After a six hours on the bus we arrived in Caracas froze to the core. The air con on the bus was ridiculous and the only restbite was when we stopped for lunch which I used to heat up in the sun! We also had chance to taste our first Arepa, similar to a pita and filled with roast pork, cheese and salad, very filling. Once at the bus station we tried to haggle for a taxi but they all wanted double what the hotel told us to pay! They were saying that petrol was very expensive just a shame its one of the cheapest places in the world at 2p a litre compared to £1.20 at home?! So after an hour on another bus and metro we arrived at our pre booked hotel nice and ... read more

We had a day of manic sorting, more money exchanging and trying to get some flights and trips arranged for the next few weeks. We then headed further north to Ciudad Bolivar, the jumping off point for Angel Falls. After another 11 hour bus journey we arrived at our hotel at midnight. Not the best time to arrive in a strange city and it did feel a bit dodgy and it did get a bit worrying when the old guy on the door where we were staying wouldn’t let us in because it was too late! Fortunately with Michelle playing the girl card he let us in which was good as a car had already drove past us twice and I think if we were there a third time things could have turned nasty. The next ... read more

Once again it was another flight! It doesn’t feel like were backpacking any more with all these flights. This was another cheapish one at £160 for a 5 hour flight. Problem was that we had to set off at 4am for our first flight to the capital Brasilia and we finally arrived in Manaus at 4pm after load of delays because of it pissing it down or electrical storms! As we were coming to land into Manaus we saw the meeting of the 2 rivers that form the mighty Amazon, it looked pretty strange, the brown waters of the Rio Solimoes and the nearly black waters of the Rio Negro merging into one, very weird. Manaus itself is not a particularly nice place, and reminded us of all the grotty border towns we’ve passed through on ... read more

After yet more travel combinations, bus, metro, bus, mini bus, we’d arrived in a little beach town called Praia da Pipa. A few people had recommended this place to us so we were looking forward to it. We eventually found our little pousada which we had pre booked on the internet for 12 pound a night, which was cheap as it had a/c, t.v and breakfast included so were glad to get decent value for money for a change. The town is a strange place, the main street is lined with posh boutiques, with some very expensive items even for U.K prices! Lots of nice restaurants and a decent nightlife, but under all that glitz is a nice laid back feel. We ate well every night, lots of seafood unsurprisingly and the best pizza place in ... read more

After Rio we decided to head north to the city of Salvador and it worked out cheaper to fly and a hell of a lot quicker. By bus it was £58 and 25-28 hours, by plane it was £55 and 2 hours! We didn’t have to think long about that one! The flight was easy enough and had no problems and shortly after landing we got a bus in to the town centre. We stayed in the Pelourinho area of Salvador and were presently surprised, lots of old colonial buildings and cobbled streets with a church on virtually every corner, apparently they have a church for every day of the year! Added to this religious theme you also have the African influence. Lots of big black women dressed in the traditional Salvadorian dress which has its ... read more