Our final destination; Brazil

3:44pm Wednesday 6th August 2008

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After our ridiculously long bus journies we arrived at Foz do Iguacu with a sigh of relief and booked into a nice hotel as we had a good excuse as there were no hostels in the town.

The next day we went to the stunning Igazu Falls which really are spectacular. There were a lot of tourists there and the most we had seen in a long while but it did not spoil the experience. It is the longest waterfall in the world at 2700m and there are 275 falls which thunder down into the river in unison making a tremendous sound. We walked out onto the look out which is at the top of the one of the falls and you get sprayed with water. It was one of the best sights I had seen on my trip, jsut because it was such a beautiful, natural wonder.

While in Foz we also visited the Ipaitu Dam which is one of the largest in the world and although indeed very big it was a bit boring and not really worth going to. The day after we left Barry in Foz and caught a bus to Sao Paulo on the West coast.

Sao Paulo is the third largest city in the world and it is hard to know where it begins and where it ends. We stayed in a nice bar area outside the centre as we were told there were a lot of muggings in the centre. Whle we were there we did very little to be honest. We discovered a Sex and the City box set and spent one day watching episode after episode. The other day we picked ourselves up and went and explored the centre which was bursting with people and quite hard to navigate. We did look at the Cathedral and went up the tower to have a view of the city which went on and on and on.

We departed after a few days and went to Paraty on the coast. It is a lovely little town which has an old section of cobbled streets and old buildings. We spent our days on the beach and wandering the streets, sipping caipirinhas (a strong alcoholic drink) and meeting the locals.

We then caught a bus to our final place in Brazil- Rio de Janeiro which was a fantastic place to be to spend our last five days. When we arrived in the city we went to Ipanema to look for accommodation. When we got to Ipanema there was an electricity black out which was quite surreal as we were wandering the streets in the dark. When the lights came on a few hours later every one cheered.

Rio is a fantastic place to party and we had a brilliant time exploring the bars in Ipanema, Copacabana and of course Lapa, where people drink and dance on the streets.

We also went up the 710m peak of Corcovado and saw the Statue of Christ who stands with his arms outstretched looking down over Rio. The detail in the sculpture is amazing and when I thought about the work which must have gone into making it, it made me wonder how they managed it. The views of the city are great too. Rio looks like a patch work quilt as it fits itself in between mountains and beaches. We also went up the Sugar loaf a night which was fantastic too.

One day we visited a Favela, which is the poorer area of Rio. We imagined that it would be really dangerous and crazy but in reality it was just people living their every day lives, just like every one else. Our tour guide said that he felt safe there because if any one stole any thing the Lord of the gang would kill the thief. He said tat every one knows each other and it really is a close community.

So our trip came to a close on the 28th of July as we boarded our British Airways flight back home to England. We arrived in Heathrow at 7.30am where my mum, dad and brother picked me up and brought me back to Hereford. It sure did feel strange to be home after all that I have done but it is nice to have a wardrobe of clean clothes and a nice, comfty bed! I am now thinking about where I want to go next! Happy travelling!