hi all... well here i am at foz de iguacu!!

after leaving rio we all got a boat to ilha grande which is an island about 4 hours away from Rio.... when we got there the weather wasnt that good and it was quite late in the afternoon so we just got some dinner and relaxed. the island is very small, there are 2 main streets and only a handful of restaurants and 2 bars. and no cars or banks!! it was absolutely beautiful though.... a real tropical paradise. the next day the rest of the group did a hike to a beach about 3 hours away, but i had a headache so just spent my time wandering up the coast and finding lots of hidden coves and beaches. was the most relaxing day ever!! that night we all went out for some dinner and drinks (from the huge selection of 2 bars haha!!) was a good night but i ended up falling over and bruising my chin and knees very badly :( and it wasnt cos i was drunk! well i was but it was a mixture of cobblestones, flipflops and a small influence of alcohol hehehee!

the next day jana, tessa and i spent the day on the beach relaxing. at one point i was swimming and kept seeing something bob up on the surface, it took me a while to realise that it was a turtle coming up for air :) when it came to walking back the tide had come in on a lot of the beaches we had to walk across, so we ended up having to wade haha!! that evening it was the first night of a music festival on ihla grande so we went and had a look at that. it was mostly traditional brazilian music and was good, however i was a little too hungover to enjoy :(

the next day we were all sad to head to Paraty as ihla grande was sooo beautiful!! spent the morning travelling. Paraty is a really beautiful old colonial town and feels really safe and quiet. as we arrived mid afternoon we just spent some time wandering around the shops and taking pics etc, before eating at a delicious thai restaurant (very brazilian!!). the next dat we went to the nearby town of tobago where there are some good beaches. however there was only about 1 hour of sun which was a bit annoying!! we did see three turtles though, some guys who had been out fishing had brought them back ahore and then let them go so we watched them go back in the water. they were soo cute!! the beach that we were on was beautiful, really quiet, and only had about 5 bars and restaurants.

that evening we went to an all you can eat (and drink) bbq, where they bhad a drag act as entertainment which was very funny!! we all ended up having way too much to drink and the evening gets a little blurry..... not a good idea as the next day we had a 6 hour bus journey to sao paulo, where we were getting another bus for 14 hours to foz. we all looked like zombies getting on and were fighting for the toilet as we were all a little ´travel sick´.

we got to foz de iguacu and that day went to see the brazilian side of the falls (the national park is right on the border of brazil, argentina and paraguay). the barzilian side offers great panoramic views of the falls, which depending on rainfall vary between 100 and 300. the biggest there is called the devils throat, and is named that becuase when the indiginous indians saw it, they were so scared of the noise they thought it sounded like a devil screaming, which i like the idea of :).

i hadnt quite prepared myself for just how breathtaking they were going to be, and they were. the most amazing sight that i have ever seen!!

the next day we went to see the argentianian side, and if anyone reading this ever goes you have to do both!! brazils amazing because it gives a panaramic view of all of them and argentina you can get right up close. im so glad i had the chnace to see both as you really cant appreciate one without the other. we also did a boat ride which takes you right into one of the smaller falls. firstly it takes you over the rapids to get there (which was sooooo much fun in itself!!) and then into the falls. it was hard to take it all in because i couldnt really open my eyes, and all we could here was the sound of water and us screaming because we were so wet, it was really funny, but we did get completely soaked through!!