Yesterday we went to the brazilian side of the falls. There is a 1km path with increasingly beautiful views of a long series of falls leading to the main falls at The Devil's Throat where the roar is deafening and even from the platform 100m away you get soaked with the spray. The volume and force of the water takes your breath away. In the afternoon we hiked 5km in the rain forest. It was 35C but the trees provided shade. There were gorgeous butterflies everyw...

Took the proper ferry back from Ilha Grande which was a big boat with proper loos and a third the price but less colourful than the small boat we arrived in. We bounced along the coast road in a minibus taking the curves at the customary breakneck speed. It is most scary when the drivers use a mobile phone whilst driving as they hold the phone with one hand and wave the other around. Similarly it is best not to engage him in conversation as this also involves ha...

Ilha Grande is a very laid back and relatively undeveloped back packer sort of island reached by ferry 90 mins from main land. it has 102 beaches and we have tried a couple. The minibus ride from /rio was a roller coaster of a ride weaving along at breakneck speed bouncing up and down at the back and dumped at a rundown pier where we had to jump on a small boat via a large tyre and then just sit and wait til someone came to drive the boat. Not sure it was the off...

It is easy to see why the locals call this The Marvellous City as the iconic sugarloaf mountain and statue of Christ are spectacular both seen from the city and the views from the top. The roads are crazy with many lanes packed with cars, taxis,vans and buses all weaving in and out at breakneck speed with less than inch to spare, horns blaring. Taxi rides are like hollywood car chases, disney rides and computer games all in one. One way roads aren't always marke...

Our last day in Spain and a rather long and tiring drive 450 km to Barcelona. Considering the tolls and night in a hotel when we arrived I am not sure it was worth the 'free' Airmiles flight compared with paying for a cheap flight to Alicante except for the fact that we stopped off on the way back to visit Pensicola 200km south of Barcelona. It has an imposing walled old fortified town with castle, picturesque narrow streets and stunning views of the turquoise M...