Day 700 and 701 (27.02.09 - 28.02.09) We hadn´t had the time or the money (Brazil is one of South America´s more expensive countries) to do Brazil justice on this trip so about 2 weeks after we´d arrived it was time to leave. We´d had such a great time here and have vowed to return someday and really DO Brazil! Flights on round the world tickets can be limited to where it is possible to fly into and out of and when we booked we´d only been able to get a flight out of Sao Paulo and not Rio and to get to anywhere we´d have to fly via Lima. We would have about 12 hours between when we arrived in Sao Paulo and when we had to check in for our flight. We hoped to ... read more

Day 695 (22.02.09) Today was the day for us to experience all the colour, grandeur and true spectacle of the Carnaval in Rio as we had tickets to the main parade in the Sambadromo. But before we could make it out for the start at 9pm, we still had to drag ourselves out of bed following our previous Carnaval celebrations. Making it up for a spot of brekkie before falling back into bed for a couple of hours we eventually made it outside for a trip to the hippy market in Ipanema where amongst the local artists dsiplaying their work we found a guy whose work we fell in love with. After a while of debating whether we had room for yet another painting we went to ask the artist its cost. Unfortunately just as we ... read more

Day 693 (20.02.09) Carnaval, billed as the biggest party in the world, occurs at the same time all across Brazil with Rio being the most famous place to fiesta. Today was the official start to the proceedings and we decided we needed some colourful and crazy things to wear. With Drew, Nick and Mark from our dorm we got the metro out to Centro and the area outside Uruguiana station which we'd heard was great for the sort of thing we required. It turned out to perfect as we joined throngs of others gearing up for carnaval. The market and surrounding shops were filled with masks, wigs, flowers, feathers, you name it - it left us wondering just what these shops sold outside carnaval time. We spent a happy couple of hours trying stuff on and ... read more

Day 687 (14.02.09) After our delays on the night bus from Foz we arrived late into Florianopolis bus station and, after sorting out our onward bus tickets for Rio, we caught two local buses to where we were planning to stay. Florianopolis is the gateway to Santa Catarina Island and we´d heard that the south of the island was the quietest and most relaxed section which fit our plans exactly. Before the craziness of five days and nights of partying in Rio for carnaval we wanted to spend a few days chilling out to ready ourselves! After an hour or so on the hot and crowded buses we reached our hostel near the small fishing village of Pantano do Sul and liked the feel of it straight away. A few houses, a small shop, a little ... read more

Day 685 (12.02.09) So we´d made a bit of a hiccup in leaving our Lonely Planet book in our hostel in Argentina. We don´t actually use it that much but it´s useful for maps and stuff and also contains loads of notes that we´ve gleaned from other travellers about places we´re going to. Thinking that we´d have to head back over the border, Mark managed to team up with the guy who ran the hostel in organising for a driver, who was already doing a run back to Puerto Iguazu, to pick it up for us and drop it off later that night. Well that saved a trip (and a little spcae in the passport) for us! With the afternoon now for us to use as we pleased and the sky continuing to brighten from the ... read more