Paraty 26th to 29th July 2006 We arrive in Paraty at about 2pm and daring (for Gemma and Joe at least) we don't have a hotel booked. Luckily for us our preferred option has two rooms available and it's a great little place with swimming pool, pool table, small footy pitch and Sauna. We head out immediately for a great burger (Stu and Joe mark it down as THE place to return to for all burgers ever after). We wander around town for a bit, trying not to ...

Ihla Grande 23rd July - 25th July 2006 Bit sad to be leaving Rio and it?s quite an early start to to get the bus Angra de los Reis where we will get the bus to Ihla Grande. We arrive in Angra and Stu gets ripped off straight away when buying some little Empanadas. It seems to be quite common with the Brazilians playing a little game whereby they knowingly overcharge you and then wait for you to say "hang on a minute", Except that we don?t know how to sa...

Oh Rio, Rio....... July 20th - 23rd 2006 What an unbelievable city Rio is, probably the best city we have visited so far, bar none. In summary let's just look at the undeniable evidence, the 5 S's. Sun - Plenty of it, not a cloud in the sky. Remember that this is the middle of winter and it's 28 degrees!! Sea - Wesern Atlantic - Wicked, ruff as hell. Stu lost his sunglasses whilst trying to jump the 2.5m+ waves and also whilst simultaneously t...

Arrive at the bus station early afternoon and head off in search of some accommodation.. We are fortunate to meet a nice kiwi couple who recommend the hotel they are staying at so we decide to head there straight away as we have the feeling most places are going to be booked up. The hotel is brand new which might sound nice, but actually meant that most things hadn't actually been finished properly! Still, it was a big room and it was near the centre of town, ...