Crossed the border from Brazil to Bolivia. Almost immediately you can see the difference in the level of wealth. Bolivia is one of the poorest countries on the planet - and it shows! It really did feel like we were in bandit country! Upon crossing the border, we took the 15 hour long night train journey from Quijarro in the east of Bolivia to Santa Cruz in the centre. Santa Cruz is quite a wealthy Bolivian City mainly due to drugs trafficking, and ful...

Left Bonito on 16th August. As it was my birthday, I was feeling a little homesick. Birthday wishes from the Group and Simon taking me shopping made me fell better though. A 4 hour bus ride along mainly dirt tracks took us to the Pantanal. About an hour into the journey, and in the middle of nowhere (literally) the accelerator cable on the bus snapped. As a rescue truck was unlikely, it was left for the driver to do what he could. After about half an hour, ...

Arrived in the town of Bonito on 14th August. Stayed in this top place in the centre of this small town. Open eating / social area with hammocks slung all around. On arrival, I made the most of the facilities whilst Simon went off for a walk through the jungle which incorporates a network of waterfalls with splash pools suitable for swimming. He had a great time, quite pleased for having leapt off a 20 foot high platform into one of the pools. We went ...

Thursday 12th August 2004. We are here in Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay. Bus journey here was 6 hours, and our first proper taste of real South America - grotty 40 year old bus, slow, uncomfortable seats, poor roads, no stops, toilet has an army of beasties crawling in and around it. Nice. The day in Asuncion was a rest day. A few bits of sightseeing. Nothing too exciting, but a good experience nonetheless. Back to Brazil next for a few d...

Have a few days in Foz de Iguassu, a Brazilian town close to the Iguassu Falls. Before seeing the falls, we went to the Itaipu hydro electric dam, one of the seven wonders of the modern world, apparently. Enormous structure - the dam is about 7km long - and the fact that this single lump supplies almost all of Paraguay´s and a large proportion of Brazil´s electricity is pretty impressive. However, the blurb you are fed is absolute one sided b****...