This is it people.

The last entry, (probably......). Sat in the airport in Rio after a pretty mental last few days. Brasil will definately be a place I return to - I had resigned myself to this fact the moment I decided to keep going North from Lima and spend time in Ecuador. It's simply vast and there is so much to see and do. I ended up literally going there just to pick up my flight. I need to come back, to see more of Rio, to see beautiful Bruna, mental Rosie, and to visit some more of the amazing places Brasil has to offer. World Cup 2014 anybody?

What I did see of Brasil was incredible. Santa Catarinha, (Florianopolis), was absolutely beautiful. Mountains, beaches, lagoons, rainforest etc. All stunning despite the rain and the cloud. The hostel I arrived at was out of electricity and only had 6 people staying there - Mike, Tim, Kaz, Rich, (all English guys), Rob, (Welsh) and Fabian, (a Peruvian). We headed to one of the beaches where a leg of the International Surfing Championships was going on. Pretty cool day spent with all the surfer chicks watching the competition. With no electricity we headed to another Hostel called Sunset for the evening, won the pub quiz and headed into the main town, Lagoa da Conceição to check out the nightlife. Sunset was by miles a better Hostel and not just coz it had electricity so I moved there the next day. It had amazing views over the Lagoon, some crazy staff, a great bunch of people and free Caipirinhas from 7pm to 7.30pm everynight. I won the poker tournament my first night there and met Tim and Victor from Holland. It was Tim's birthday and he had purchased several bottles of vodka which we duly drank before heading out. I met a bunch of people that night who I had to meet again the next day..... There was Martin and Niki - an Ozzie couple; Luke and Seamus from Oz; Blair, Red and Kian from Limerick, Arthur and Fleur - brother and sister from Holland; and Luiz from Mexico. We had 2 more fantastic nights together before I had to fly to Rio. The Irish were completely crazy, the Dutch were awesome, and the Brazilian girls were just stunning, (it should be pointed out here that Fleur was also beautiful!). We went to this one club on our last night, El Divinio - a place people had been raving about the whole time we were there but we had resisted the large cover charge to get in. It's hard to explain, put it this way - Victor, Tim, Arthur and I were speechless, not a great way to be when these girls are also extremely friendly and love talking to Gringos! Amazing night but I did miss my flight to Rio the next morning. Fortunately, despite the temptation to stay another night, it cost me very little to get on the later flight that evening.

So, I arrived in Rio feeling very hungover and very low. I was on my own again, had just left a great bunch of people and was only a few days from flying home. I felt like I wanted to go home straight away. I was staying in Ipanema Beach so spent the day on the beach and just chilled out. I headed back to the Hostel to watch the England vs Mexico game and who should I find but Tim and Victor. After the abysmal performance we got chatting away to the stunning Brazilian owner of the Hostel, Bruna and a group of English girls from Brighton. Very soon after we had rounded up a fair group of people and despite Bruna saying it will be very quiet since it's a Monday night, we ended up having an amazing time. The Englsih girls left the next day but Tim, Victor and I knew most of the hostel now so I was pretty sure my last couple of nights were going to be fun.

That evening I met Prudence at the bar of the Hostel. Her and her fella were from Oz and were to make my last two nights something really special. We got on brilliantly and stayed up both nights sharing a very similar taste in music. Prudence had broken her heel in 3 places a week or 2 previously in Colombia and was on crutches. Her fella Ben and her had not partied since that night so were well up for a big night out. Tim and I rounded up Peter and Chris from Norway and Therese and Malin, also from Norway together with the mental Brazilian girl Rosie from the Hostel. Mike from the UK also joined us and before long we knew most of the bar. Some of us were still up when the rest of the hostel started to come down for breakfast! My last night was more of the same, it was Therese's 21st so this time we rounded up everyone and went to a Salsa club where Tim and I gave Therese a birthday lapdance, (I'm hoping to go to Oslo for my birthday for a return performance!). Mike, Malin and I stayed up drinking on Ipanema Beach whilst watching the sunrise - an amazing way to finish off my trip.

Today has been pretty much a write off but after these last 2 weeks in Brasil, having had such an amazing time and met some truly incredible people I am now very sad and very scared to be coming home. The excitement of going home of the last few weeks has definately deserted me and saying goodbye to everyone at the Hostel was pretty depressing. However, the feelings I had about going home are still there, just buried beneath the sadness of saying goodbye and leaving such an amazing place.

Come to think of it now - I will be blogging one more time, just to let you know how I feel when I do get home and how it is! Definately will be a short one though.

So for now, it is farewell South America. What a truly unbelievable continent. It has been an incredible 6 months, can't believe how quickly it has gone. I've seen and done some very cool, some very spectacular and some very stupid things. I have met some very cool, some very strange and some amazing people. And most of all, I've had an absolutely epic journey! I can't wait to see everyone and tell you all about it! And of course to hear all your news too!

Hasta luego America del Sur. Fue una experiencia inolvidable y un placer para conocerlos. Fue emotional!

Matt.