It seems i didnt justify the severity of the sunburn in the last blog, and seeing it was the dominant feature of the next 3 days i think that is a good place to start. OUCH!!!! Not being able to lie down, or sit down does not leave for much fun, and now rather than tan im peeling so i feel like Hantzil and Gretzel leaving a trail of back flakes wherever i go! I think i have got that out of my system anyway. The hostel it Ihla Grande was nice and the breakfast buffet was extensive. Despite the nice weather we opted for the forest walk to the waterfall to stay in the shade. It took 1 hour 15 minutes to get there uphill and i spotted 2 marmosettes on the way which kept me entertained for a while. The waterfall was refreshingly cool and had a good dip there. I also spotted a big black monkey (not quite a gorilla) which i followed for a while. The trek back took us 50 minutes. When we returned to the hostel there was an Argentinian women that had rescued 3 stray kittens and hidden them in our room, after initial confusion at the meowing they were soon being fed and handled but the owner eventually removed the houseguests and they were sent to a pet shop instead. That evening we played cards with 4 Germans and had a couple of beers.

Next day we went to Lopes Mendes (meant to be one of the top 10 beaches in the world according to someone) it was pretty nice, the sea was quite rough so not ideal for swimming so i read in the shade all day. On the return boat ride we chose the only spot on the boat not to get soaking wet to the envy of all the other passengers. We went for pizza with 2 german boys and an israeli, the Germans were moving onto an ostrich farm in Paraguay where they are working for 6 weeks until the other side of Christmas! We tried to go out for someones birthday but the clubs didnt open until 1am so had beers on the beachfront instead.

Next we moved onto Paraty, arrived at Paraty Beach Hostel where they put on a great barbeque - definately the best meal so far. We strolled into Paraty which is an old colonial town with the biggest cobblestones ever. Also saw the incredible sight of 3 teenage boys with their tops off and chains around their necks blaring out music from a massive boombox all on the back of a horse and cart!

Recovered enough to face another beach the next day we went to Praia du Trinidade which has 3 picture postcard beaches and a `natural pool´ which at best is a big rock pool. One of the beaches was packed but the others were empty, had a lazy day then got on the suicidal bus ride back to Paraty. That night we had beers at the hostel with a Scottish girl and 2 czech lads, it was great fun. One of the czech lads had hitchhiked from the czech republic to India (via Iran) and back again so had some crazy stories, whereas the other one was just funny with the gayest bag ever as his defence mechanism against muggings. That night a British couple that we knew quite well got mugged outside the hostel. They were fine just had their handbag stolen.

Next day they went to the police station and vommed everywhere - not a great day considering it was his birthday! We got the bus to a place called Penha and hung out with a brit, american and german - we visited a Cachaca distillery and tried lots of free booze then went to what can only be descibed as the biggest most fun rock ever! In short it is a GIANT rock that a river flows over that algae has grown on making it extremely slippy - ideal for those willing to risk their life to have the biggest slide ever. After some free booze and peer pressure a slide became necessary although not running and sliding on my feet like the locals - it was great fun and we spent the day there. Finally we returned to Paraty where i got a haircut from a local barber that couldnt speak english and we went for a local Pasty ( deep fat fried and 30cm long, filled with beef and cheese).

This morning we got up in time for the 9.40am bus to Sao Paulo to find that it was fully booked so we have to hang around until 4.40pm to catch the next bus. May be another chilled beach day - probably our last for a while...

Bit of a long entry sorry! Laters