After Potosi we took another 6 hour Andean bus journey to Uyuni which is a dull, cold, boring town. From there we took a 3 day tour of the Salar de Uyuni - the biggest salt flats in the world, the altiplano laguna, and the high desert. All at around 4000m above sea level !!! The salt flats were first on the list. They´re vast and absolutely amazing. It´s hard to describe what it´s like to drive across what looks like a white sea dotted with islands and with volcanoes on each "shore". At this time of year the skies are blue, the sun shines and the whole thing is dazzling and surreal. After driving for a couple of hours we came to the 1st island which really feels like it´s in the middle of the ... read more

After 20 hours on the Death Train we spent a few hours in Santa Cruz, a few hours was enough - not much to see or do. We then took an overnight bus to Sucre. Bolivian buses and roads are something to be experienced. The buses are very basic with no facilities, a bit of a challenge when the journeys are so long - in time if not distance. Once out of towns the roads are not much more than dirt tracks. So our journey of ~400km took 15 hours, about the same 30km/h average speed as the train !!!!! but it was cheap b$70 (US$10) per person. Our fellow passengers were all locals and an interesting bunch, the guy across the aisle smoked, spat, talked to himself, shouted and whistled at people we passed in ... read more

Everybody we've met said we must go to Bonito - so we backtracked a couple of hundred km to do it, was the right choice. The main attractions are the rivers which are crystal clear and full of fish. We chose the Rio Sucuri - it was awesome. You're kitted out with wetsuit, mask and snorkel then dropped into the river near it's source, then you drift downstream for ~ an hour, about 2km, before they take you back out for a great lunch. We saw all sorts of fish, birds, more monkeys - fantastic. Unfortunately no photo's but for us another unforgettable experience. ... read more

Arrived this morning in Campo Grande after long, cold overnight bus journey - not as good as Argentina, but OK. Assumed Campo Grande was the last stop - which it wasn't so we were still sitting on the bus when our bags were already off and sitting on the pavement, Atsuko was still asleep - putain !!! weather is now getting warm - high 20s in the day and much warmer in the sun. Tomorrow we're heading into the Pantanal for 3 days. Organised the tour through the hostel, should be hiking, piranha fishing, horse riding, and lots of wild animal watching. We took the option of camping so plenty of mosquito repellent to hand. Expect to have more huge steaks and chorizo sausages for dinner tonight - Brazilian portions are the same size as Argentinian ... read more

Visited the Argentinian side a couple of days ago now just back from the Brazilian side of the Iguacu (Iguazu) Falls, not enough words to describe how awesome they are !!!!! couple of pics attached but they don't really show it either, it has to be seen to be believed. Weather yesterday and the day before was cloudy overcast and even rained a bit, but the days we were at the falls we had clear blue skies - somebody somewhere likes us :-) Brazil is different from Argentina - wealthier, more expensive, a bit more "sorted", that said the people, at least in this bit of the country, aren't as happy or lively as the Argentines we met. Today we're going to visit the Itaipu dam and maybe go into Paraguay for a few hours. Then ... read more