Islands, Beaches, Snorkelling and a bit more Football! THE LAST BLOG!

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Lima
I left you all last time while we were in Lima and Ben was doing his pargliding course. Unfortunately the weather was really bad the next day so he didn´t get to fly but the day after we went into the mountains where the conditions were better. Ben got 4 flights in total and learnt a new manoevre which meant he got his paragliding licence! That means he is now officially a qualified pilot! How cool is that?! He was really chuffed. I also got ANOTHER free tandem flight in the mountains with the instructor which scared the life out of me (you literally have to jump off the edge of a mountain!) but was really good fun and the views were incredible. I think the total cost of my free flights was about 150GBP! We went out for a drink with some of the other paragliding pupils before catching our late night flight to Sao Paulo.

Sao Paulo
We didn´t stay long this time but did manage to catch a Brazilian football game between Palmeiras and Cruziero who are both close to the top of the Brazilian equivalent of the Premiership. The game was absolutely brilliant! The atmosphere was absolutely crazy with chants that involved the fans crouching on the ground then jumping up, holding their shirts up so that each row looked like a giant washing line and taking off their shirts and swinging them around over their heads. We thought Palmeiras might loose but they won 5-2! That means that in the three football games we have seen so far in South America, we have seen 18 goals, 3 penalties and a red card! more than you´d see in a season at Huddersfield!

Santos
After a short stop in Sao Paulo we headed to Santos which is famous for Santos Football Club where Pele used to play (and Robinho and Diego for those who know who they are!) We went to the Santos FC museum and had a tour of the press box, changing rooms and ground which was really cool. The museum also had things like the football Pele used to play with when he was younger and the football shirt he wore for Santos on the day he scored 1000 goals (the first person ever to do it). We also spent day on Santos beach when the weather perked up. The beach was gorgeous surrounded by skyscrapes and palm trees and with a tropical island that you could swim out to.

Ilha Grande, Angra Dos Reis
Next stop was Ilha Grande a tropical paradise island with no roads and acres of protected national park rainforest as well as some of the best beaches in the world! Its listed in The Guardian´s top 10 paradise islands as number 6 http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2003/sep/28/srilanka.honduras.tanzania?page=3!
And for most of the time the weather was amazing. We spent one day at Lopes Mendes beach which is brilliant for surfing because the waves are HUGE! The biggest waves I have ever seen. You also have to walk through the forest for 20mins to get to the beach which is really cool. On the way there we saw a monkey in the tree! So we got out a banana and along came another 20 monkeys! They were really little and very cute (if a bit funny looking).

Another day we went on a snorkelling trip to the blue lagoon. I thought we would maybe see a few fish but when we got there the water was crystal clear and we saw literally thousands of them! some were bright yellow and black striped, some were spotty and others were grey with electric blue fins! After our snorkelling the boat took us to a beach for some sunbathing and served free fruit on the boat. For those who know my obsession with pineapple it wont come as a surprise that I ate 25 peices. And only stopped there because theyd ran out.

We had one day which was a bit cloudy so decided to do a walk to a waterfall in the middle of the forest. It was quite confusing when the path disappeared and turned into a really steep hill going into nowhere but after dragging ourselves up it we found the waterfall and a few natural pools which were really pretty. Ben didn´t hesitate and jumped in to do some posing under the waterfall! hehe

The island used to be used as a prison! And we went to see the ruins of it which were practially on the beach. It was really strange to go in the dark and pokey little cells when you can see the blue sky and hear the waves outside! It must have been like torture for the prisoners there!

Paraty
We are now in Paraty in Rio de Janeiro state which still has its old colonial centre that cars arent allowed into. Its really pretty with 400 year old cobbled streets, white buildings and rustic lampposts. Its really pretty at night and a great place to wander around. Today we went on a boat trip to some islands and did lots of sunbathing on the beaches and some more snorkelling with the fish! We also managed to get in a bit of beach football! We had a fun game with our group from the hostel and then watched a more serious game of Ben and our Brazilian boat captian vs 4 Americans. Of course Ben and the Brazilian guy won! Luckily the weather was gorgeous all day and we saw quite a few of the 65 islands that surround Paraty!

Hopefully more sunshine in the next few days so we can top up the tans before seeing you all very soon!

See you in England

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