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After Curitiba we went on our way to Foz de Iguacu, from here we went to see Iguassu Falls. There are two ways to view the falls, the first from Argentina. Here you can walk along walkways over the river and up to the falls, from the Argentina side you get an up close feel for the power of the falls. The second way to see them is from Brazil, which I think was definately the best side. Iguassu Falls is made up of lots of waterfalls and from Brazil you can see them all, they are truly beautiful with rainbows appearing every where you look. We decided the best way to see them as one was from the air so we took a helicopter trip which was very exciting. The falls from above look even more amazing, it is like there is a massive drain in the ground and the worlds water is pouring away through it. However this was when my camera decided it would stop working... not pleased but the girls have assured me photos will be sent on.
Foz de Iguacu also gave us the opportunity to see a samba show. This was great fun, the people are so talented and the costumes colourful. We also got to eat another typical Brazilian BBQ, which was gorgeous. The food in Brazil is YUMMY!
After Foz we took a 15 hour night bus, which was hell. For some reason they saw fit to keep the air conditioning on all night on full blast, no one got much sleep so we arrived in Bonito not in the best of moods. Bonito is a really cute town, like a cross between a seaside town (without the sea) and a town from a western. The hostel we stayed at was like a ranch with the guy that owned it like an old chief. Here we took bikes and cycled to a river which runs through Bonito. It was hard work but the treat at the end was a clear and cool river where we could go for a swim.
If snorkelling is your 'thing'then Bonito is definately the place to do it. We went for one of the cheaper options so we didn't see as much as we would have hoped but it was great fun and other parts of the river are apparantely teeming with fish and hot springs.
Next stop was one that we had all been really excited about, the Pantanal. The Pantanal is a huge wetland which takes up a very small part of the Amazon. Here we stayed in huts and slept in hammocks, which was a surprisingly comfortable experience. On the first day here we went on a hike and got to see the animals of the Pantanal and the sunset. That night we decided, for some reason to get in to our pj's early and huddle round the camp fire, although the weather during the day is baking hot the nights get very cold. At which point the generator breaks down and we are plunged in to darkness which starts a mad scramble for torches and a trip to the local bar (in fact the only bar). So starts one of the best nights of the trip... we all piled in to trucks and headed off through the jungle, all fine but then our truck breaks down so we all get out and push while the driver tries to start the engine.
Our guide then decides to tell us about the Jaguars which apparantly prowl around at night. This isn't forgetting the alligators of which there are hundreds and are more active at night, so this sends us in to a panic. The truck finally starts and we all jump in. We finally arrive at the bar, where the other tour groups are happily drinking and looking a bit confused as to why we are all in our pjs... We all got steaming drunk and the locals taught us how to samba, which I am rubbish at but was lots of fun.
We arrived back at the camp around 3am only to be woken up at 6!! for a 'nice' early start... that morning hungover and tired our guide Pedro (who is a legend!) took us piranha fishing. We stood on a bank with alligators watching us attempting to catch some of the scariest fish I have ever seen. They look completely harmless until you see their teeth. We were told we were to catch our dinner and if we didn't get any then we wouldn't get any dinner... with that threat in mind we all managed pretty well. And yes the guide cooked them and yes we ate them! Not much meat but what was there was really tasty.
During our time in the Pantanal we went horseriding, walking through swamps (it was dry season so not too swampy) and we took a boat ride. I also touched an alligator! They are pretty tame in the Pantanal... well as tame as they can be. The Pantanal was great, we all had such a laugh and I think the group became closer here, probably something to do with all sleeping in the same hut and all not washing for 3 days!
Now it was time to leave Brazil (which I have loved, its a great country with excellent food and some of the nicest people you can meet) and head in to Bolivia. For this epic journey we took a night train which I only found out afterwards is nicknamed the death train... glad I found out after I left the train that it can get stuck in swamps and that people used to fall off it (in the time of people riding on the top of transport). We passed through the border easily and headed in to Santa Cruz.
Santa Cruz is a lovely little town, and despite all the warnings of people in Bolivia not being as friendly as the people in Brazil we had no problems. People are happy to help. Santa Cruz also gave us our first taste of the altitude and the poverty we would be encountering. After Santa Cruz came Sucre which is a gorgeous city in the mountains, 2000 metres above sea level we flew in to airport here and felt the difference pretty soon. The air was tighter and we found we were out of breath easily.
In Sucre we met up with 5 more girls, some of whom are continuing with us to La Paz and one other who is going all the way to Lima with us. They are all really nice and we all seem to have bonded pretty quickly despite one who seems to like being by herself. Sucre is a lovely city, although when we were there we got a bit mixed up in the strikes. Sucre is the capital of Bolivia but the government is in La Paz, the people of Sucre were protesting that the government still refused to move back to Sucre. There were a few loud bangs which scared us at first but the protests were pretty peaceful, the only thing that stressed me out was that I had put my laundry in to a local launderette and because of the strikes they had closed up. It didn't look likely that the strikes were going to be resolved by the time we left... so no clothes but thank goodness they opened on our last day.
One of the things we did here was visit an orphanage which Gap Adventures works closly with. We spent a morning here playing with the young kids and trying to talk to the older children, only some of us can speak Spanish. It was a really rewarding morning and quite draining. It was a boys orphanage, the boys there had either lost parents or come from violent families. They were so lovely and it was such an experience meeting them all.
In Sucre we found out about the earthquake in Pisco which has devastated a big part of Peru. We will be travelling through this area in about a months time so its pretty scary. Not sure what will happen to the trip but its really awful what has happened there and if we make it there maybe we will be able to do something to help. In Peru some of us will be doing the Inca or Lares trails to Macchu Picchu so we decided to prepare ourselves by going on a hike, the altitude really hit us on here so we are thinking we might struggle in Peru where the height goes over 4000 metres. Altitude sickness effects even some of the fittest people and some in our group are really struggling so hopefully they will get better. The hike was really good although there was a part of it (all up hill) that I did not enjoy. Apparently my face was like thunder.
We finished in Sucre with a night out clubbing and we are now in Potosi which is the highest city in the world at just over 4000 metres above sea level. The poverty here is awful, until now we have all felt pretty safe and could blend in ok but here we stick out like sore thumbs and we probably wouldn't wander round by ourselves.
Tomorrow we head to Uyuni and then on to the salt flats which I really cant wait for!
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