We arrived back to Rio after a really nice bus journey; we had a great bus, with foot rests, blankets and massive reclining chairs and managed a good few hours sleep, despite Mr Snorey McSnore's attempts to keep us from slumberland! We spent the day on the beach in Copacabana and then went to watch the match, but we won't talk about that! (Brazil being knocked out of the world cup was great revenge, as they were supporting Portugal! HA!) On our last day we wen...

We arrived in Curitiba after a 10 hours bus journey! And it was cold! We headed for dinner and then an early night with all of our jumpers, fleeces and 3 blankets at the ready! The next day we took the scenic train journey to Paranagua which descends steep mountains to the coastal lowlands passing through 13 tunnels and crossing 67 bridges along the way. The day was a little dreary so we couldn't see very far and the clouds were covering the mountains and tre...

We decided to head to Iguacu Falls, despite it being on the other side of the country and involving a 23 hour bus journey, as we had heard really great things about it from other travellers. So we settled onto our bus in Rio for the journey ahead. It actually went quite quickly despite the fact that we were both quite ill on the way, but we made it in one piece and managed to get a good few hours of sleep. We arrived about 6.30am and had a couple of hours of ...

We arrived back in Salvador from Praia de Forte and that evening visited a Candomble, which is an African word meaning a 'dance in honour of Gods'. The women dress in lace and hooped skirts dance slowly and chant in Yoruba and the men drum African rhythms. The dance is very African and the dancers often enter into a trance and begin shaking! We visited the Candomble with a tour, but there were local people there too. The music was fantastic and the audience ...

We took a bus to Praia de Forte for a couple of days of relaxing by the beach. The town is very small with lots of great shops, aimed at tourists. The town is eco-sensitive, home to the TAMAR project which has a protection and breeding program for sea turtles. When we arrived the sun was shining so we took a walk around the many shops and headed for the beach which was really pretty and quiet, lined with palm trees. We then visited the TAMAR turtle reserve...