hi there, next installment..... ailsa and i had a really good day of sunbathing on sunkissed ipanema beach, before we flew to foz do iguacu. neither of us likes flying, but when we left rio, the weather was great, really sunny with fantastic views over the bay. was really overcast by the time we stopped off in sao paulo, and as we circled foz airport, we were informed that it had closed due to bad weather, and after we circled for about 20 minutes, we were then diverted to curitiba, where we sat on the runway there for around 30 more minutes, before the plane was refueled, and we headed back to foz, where this time we were able to land. so, something of an adventure, before we even got there!!! our first day there, we went on a tour to see the falls from the brazilian side. we got a great overview of most of the 275 waterfalls, and despite the bad weather, it was really beautiful. we got up quite close to the devils throat fall, but didnt get too wet. on our way back to town, we stopped at a bird park, where we saw many exotic birds, flamingos, parrots, macaws, humming birds and my favourite, toucans. there were also tarantulas, but i didnt linger over them!! next day, we headed over to argentina, to get a much closer look at the falls, and there, we got soaked!!! it was raining, and quite windy, but we were really close to the waterfalls, which was great. there were a few walks to go on, which took us round the different falls, again, really close to them, the views were amazing. ive got a new digital camera, and i think i maybe went a bit overboard with my new toy - about 100 photos each of the two days!!! once ailsa had gone, i stayed on for a couple of days in foz, where i went to tax free shopping haven ciudad del este, in paraguay, and also to the worlds largest hydro electric dam, on the brazil and paraguay border. if id understood all the figures i was bombarded with about its power output, id probably have been more impressed. on sunday i headed off to asuncion, the capital of paraguay. i got on the bus for a 6 hour journey, and less than 30 mins after setting off, saw a cockroach crawling along the window ledge!!! i didnt see it again the rest of the journey, but spent most of it wondering where it had gone!! spent all day monday in asuncion, seeing the sights, which i enjoyed. on the monday night i set off for what i thought was a 27 hour bus journey. i kind of got a bit bored after about 22 hours. but because i was the only one of the 7 passengers still awake, i ended up being invited to sit up at the front, next to the driver!!! all was going well, i was enjoying what little view there was at night, when the bus broke. and i have no idea what the problem was, but it was a lot more serious than a flat tyre. the two drivers tried for almost an hour to repair it, by torchlight. then they decided to send all us passengers on the bus which had stopped to help, on to santa cruz. by this time it was about 12am, and we were a good two hours from there, so using my best spanish i asked if i couldnt stay on board, since i didnt actually have anywhere to stay in santa cruz!! the driver said it would be ok, though we wouldnt be moving till morning. so i ended up spending a second night in the bus. this morning, after a few more hours of hammering on different parts of the engine, the drivers got the bus going, and i finally arrived here, in santa cruz, bolivia, at about lunch time, roughly 13.5 hours later than id expected!!! i spent the afternoon wandering round the town centre, and this evening, i went to the cinema, where i watched lord of the rings. (youd think id have had enough of sitting around....) i guess it was ok, i enjoyed it better than the first, and ill probably watch the final part, but im not really into it. (i also watched bowling for columbine, when i was in rio. i totally recommend it, if you get the chance.) so, here i am in bolivia, probably for the next 4 weeks. more sightseeing planned here before i head off to sucre. no doubt ill take some more long bus journeys, but hopefully they wont be quite as long as that last one!!