Oi all (that is portuguese for hello before you think that i am being rude!)

I am sorry that I havent updated you all for a while but we havent had much chance to be on the internet lately.

So since I last wrote we left BA on an amazing night bus...VIP style which meant we had beds that nearly went all the way back like beds, blankets, pillows, personal tv screens with loads of films, nice food and drink and champagne at the end of the meal. After some of the hellish buses we had to experience in bolivia, we felt we were being treated like royalty.

Gorgeous hot weather welcomed us at the iguazu falls and we had a swimming pool with our hostel so before we knew it we were lounging by the pool and even took a daring jump....even though it was absolutely FREEZING!! That day we visited the Brazilian side of the falls and they were incredible- absolutely massive with the water pouring down with tremendous strength- you can imagine the sound it must have made. We were very lucky to have alot of sun that day too so the waterfalls actually looked like flowing gold because the water is actually a browny colour due to the soil beneath. Took some beautiful photos and got absolutely drenched as we walked across the bridge to the middle of the rived to see the falls from an inferior view. That night we enjoyed a bit of a BBQ feast, with free caprianas (brazilian cocktail with sugar liquor, lime and sugar!) a guy in a silky green shirt shaking his booty to some samba music along with his assistants wearing nothing but thongs and nipple tassles. He later invited us all up to join him in the conga amongst some other dances and we all in all had a whale of a time.

The next morning we were up early to go and visit the Argentinian side, which was a lot bigger but still as beautiful. Here again we took lots of pictures and saw many rainbows. As well as the falls, there were little creatures called coaties which were kind of like a cross between an anteater and racoon...they were funny little animals that left you alone...unless you had food. Some attacked the bag of someone in our group because she had food in there and consequently they got hold of her pack of tampons and were playing/chewing/eating them...a very funny sight indeed!!! That night was our last night with Pippa and Harri (from the tour) because they were going off to rio and we sao paulo.

SO last friday morning we got the night bus to sao paulo and were hoping it would be as much of a luxury as what we had experienced coming up from BA...we couldn't have been more wrong. The seats only slightly reclined, it was hot, it stank and generally was not the best of experiences but we knew it would be worth it when we got to the north of brazil. So after 16 hours we arrived feeling rather minging in sao paulo to find out that there was more than one bus station so had to mkae our way to another to ctach a bus to salvador. Luckily for us the bus left 1 hour later so we didnt have to wait around for too long. Unlucky for us that the bus journey would take 34 hours and that the conditions were exactly the same as before. It was on this bus journey that we discovered the brazilians method of paying for their food- by weighing it!! So I guess it means people are less likely to waste their food but it was a strange concept to get used to. Especially coz the weight of the plate is included! So 52 hours after leaving the falls we FINALLY made it to Salvador!! We found ourselves a hostel and went out for food and immediately noticed how many policemen were around which we were rather grateful for as we had read that 'one is very likey to get robbed or mugged in Salvador'- i guess we were amongst the lucky few.

Monday morning we spent exploring the city which had a lot of colourful buildings but unfortunately alot of them left unmaintained so looked rather worn down. It was very touristy with most of the shops selling salvador merchandise and other souvenirs and not at a cheap price- especially compared to the cheap prices we were used to in Argentina. That was one thing we noticed since arriving in brazil is that the prices are similar to english prices- certainly alot more than we were used to. But we are in Brazil so its ok :-) That afternoon we hopped on a bus to the beach and did our first spot of sunbathing and drank coconut milk from a real coconut! The lady who chopped them was about half our size with the biggest knife ever and just hacked away at it almost with her eyes closed- we were certain she is going to chop her fingers off someday!! That night we did something some may say cheeky but as we are now on a very tight budget...desperate needs lead to desperate measures. We scoffed down a massive burger at some cheap fast food cafe and then went to the most expensive restaurant for dessert (dessert costing more than our burger!) because we got free caprianas there...it was worth every penny!!

The next day we made our way to morro de sao paulo which took us a bus ride, boat ride, another bus ride and yet another bus ride. We seemed to be very lucky that day because we initially went to the wrong place on the first bus but had an english speaking guy on board who massively helped us out and then after we got off our second bus we had no idea how to get to the port and a lovely brasilian lady walked us (in her heels!!) all the way to the port. I have to say since we have been here most of the Brasilian people have been absolutely lovely- especially considering our poor poor standard of their language!! The last boat led us to paradise....really paradise...just imagine palm trees swaying in the wind, white soft sandy beaches, turquoise waters and of course a sunny sky...we were thrilled to be alive!! Not only was the scenery amazing, we had fantastic accomodation (with real fluffy towels which is now a luxury to us having used our mould-like smelling travel towels for quite some time!) and the most extensive breakfast yet brought to us for us to eat on our terrace. It was especially the fresh fruit that did it for miranda and me. Other than that we enjoyed freshly made fruit cocktails from random little stalls where we watched the barman crush the fresh fruit and add whatever spirit we would like. Initally only intended on spending 2 nights here....as will come to no suprise ended up being extended to 4...we just did not want to leave. Our last night was spent dining on the beach about 50 m away from the sea, with a live band playing and little candles in paper brown bags....so all in all in fantastic atmospere and the perfect way to end those perfect 4 days.

Our plan was then to head back to valenca and make our way down south towards rio but all got changed when we met an english speaking guy who told us he was going to a little surfing town...so we hopped on a bus with them and arrived here in itacare!!