So as said, finding tours, and making a plan was a bit of a mission. But in the end, all falls in place, of course, and by now I think we know we managed to do a couple of different things, which most people don´t even bother looking into. The eastern part of Bolivia is relatively unexplored by big hoards of backpackers and tourists (apart from the death train from the Brazilian border maybe). First up, 3 day guided hike thrugh the northern end of Amboro National Park. Courtesy of a Dutch tour operator in Santa Cruz Ruta Verde we were [View Full Entry]

---

---

If you don´t succeed at first, just try again.... This must be the motto of Gol, the ´aerolineas inteligentes´ of Brazil. The flight from Sao Paulo to Campo Grande before had a delay of 2 hours, so we were prepared for the worst (after a 5.5 hour bus journey that day from Bonito). And yes, there was a delay of 2 hours, again. So we didn´t leave Campo Grande until after midnight, for the 1.5 hour flight to Santa Gruz de la Sierra in Bolivia. When approaching this city, our big white aero-sausage started circeling around.... at approx 2am, no sleep [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hi guys, just a quick story from this part of the world. We´ve just enjoyed 4 days/nights in the Pantanal here in Brazil (wetlands east of Rio & Sao Paulo), and on the way back we caught a shuttle bus to Bonito. The last 70kms of the road into Bonito were gravel/dirt road. That´s not forgetting that the asphalt road before that had plenty of holes in it as well, with a few trucks weaving towards us as well. Anyway, it would be safe to say that anyone doing more than 50km/hr on the dirt road would be risking life & [View Full Entry]

---

---

Bonny Bonito, as the Irish might say. You may have already read about our speedhump eperience, so we can skip that bit of overzealous city council piece of work. In short, Bonito is a bit hard to work out. Either A) they are trying to build up a tourist based economy here, and are using high, and non-negotiable tour prices to build everything up, or B) they´re overcharging so much in an effort to keep too manu tourists away! Had a chat with a guy from Iguazu, and he didn´t understand it either, as everything seems to be overpriced. Bonito´s claim [View Full Entry]

---

---

In the panatnal there are lots of things you want to see and more things you don´t want to see. sometimes the lines are a little blurred. of course, nobody wants to see mozzies, let alone let them destroy you. the mozzies descended on us with such force that no amount of mozzie repellant could keep them at bay. anaconda´s on the other hand ... part of you wants to see them, and part of you doesn´t want to see them. same with crocs and piranha´s. you want to see them. but just not too close. [url=http://fliqz.com/FliqzWebPublic/Dynamic/FliqzwebPublic.swf?skinPath=http://fliqz.com/Fl [View Full Entry]

---

---

Sao Paulo is, well .... it is a big city. with lots of people lots of people. we arrived from Rio in a big comfy bus on time and then walked around town with our packs for an hour trying to find our hostel. a wander around the city was taken in the following day with trusty amigos Hogan, Dave and Brad ... but not too much because there was a Coldplay concert on that night. for those of you that are unaware of my thoughts on Coldplay .... well, suffice to say i have never made it through more than [View Full Entry]

---

---

We´re going to Rio de Janerio my oh my oh ... Peter Allen got the vibe of Rio pretty well in his lyrics. with a possie of mates totalling 19 (you know who you are!!), most cities breathe a sigh of relief when they leave. Rio broke them. its impossible not to get caught up in the continual fiesta that is Carnival. street parties, blocos, music, glitter, costumes, singing, beer, caprinhas, people with coloured hair, more music, people dressed as nuns and that´s just outside your front door. its not hard to find the action in Rio. in fact, most of [View Full Entry]

---

---

~sambodromo~ 3 nights of parades where the opportunity to exhibit a full year´s worth of practice, training and hard work is put to the test. various samba schools do their utmost to dazzle and impress and they succeed indeed they do succeed. donned in our sparkly hats, we crammed into the stands with the locals and prepared ourselves for the sight of a life time. fireworks signal the start of a new samba school and then nothing can prepare you for the music, the dancing, the glitter, the flesh, the antics, the feathers, the sequins and the atmosphere. 40 degree [View Full Entry]

---

---

What can we say, but for the fact that there seem to be an awful lof of racing talents in Brazil. Most of em never get to the race track though, but prefer to practice in taxis, small (preferably) old cars, trucks, or in our cases, "express" busses..... Sorry we can´t get any video footage of the bus trip we took, of a huge airconditioned bus tailgating a young girl on a moped through the streets of a random Brazilian town, at over 60km/hr.... Sorry we don´t have any footage of the wonderful scenary along the winding costal road we travelled [View Full Entry]

---

---

From Iguazu it´s still a long long way to Rio, so needless to say there had to be a rest stop along the coast for a few days, where people could recouperate from all the mileage, the dust, the mileage, the putting up and taking down tents, and not to forget the mileage... we choose to forget, but I think Ushuaia to Rio makes up about 5500kms..... We did have one extra in between stop, at a beach campsite, where a bit of our-truck vs their-truck soccer was plaid on the beach (the water itself wasn´t all that clean or interesting). [View Full Entry]

---

---