Oi! Como vai? from the fourth largest city in the world!

Sao Paulo is really cool - a hustle and bustle city just like London but bigger. Things are a little less organised here but it's part of the fun of getting around and doing stuff! Ive now finished my GAP group tour (*sniff, sniff*) and am with my good friend, George, as we tour Brazil for two weeks.

We've come here straight from Rio (where the group tour ended) after a 6 hour bus ride last Friday evening. Rio was an amazing city - beaches, lots of people, shopping, a vast array of places to eat and a generally cool vibe. I spent a few nights in Rio because my GAP tour made a stop there before heading to Ihla Grande (Paradise Island). On our first visit to Rio, Kate, Katherine, Lucille and I went straight to the famous beach of Copacobana. We chilled there for a while before I managed to arrange a meeting with George for the first time in fourteen months. It was crazy after having been apart for so long!! We caught up a lot and had a great laugh before alate afternoon came and we headed back to our hotel. That night, George joined Jose (a trainee tour leader from our group), Kate, Katherine and I as we went out for dinner before clubbing. George got wasted which was completely hilarious as he hadn't drank in five months! We queued for ages to get into the poshest club in Rio but eventually settled for another local one since we didn't have ID! It was a fantastic night to kick off our time in Rio before we spent the next morning heading to Ihla Grande.

Ihla Grande was a stunning as proclaimed. It wasn't very touristy but instead really relaxing. If we weren't in our hostel we were on the beach. Nights at the bars were cool and we generally just took the time for a major chillout. Sadly, we didn't get great weather for two out of our three days there and so we didn't get to go to the famous Lopez Mendez beach.
After three nights in Ihla Grande, we went back to Rio and I spent a couple more nights there as the group split up to go their separate ways. Some stayed in Rio, some went home & some went on travelling around South America. It's been a great time getting to know each one of them and sharing experiences I'll never forget. Although still having a fantastic time now travelling only with George, I found that I miss the presence of the group and chatting to the good friends I made =( I remember being on the tour and looking forward to meeting George and doing things more independently, but I didn't think about the friends I'd be leaving behind. If any of you read this, I hope you're having fun! It was a pleasure meeting you all and sharing the times together that made the trip as great as it was. Thanks and all the best! xxx

The extra day in Rio we spent pretty restlessly. We didn't do much before saying our goodbyes to Kate and Katherine and then going out to play Pool in a bar with one of George's elder cousins. The next day was also pretty fruitless as we chilled out walking around the streets of Rio and organising ourselves as we began our road trip.So, you know the rest since George and I left for S?Paulo. Now you need a fill in on what's happened all the way since Sucre, which seems like a bloody long time ago. Well, a short summary would tell you that we took a flight to Santa Cruz, an overnight train ride to Puerto Suarez (on the border with Brazil), a 2-day excursion to the Pantanal wetlands, a bus to Bonito, en route to Iguassu Falls, from where we took the flight to Rio de Janeiro!

Now, because of a lack of time here in the city (sorting out buses and what have you), I'm going to have to end this here. However, I will come back and add to it very soon (especially since I've written down the towns we went to which hence should help trigger my memory as to what we did). So, I'm going to have to bid you a premature farewell for the time being.

Until next time. Take care & have fun. Tchau tchau!

Darryl