of guys playing soccer on the beach.

Nice views of Sugarloaf Mountain and the surrounding islands.

Decide that our bodies are telling us to take a break from the partying, so grab an early night. More chocolate and TV.

Friday 23rd February

Had breakfast with the last 2 Exodus people in town - now just us in this supposedly dangerous place. Well, not just us of course, but we do feel a bit lost without the group we've been with for the last 3 weeks.

After some chores, we head to Centro to do a walking tour - a couple of ornate churches, including the main cathedral. One of the smaller churches had an odd 'theatre' look to it, with what looked like Royal boxes up high - also, seemed to be playing modern pop music for some strange reason!

Had a bite to eat and continued our wander around town for the afternoon, going back via Lapa and thankfully not getting lost.

Sat in the gardens of the Old Palace, then grabbed a bite to eat, before sitting down to get some of the blog updated....

Saturday 24th February

Our last full day here in Rio.

Decided against a boat trip out to a neighbouring island, sorry, Paul's fault. Instead, relaxed around the pool before having a last lunch meal at the Catete Grill. Whilst Paul was at the pool, Chris went to the Museo de Republica - the restored 19th century Palacia de Catete, which also served as Brazil's Presidential Palace until 1954. Fabulous interior, very ornate - chandeliers, gold, stained glass windows. The bedroom of Getulio Vargas is exactly how it was when he killed himself, and end to his 20 year dominion over the country.

After, walked to the 'local' beach (Flamengo Beach), just 5 minutes from the hotel. Busy today, being the weekend, and we walked all the way along the beach and around to the Botafogo area. Great views of Sugarloaf Mountain today, no clouds.

Chjris was pleased that we went into the shopping centre in Botafogo - found an Italia Icecream shop. The Coffee Icecream really is heaven, apparently.

We thought we'd be able to walk from here to Copacabana beach, but found ourselves getting into quieter and quieter streets, so, despite the daylight, we turned back. To our right was a favella on the hillside with what looked like a tram-track of sorts. Lots of brightly coloured homes.

Walked back to the hotel, took us a little longer that planned.

Shame that the beach at Botafogo is not used, due to pollution in the bay, from the yacht club. Of course, with Copacabana and Ipanema beaches nearby, you can understand why they would choose to be picky.

Again, a little lame in the evening and stayed in with the television. Found a local channel that was doing a live broadcast from the Sambadrome - seems as though procession number 4 from the night we went to watch have won, though not quite sure. Number 4 were the Samba school who, amongst other things, had a curious mix of Roulette wheels, Star Wars and Chess pieces(!).

Sunday 25th February

Flying down to Buenos Aires today, so up quite early to pack and get ourselves set.

Probably rushed a little more than we needed to, and found ourselves checking out an hour too early - the clocks had changed overnight! Back to the room for an hour...

The taxi ride to the international airport not that long, so arrive in plenty of time to get checked in early.

Not much need for that, as we were delayed for about an hour, though we still managed to arrive in Buenos Aires on time. Seems that flight durations given by the airlines allow for quite a delay.

Pleased to be back in Buenos Aires, and looking forward to meeting my old boss/chum (in that order!!), David. Not sure what his plans are, but it looks like he'll be in town for at least a few days. We'll probably be around for a week, or two if we decide to take on a Spanish course.

Pleased to see that someone was waiting for us at the airport, and we're soon on our way into town, though the traffic is busy on this Sunday afternoon.

Arrived at the Garden House hostel (in San Telmo, conveniently near to San Juan subway station) at about 9ish and are soon checked in, bags dropped off, and on our way to meet David at the Obelisk in Avenida 9 de Julio - a mental 15+ lane road.

Due to meet David at 10, but still no show at 10.25 - damn, should have brought my mobile out, I thought plans were going to smoothly! After a bite to eat, we hung around till 11, just in case watches were an hour out, but still nothing, so we wander back to the hostel.

Chris not happy that she gets a face full of foam, as we walk through a street party on the way back ;( - right in the eye!

Back in the room, have received a 'where r u?' text! Oh well, we're off to bed now, so reply with instructions to meet at midday tomorrow....

Pleasantly cool in the room, and we sleep thru till morning, though there's a storm overnight and the wind is blowing the shutters. Half asleep, Paul thinks that some naughty boys are playing football outside our room.

continues on next thread...

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.....