Brazil

So we are finally in Brazil... everything is great, except no one can understand a lick of Portuguese! It has been really frustrating going from doing really well practicing Spanish to attempting this crazy language, on paper it looks like Spanish, but really sounds nothing like it. We´re making do though, I have learned to bark English at the locals (and expect them to understand) like the Aussies have done all along the trip.

So it is hot as anything here, but I´m not complaining! Just wake up sweating in the tent every morning...

When we arrived in Brazil we visited the other side of Iguazu Falls - which was even better than the Argie side. The Brazilian side featured awesome vistas of all of the 100´s of falls and was really amazing (just a note about photos - I am trying to download them as we speak for about the 10th time this trip, so if they don´t make it up I will send them around right when I get back). From there we camped right outside of the city of Foz de Iguazu, our campsite had a nice pool and bar area which provided a great place to celebrate some Kiwi holiday, since our guide and driver and one girl on the tour are from New Zealand. While we were in Foz we also took a bus over to Paraguay... apparently the city we visited is known as one of the most corrupt cities in South America, it wasn´t terribly impressive - they were known for selling cheap electronics, so I got a new watch (since I lost the one I got for the trip). Overall the day in Paraguay was not great, mostly because it rained harder that day than I think I have ever seen before!

From Foz we trekked north for 2 days to the Pantenal. The Pantenal is known as one of the best wildlife viewing areas on the planet. We spent three days there watching animals from all means of transport - foot, horseback, boat, open-air truck, hammocks, etc. It was a really nice place, minus the swarms of mosquitos. We mostly got to see lots of different birds, reptiles, monkeys and other random animals. I was most excited about seeing an armadillo rooting around when we were horseback riding. While we were at the Pantenal lodge and we also went pirahna fishing, using bits of beef as bait. That was a really cool experince, their teeth were amazing - I wasn´t the best fisherman in our group as far as quantity, but I am pretty sure I caught the biggest one. We ate the piranhas for lunch and dinner (thank god we had other food though because there is not much meat on those little guys, and yes, they tasted like chicken). We were disappointed that we didn´t see anacondas and jaguars in the Pantenal, I imagine you would have to put in more than 3 days to see those guys.

From the Pantenal we headed to Bonito (where we are now). Yesterday, we went on this awesome snorkeling trip down this amazingly clear river. There were massive fish and brilliant colors in this very unique river - I constantly had to remind myself that I was not snorkeling in the sea. I know my folks would have loved it since they like snorkeling so much... maybe someday I will send them... gotta get a job first though! Sorry guys! I do have some great pictures of the river that I will be sharing. Tomorrow we start two long days of driving to the ocean, where will camp on the beach for 3 days before finally making it to the party in Rio.

I am so excited to get the Rio, the tour officially ends on the 20th, but most people in the group will be staying in the same hotel. At this point I am ready to be done with traveling with this large of a group, just a couple more days to go...

more to come...