Hola Amigos, Well our last stop in Brazil was Porto Alegre where we stopped for the day before boarding a night bus that would take us into Uruguay. But before we begin this journey we would like to write some of our Brazillian memories.... How could we ever forget 4 nights sleeping in hammocks on the upper deck of a boat sailing down Rio Amazonas from Manaus to Belem. Getting rained on 3 nights out of 4 (because the shelter was minimal on upper deck), eating beans, rice and meat for lunch and dinner and making some great friends on the boat. Relaxing at Sao Luis, exploring its narrow cobbled streets, tryinig our first caipirinha (alcohol and lime) and dancing at a reggae club with our friends from the boat. Great night but some sore heads the next day. Eating incredible meals with the locals where you top your plate up with fresh cut hot meat, salads, pasta, rice etc - weigh the plate and pay only about $3US for all that food. Playing cards continually with our Danish mate Lars at Jeri because of the rain and also because he insisted that us travellers can have it hard, and we need "to take it easy". Chilling at Praia da Pipa hoping to see some dolphins. Unfortunately we dont see dolphins but we do see some little monkeys at the reserve on the cliff top. Very cute. Walking the length of Copacabana beach for the first time. It really is the longest, widest and whitest beach we have ever been to. Seeing Christo Redentor on top of Corcovado Mountain for the first time and getting that "thrill of finally being in Rio". Taking a tram to the top and being rewarded with some incredible views over the whole of Rio and its beaches. People watching. The women, girls and older ladies wear as little as possible. We are talking: high heels or wedges on their feet, micro mini skirts (usually denim), crop tops, halter necks or boob tubes (tummy show a must). The more skin the better and it doesnt matter if you are old or young, skinny or fat......just wear it. The last 5 weeks have found us taking many modes of transport also. Cars, buses, planes, cesna planes and a boat...we have covered a lot of kms. To give some perspextive on how big Brazil is, here is a summary of the travelling distances from north to south: Santa Elena (Venezuela border) to Boa Vista (Brazil) - 2hrs by taxi Boa Vista to Manaus - 11hrs by bus Manaus to Belem - 4 days by boat Belem to Sao Luis - 15hrs by bus (it took us 21 hrs as the bus broke down twice) Sao Luis to Parnaiba - 10hrs by bus Jericoacoara to Fortaleza - 7hrs by bus Fortaleza to Natal - 8hrs by bus Natal to Praia da Pipa - 3 hrs by bus Pipa to Olinda - 3hrs by bus Olinda to Salvador - 13hrs by bus Salvador to Rio - 2hrs by plane Rio to Porto Alegre - 2hrs by plane PA to Chui (Uruguay border) - 7hrs by bus And most of that is just travelling down the coast! Some have asked about poverty / culture. Not really in a position to comment about culture in Venezuela as we were'nt really there long enough. In terms of poverty however, this is most evident in Venezuela (Caracas). Not entirley sure on the facts, but I believe that Brazil has the biggest gap between rich and poor. This may well be the case, but the poverty in Salvador and Rio is fairly well hidden from the normal traveller. You do see parts of the favellas (slum areas), but as they are supposedly so dangerous you are not able to go anywhere near them. And you probably don't want to anyway. To be honest, we have seen far more signs of poverty in South Africa (and northern parts of East Africa of course) where there is, what seems, no attempt to hide the poor suburbs from the general public / tourist. Many travellers have spoken of the danger to tourists in parts of Brazil. Again this may well be the case, but we have had no need to be concerned and have strolled freely around most areas, excluding some parts of Salvador. Venezuela by contrast does exude a feeling of some danger. It's not pleasant being advised by hostel owners etc, that it is not safe to go out after 7.00pm and this could well be the reason why we only dedicated such a short time to travelling through this country. In saying this however, Angel Falls and the surrounding areas are some of the most beautful we have ever seen and I would recommend to anybody that this is a 'must see'. The Brazilian people are incredibly friendly. They always want to have a chat when possible. We have often sat beside locals at restaurants and they have initiated conversation at an opportune moment. We have even had glasses of Grapa delivered to us and then been told they have been bought for us by the people at the adjacent table. Brazil has been a fabulous country and we have both enjoyed every minute of our journey so far. The memories we will take away with us are amazing and we hope you have enjoyed reading about it all as much as we have enjoyed doing it all. Lots of love Sarah and Shane xx