The one where travel isnt always fun

One minute Im snorkelling down a Brazil river full of fish, the next Im on an overnight mini bus trip. Thats right ... a mini bus with no reclining seats and 14 people packed in like sardines.
Ahhh...the joys of South American travel on a budget.

So everyone goes to Bonito to snorkel this amazing river. Its on a giant cattle farm, and Brazil tourism officials convinced the farmers to turn it into a tourist destination. Theyve done it really well, its ecologically sustainable. Limited numbers of snorkellers per day, even per hour. You cant wear suncream or insect repellant so there are no chemicals in the river.

The water is 100% clear, its shallow too so all the fish are up close to you. We spent two hours floating down the river, seeing giant fish. It was fantastic.

But then we had the overnight mini bus to Iguazu Falls. Not much sleep, and arrived at the hotel at 6.30am so we had 3 hours sleep then before heading to the Brazil side of the falls. It was pouring rain, misty and foggy.... so the views were limited. But oh my god the water was incredible. So much water, even Mimi our tour leader was amazed. Its been raining there for 2 months straight, so the volume of water is 3 times what it is normally.

And the buffet lunch at the falls was amazing too. Brazil loves their buffets, and the food is sensational. I wont be coming home any skinnier. Fruit, vegies, meat, desserts...
We had dinner at a cool restaurant that night where I discovered a Brazilian beer called Brahma which is my new fave. Very sweet.

The next day the rain cleared ...YAY!!!! for the Argentinian side of the falls. Thats where you go on the boat right up to the falls, and you can go on lovely walks with amazing views. So we all got some great photos and the boat ride was heaps of fun.

But that night meant ANOTHER overnight bus. Thank god this one was a proper coach with reclining seats. But it broke down at 2am and we had to wait for a new one to pick us up. All up we travelled 24 hours on the bus, with a 5 hour stopover in Sao Paulo. I was always afraid of Sao Paulo ... a city with Australias population and a bad reputation for crime. But Mimi is from Sao Paulo, and took us to a great part of the city where there was an amazing food market. I could have eaten there all day. Meat sandwich, incredible fresh fruit, ice cream, chocolate... you get the picture.
I liked Sao Paulo. Its the kind of city where one block is a crazy market place where you hold onto your bag tight, and next is the financial district where the rich do their business.

Finally we reached our destination of Paraty. A lovely town on the coast with cobbled streets and cool architecture.