Here in Ilha Grande I have finally found the Brazil I was dreaming of. This island is a tropical paradise. Today it was reasonably sunny and I hiked for two hours to a beach surrounded by trees. Both the trial through the tropical forest and the beach were amazing. I am not even a big fun of beaches but this one is impossible not to like. The quietness of the place and all the green around it make it a very special place. And it is only one of many, you could stay here for weeks on end. Unfortunately I only have a few days. Originally I had allocated two but I clearly need to stay at least three of four to explore a little bit more of this beauty that is around me. Tomorrow I ... read more

Today I finally left that house of sin that was my hostel in Rio and headed to Ilha Grande, a tropical island, a hundred and something kms from Rio. I love it here. I realise that no matter how beautiful a city is - and Rio is arguably one of the most beautiful cities in the world - it will never make me feel the same sense of peace and happiness that I get in smaller places. Actually, the island is anything but small - Ilha Grande means big island - as it has over 80 beaches, but the actual town is tiny and quiet and the rest is just sand and green. I only have to hope that the weather will be nice tomorrow and that I will be able to explore all this natural ... read more

My stay in Rio isn't going exactly as planned. With the exception of last Thursday morning the weather has been consistently bad, sometimes even raining heavily. As a result, Rio' s main tourist attractions - the beaches and the two hills overlooking the city - are off limits. Instead, I went on a favela tour, hanged out in markets, wandered around the centre a bit but mostly during the day I have been doing just nothing. This brings me to the other main problem about my stay here: the hostel. It turns out the night I stayed awake until 4.30 am chatting was not an exception, the hostel comes alive at night. People here sleep until very late and don't go to bed before 5 am. Some are partying and getting drunk, some are just watching ... read more

The journey to Rio is even longer than I had expected as my bus is delayed and I arrive in Rio at 1 am with no hostel booked and no map. I am welcomed by a dozen taxi drivers offering me a ride, they are like vultures - not exactly what you need after more than 30 hours on the bus. I pick the cheapest one and I am taken to the steet where a hostel reccomended to me by a fellow traveller is. Only I do not have the house number and the hostel is nowhere to be seen. I contemplate sleeping on the beach, then I discard the idea an open my Lonely Planet in search for other alternatives but they all look really expensive. Eventually I ask the taxi driver to run thorugh ... read more

On the 14th I left the Pantanal and arrived in Bonito in the evening. In my previous entry I talk about the bad standard of services in Bolivia but here we fall into the opposite extreme. Everything is so neat and organised that it feels like being in a holiday resort. You can only do activities on an organised tour where they pick you up at the hostel and guide you all the way and our hostel even has a swimming pool. It's okay for a few days - I enjoyed visiting a cave, snorkelling and what was sold to me as rafting and turned out to be going on a boat and throw water to other boats with a bucket - but then I feel the urge to leave. The good thing about my stay ... read more

So I finally made it to Brazil. As soon as I arrived to Corumba I bought a tour the Pantanal. Although it was a bit disappointing as I was expecting a lot more jungle exploring and a lot less silly activities such as tubing, which involves floating in the river on a tyre, my first impression of the country is definitely positive. What makes the difference is the friendliness of the people. On the first night of the tour our guide sat with us after dinner and played some Brazilian songs on guitar. What a change from the Uyuni tour, where our guide was practically mute. The other big plus is the standard of accomodation and food. When I saw my room in the hotel I could not believe it. My roomates must have thought I ... read more

Today at 4pm I am boarding on a bus to the Brazilian border and I feel a mixture of excitement and fear. It's the same feeling I had when I left Argentina for Bolivia. You travel in a country for a while, get to know it and to feel reasonably safe in it and you leave it for the unknown. And in this case there is the additional worry of not speaking the language. Still I am very happy to leave. My time in Bolivia has been at times wonderful and at times hard but I never got to love this country the way I loved Argentina. I never experienced the same happiness, the same peace, the same optimism. I don't know what Brazil has in store for me but it's time to find out.... read more

I'm getting really bored here in Santa Cruz as everything seem to be shut at weekends apart from hairdressers. Even finding an Internet place proved to be a challenge. The bad news is I am stuck here until Monday as no trains to Brazil are running on Sundays. I am so bored that I actually went in one of the few open shops and looked at the clothes. People who know me know that going shopping isn't exactly my favourite activity so we're talking serious boredom here. Or maybe it's the fact that I have been wearing the same clothes for over two months now. Anyway, I can only hope that the couchsurfing girl I am meeting tonight for dinner will be free tomorrow as well, so at least I will have some company.... read more

I had quite an interesting day in Villa Tunari. In the morning I visited the park, where I unsuccesfully fought with a monkey to recover the tissues she has skilfully stolen from my pocket. Apparently she is quite keen on cameras too so I guess I can call myself lucky. In the afternoon I went to the other park 7km away from the village, walked to a river and ended up going in the water with all my clothes on. The night journey to Santa Cruz also proved to be interesting, though in a more negative way. The bus was full and I was accomodated in the aisle, travelling for six hours in the most uncomfortable position, surrounded by the smell of dirty feet. When the driver refused to give me my change and mumbled something ... read more

I guess it's a bit late to start a travel forum now since I have been travelling for over two months, but like they say, better late than ever. I'm currently in Cochabamba, which to me is infinitely nicer than La Paz. It must be the climate I guess, I feel ligther and happier with my summer dress than with an alpaca sweater and hat. Unfortunately I cannot stay long as the time has come for me to hit Brazil so I'm leaving tonight for Villa Tunari, will sleep there, visit the park and then off to Santa Cruz, my last Bolivian destination before crossing the border into Brazil. I'm kind of sad to be leaving Bolivia now, especially as here people are actually quite friendly but I am also looking forward to swim in Rio's ... read more