For our last stop we are staying in Paratay, a small town on the coast halfway between Rio and São Paulo. Tell anyone you're going to Paratay and, if they've been, they will tell you how wonderful it is and if they've not they'll say how much they want to go. The town was established by Portuguese colonists in the seventeenth century and you could be forgiven for thinking the centre hasn't changed much since then. Whitewashed, old colonial houses still line the...

Rio de Janeiro must have attracted more cliches than any other city. The 'Girl From Ipanema' features a few: beautiful young women, sun, sea, samba, macho men. There are others, stunning scenery, dangerous streets, football mad, corrupt politicians (to be fair these last two apply to all of Brazil). Well I can debunk some of these straight away. Sunny all the time? Not when we're here! We didn't see the sun until our third day and on the first the weather, cold...

So we are in the Pantanal - an area the size of France that stretches across three countries - Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay. Most people visit the Brazilian side because there is a road, the Transpantaneira, that penetrates 150km into what is otherwise a largely trackless area. Whilst not paved the road is passable all year round meaning that is is quite easy to drive a considerable way into the area. At the height of the wet season in February and March about 8...

It's hot. Today and yesterday the thermometer has hit 40 degrees. In fact it's very hot. We are in Cuiaba, the starting point for our trip into the Pantanal - the world's largest tropical wetland. To get here we spent the best part of three days travelling, by train, bus and plane. Staying in three Brazilian cities that you've probably never heard of (I hadn't before planning this trip): Corumba, Campo Grande and Cuiaba. None of them, unfortunately, showcase th...

Today's song comes courtesy of Frankie. By the Guillemots apparently. And very appropriate because we are now in that very country having caught the train from Santa Cruz to the border. 600 km, about the distance from London to Edinburgh, and taking about 18 hours. Not the fastest train in the world. But before all of that we have to get on it. This is not simply a case of buying a ticket and then walking onto the platform. First we have to pay a 'terminal tax'....