Hi Everyone Sorry i have been a bit lazy with the journal and emails recently but we have been so so busy recently. We left Parati Wed last week and took a 6hour coach drive to Sao Paulo. As soon as we arrived we weren't comfortable there. Nelson had got on the coach with us as he had picked up some strange malaria type illness ( apparantly 3000 in Parati had it and 8000 in Ihle Grande- stunning island near Parati, i really wanted to go there so was a bit gutted but it knocks you out for a month so we weren't going to risk that!) Anyway, Nelson and everyone we kept speaking to kept warning us and telling us how dangerous Sao Paulo was and that we wouldn't be safe there, so we arrived feeling a bit apprehensive and after the beautiful few days in Parati, a dirty smelly city was a shock to the system too. After trying to sort out a grotty hostel and finding ourselves downtown in the most 'dodgey'area where we told that prostitutes and muggings and worse were really common, we decided to cut our losses and stay in a cheap hotel instead. We went for a wander round, but we really didn't feel happy wandering round as we stand out so much being so fair and in the end we actually felt quite unsafe and being constantly told we were in danger didn't help either. i'm not sure if we would have felt unsfe there if we hadn't heard so much bad stuff about the city, but we didn't hang about in Sao Paulo and decided to head straight to Foz do Iguassu, 16hours coach ride away! Our hostel in Iguassu was great, there isn't really anything to do in Iguassu apart from the falls, no town or anything, so our hostel was like a holiday camp with a pool, gardens, tennis courts and a bar etc. The first day we just milled around the pool chatting to other travellers,recovering from the coach journey. And they had a Brazilian Buffet in the evening too ( there was some seriously suspiscious looking food was on offer!) so it was really sociable. The next day we were up early heading to the Brazilian side of the Falls. We paid for the Macuco tour, which meant we had this funny little train like out of Jurassic Park, which took us round the jungle that took us to the river. We were told we would get a light shower or spray from the falls, so Claire and i stayed in our shorts and tshirts, and got into a rather soggy seat on this boat, while all these Brazilians appeared in their trunks and bikinis!! We were sat on the very front row and we went off zooming up stream towards the falls, hitting all the currents as if on a white water raft, and then stopping to take some amazing photo's of the falls, they are just spectacular! Then the driver put on his rain mac, and suddenly we were headed straight for one of the smaller falls, and were parked right under it getting completely and utterly drenched so that our pants were soaked and we were totally squelching for the rest of the day. But it was so worth it, and so much fun! A guy on our boat was from Arizona who had been living in Brazil for a year, so we spent the rest of the day with him, wandering along the catwalks ( i got a bit snap happy with all the views, so lots to bore you all with!) The Following day we drove over the border to see the Argentinian side with a group from our hostel. The views from this side were totally different, you get a much greater sense of the size and power, but both of us preferred the Brazilian side overall, but you have to see both! Our last evening in Iguassu was brilliant as we had met quite a few people at our hostel, so we just had a really chilled night round the pool/bar before an 18hour coach journey to Buenos Aires the following day!