When I left off last time, I mentioned I would write about the favella. We were taken out to Rocinha, the largest favella in Rio with 300,000 residents. We were told we were perfectly safe as we were with a local. First we were taken into their Samba school which is like a big hall. Apart from using it for practices, it is used for sports and also for teaching courses like English and sewing (which comes in quite handy for all those costumes they have to make). T...

WOW, that is all I can say about last night. The Sambadrome was incredible. I have never seen anything like it before. The glitz, the glamour, the colour, the people and the floats - WOW. I don't know if anyone saw any of it on tele or the news, but times it tenfold because TV doesn't do it justice. The atmosphere in the stands is incredible, everyone is up and dancing and singing and everyone gets right into it. Neale & Sally, two of my friends from camp ar...

Have finally arrived in Rio and there is definitely a party atmosphere in the air. Sorry to say goodbye to Paraty but after Rio there is going to be lots more beach towns. I spent the last day in Paraty doing a little shopping and a little relaxing on the beach. We did a total truck clean which took just over 1hr. Everything had to come off the truck inside and out and get a clean but just about everyone mucked in and helped. So, Thursday morning we had been all...

So this is what a holiday is meant to be like - lying on the beach, swimming in the water, reading a book without a care in the world. We have arrived in Paraty, which is just a few hundred kms south of Rio. It is an old colonial city, and the little town is just beautiful. Cobblestone streets, whitewashed walls, colourful window frames and beautiful iron balustrades. Just want to keep taking photos. We had one night in the town from where I last wrote, and left...

We left Asuncion in the rain which sort of cooled things off and had a grey sky for the rest of the day as we crossed the border into Brazil. The truck stopped in the town of Foz do Iguazu for 30mins so we could take care of any internet or money needs before heading out to the campsite. After checking out the rooms a few of us decided to pay the extra for the upgrade for the 3 nights. Some may call it cheating, I call it putting money to good use for a good nigh...