The overnight journey to Foz de Iguazu was relatively comfortable and we both managed to sleep well, apart from an old Brazilian man next to us coughing up all the rubbish in his lungs from smoking but then still smoking at every comfort break. We shared a taxi with an Irish couple as they were staying in the same hostel. The weather in Foz de Iguazu was raining and dull, but as the hostel said it was not set to change for the next 4 days we decided to visit th...

After about an hour and half we arrived in Paraty at yet another Che Lagarto hostel. We settled ourselves in and then went to find the most important thing... food! We went in to the local supermarket and bought our dinners (pasta and pizzas) for the 3 nights. We then got a couple of drinks at the hostel bar and spent the night chatting to an Australian guy, John, that we had previously met on our tour in Rio. John had been travelling for 9 months and was near...

After getting a mini bus along the Brazilian coast which was beautiful we arrived at a small village where we caught a boat to Ilha Grande. The 45 minute boat ride was very choppy and Rachel began to feel ill quite quickly, but the driver insisted there was 'no danger' which was a relief. The owner of the boat was 79 years old, but could have easily been 60, it must be the laid back Brazilian lifestyle! We arrived at Ilha Grande and were dropped straight off at...

After saying goodbye to our parents at Heathrow and shedding some tears we started our 12 hour plane journey to Rio. Rachel thought it went quickly as she slept for most of the flight, but for J the journey dragged. We arrived in Rio, there was some confusion about our transfer from the airport but mainly due to the language barrier it was sorted fairly quickly. In the taxi we saw Christ Redeemer lit up on the mountain and arrived at our hostel, Choice Hostel, ...