We recently read a review of the Serra Verde Express train journey, written by an Australian guy who has travelled extensively and done some interesting things, like kayaking across Sydney Harbour and horse riding in the Australian outback. He said that his sensational ride on the Serra Verde Express in Paraná, Brazil, was “up there” with all the rest of his travel experiences. This kind of recommendation cannot be ignored, so we decided to ride this train. Would it live up to such high expectations? It did! Our Serra Verde experience this week was certainly up there with all of our other travel highlights and the Atlantic Rainforest is up there with other outstanding scenery that we have been fortunate to see, like the Grand Canyon and the Amazon. This train journey, through the Atlantic Rainforest, ... read more

Thursday 18th June 2015 The problem with long-distance bus journeys in a country where sunsets come early, is that one arrives in unknown territory in the dark. Our bus yesterday from Sao Sebastiao brought us to Santos at dusk, so by the time we had got a taxi to our hotel, it was dark. The receptionist spoke just a few words of English, no Spanish at all and we failed to discover where we could find any tourist information so that we could see the sights today. Therefore, this morning, after breakfast, we headed for the beach and just walked along the promenade for two or three kilometres and then we found an old streetcar converted into a Tourist Information Centre. The beach is enormous; seven kilometres of wide golden sands fringed by palms and five ... read more

Wednesday 10th June 2015 Parati, sometimes spelt Paraty and pronounced Parachi, is a well-preserved Portuguese colonial town, in the south of the state of Rio in the “Parque Nacional da Serra Bocaina” (the Bocaina National Park). Building regulations are severely strict, resulting in a completely unspoilt environment, with lethal cobbled streets, artisan craft shops and a wonderful winter tropical climate; it would be somewhat harsher in the summer. The rainforest-clad mountains reach down to palm fringed beaches where horses bathe in the water beside fishermen stringing their nets. It is a little piece of paradise, or as the Brazilians would say, “um paraiso”. The only thing lacking, in our opinion, is good food. South America just does not seem to have the culinary skills found in Europe or Asia. Here in Brazil everything is served with ... read more

Wednesday 3rd June 2015 Our journey back from the Rio Mamori to Manaus was without incident as was the four hour flight to Rio, which arrived on time at 23.15. Since we were arriving late at night, we had asked for an airport pick up to the hotel, which we had booked online before going to Mamori, but since we hadn´t received any confirmation, we were half expecting not to get it and we didn´t! However, it was easy to get a taxi and we got to our hotel just after midnight. After the jungle experience, we wanted a bit of luxury, so booked four nights in a nice boutique hotel in the old district of Santa Teresa, which justifiably boasts the best views in Rio. From our spacious 15 square metre terrace, we have a ... read more

Tuesday 26th may 2015 Canoeing through the jungle is one thing, but trekking through dense jungle is quite another. Today we set off for a three hour trek and it was pretty challenging. We had a big storm in the night with torrential rain, so the forest was steaming and the insects were ferocious. We crossed streams, got through dense undergrowth (Marcelo was busy up front with his machete), climbed over numerous fallen trees and we saw Jaguar tracks. Some Tamarind Monkeys were high up in the canopy and moths the size of a man´s hand flew through the foliage. Although close to being unbearable at times, undoubtedly on the very edge of our comfort zone, it was also enormously exciting and we learned a lot about survival techniques and about the flora around us. We ... read more