Stefan and I survived the train ride from Buenos Aires to Iguazu which took us 37 hours in total. I say train ride, the train didn't actually go all the way to Iguazu, it stopped at Apostoles, about 45 minutes from Posadas where were put on a transfer to Posadas, and then had to get on another bus to Iguazu, which seemed to stop at every lamp post. Had the train gone all the way it would have been perfect, and in fact we spent a couple of hours of the journey developing a business plan for a 'rolling hostel' which we think would be really popular amongst backpackers doing this route. We took supplies for the journey, including wine, which was interesting when we realised that we didn't have a corkscrew. We thought that we'd find some other travellers on the train to borrow from, but it seemed that we were the only Gringos in the station. It took some ingenious work with the penknife by Stefan and we were ready with a cup of red to settle down to a film on the laptop. Surprising at it sounds, the journey really didn't seem to take that long, or at least the train ride part of it and I really enjoyed it. We got a reasonable sleep with 4 seats to ourselves, watched a couple of films, did some Sudoku and played lots of backgammon, and I am devastated to announce the results; England 5 German 11. It's just like football - you teach them to play and then they whip you at your own game! The planned journal update and book reading never happened, I somehow seemed to run out of time!

Iguazu is a small border town at the far north of Argentina, famous for the waterfalls between Brazil and Argentina. We headed there the next day and straight for Devil's Throat, the head of the Falls. As you approach the Falls, the sound just gets louder and louder, and the spray rises high above the river. The first sight of the waterfalls was absolutely breathtaking, and we spent quite a while just standing and staring, the volume of water was just incredible. Thinking that we'd seen the best of the Falls we headed to the southernmost part of the park, but every angle gave a different view. We were there all afternoon and as the sun went down the evening light cast across the Falls continued to wow me.

Having said farewells to Sylvain, Rich, Gill, Nanda and Arjan in Buenos Aires, I was preparing myself for my last farewell to Paul, Janina & Stefan and setting off on my own again to Rio. I had been travelling with 'the family' for a month, and Rich & Gill and the Dutchies for longer and whilst I've been happy travelling alone earlier in the trip, I'd had so much fun with the group, I knew I was going to miss them all. A quick trip to 3 frontiers point in Iguazu, the merging point of 2 rivers and the triple border between Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil before heading off for my flight to Rio. It was indeed a sad farewell, but testament to having had a great time, I look forward to the European reunion next summer.

Twentyone weeks and 14 countries in the making, final destination for this trip Rio de Jane-iro (only just realised that it's actually got my name in it!), and what a place to end the adventure. Wandering around the Botanical Gardens with some people from the hostel was a pleasant way to spend a cloudy afternoon, but I kept feeling like I'd forgotten something. Then I realised what I'd left behind, I was missing 'the family', things just seemed odd without them!

A trip to Rio wouldn't have been complete without going to the beach, and Sunday afternoon on Ipanema was packed. The Brazilian women seem to be fans of tiny bikinis regardless of their shape and size, and even after 5 months on the road with little exercise it did wonders for my bikini body confidence! Sunday night would be my last sunset, and what better place to see it than from Sugar Loaf Mountain, looking back across the city to the hills & Christ the Redeemer. Stunning and fair to say, a little emotional.

A few of us from the hostel went out on my last night, a Sunday, to a brilliant club with a band playing live latin beats, shame it was a Sunday as the night ended too soon, the band were fab and it had potential to be the best night of the trip. I also met a local guy, Will, who invited me back to Brazil for the 2014 World Cup, making Brazilian friends had definitely been part of the Rio plan! The conversation was conducted with him speaking in Portuguese and me in Spanish, and for the most part, we understood each other, I find the Brazilian Portuguese harder to understand than Portuguese from Portugal, but we managed.

Last day in Rio, the toothpaste & shower gel ran out, definitely a sign that it was time to go home. I headed up to Christ the Redeemer on what turned out to be a beautiful sunny day. Time to sit and enjoy the view and a spot of reflection: 14340 miles travelled since Mexico City in 409 hours. I've stayed in 61 hostels and had 2 nights under tarpaulin in the jungle. I've met so many people, thankfully many of whom are legends and with whom I know I will keep in touch and no doubt see again somewhere in the world.

My favourite countries have been Mexico for the food, Guatemala as the surprise package and Argentina for, well, all of it. The Colombians were the friendliest locals, Argentinian men & Brazilian women the best looking. Hot showers, full sized towels, and decent pillows were luxury commodities. As I made up my bed in Rio for the last time the prospect of sleeping alone, under a duvet in a double bed, in a bedroom rather than a bunkbed in a dorm was pretty exciting. There have been lows as well as highs, and I wondered on more than one occasion if I was too old for this travelling malarkey. But as the highs massively outweigh the lows, I think that I would happily go on the road again, it has given me taste to see more of the world and perhaps revisit some parts of Latin America in more depth. Rio has been a great stop, but after speaking Spanish for 5 months I've been completely unnerved by the Portuguese here and don't like feeling like a tourist, I miss speaking Spanish.

I know how fortunate I am to have done all that I've done and need to work out where I go from here. Having been granted a career break from Network Rail for 9 months, I should have been back at work at the beginning of September, and given that I was in still in Peru then, I gave up the right to go back to my old job and am now unemployed. I might have thought that it would be a daunting prospect, but I was determined not to let it affect my last 6 weeks on the trip, and in fact I am excited about what my change in direction will be, a return to Chamonix is hot favourite. I smiled out across Rio, a tear in my eye, but only really because I was just overwhelmed at how great it's been.

And so as I sit here approaching Manchester Airport on the final leg of my journey back home (surprisingly it's pretty clear and I can see England's green and pleasant hills!) it is with a huge grin on my face. I'm so excited about getting back, to seeing my family & friends and enjoying decent music and a proper brew. It's been an absolute blast, and a massive thanks to all those who have contributed to making it so worthwhile. Hasta la proxima vez...