Chapada dos Guimaraes, Brazil

From Brasilia we have had quite a relaxing time travelling through the middle of Brazil. For those who want to know what's there, the answer is lots of trees!! We have also experienced 3 time changes in 48 hours which is very confusing and I'm sure not necerssary. At one point we were working on Odyssey time only! We have had a lovely but mosquito infested bush camp outside a farmer's farm. When he saw us he was delighted to see that we were travellers "gringos" that he invited us to stay longer. We left quietly after a beautiful sunrise but I'm sure that the site has been put on the GPS as a bush camp for the next trip. We also had an unexpected stay in a hotel due to a motor bike accident directly in front of us on the road which held us up a couple of hours meaning that it was dark by the time we were cleared and no camp could be found. Bush camps are a great part of the adventure but any more than one in a row in a sweaty climate and you are very happy to be given the opportunity for an evening shower.

There has been a lot of rain recently, so much so that we haven't been able to get into the northern Pantanal because the roads were undriveable. We took a detour to another wildlife haven but that was also inacessable so we had another night in a hotel. Anymore and we could get a little bit used to squishy pillows and buffet breakfasts!

We eventually got to Chapada dos Guimaraes national park. We had a great couple of group days out swimming in waterfalls and snorkelling in a river which was paid for by kitty. It's great when you get something that's included in kitty. You have already paid for the activity months in advance but it still feels like it's free and a nice surprise. It was very hot in the park and it required a fair bit of walking so the waterfalls were a welcome dip

We are now in a town called Jaru and staying in a hotel for the night. It was a great call by Pete as the stormy weather closed in, it was getting dark and we are currently cooking on charcoal due to the very pricey gas at the moment. There is also a fair number of us, me included, who are suffering or who have just recovered from carnival flu so not having to pitch a tent and a bed is very welcome.

Tomorrow we are away early in order to cover the 300 odd km to Porto Velho which is our hop on point for a 3 day Amazon cruise to Manaus which will be interesting!

Brasilia, Brazil

We spent a morning having a tour around the main sights of the capital of Brazil, Brasilia. Pete assured us that a morning was plenty of time to see the city which was only formed in the 1950s making it a huge mass of concrete. The city was planned into sectors so there is an area for banks, supermarkets, hospitals, the government, cheap hotels, expensive hotels and then the different types of housing. If you took a bird's eye view of the city it would look like an aeroplane. We went to see the JK memorial where the founder of Brasilia has his tomb, we saw the first church in the city, visited a church with a lot of blue glass windows and a massive chandelier which was pretty amazing. Also on our quick city tour we saw the cathedral, the biggest flag pole and flag in Brazil, national congress with a huge square next door complete with a clothes peg like pigeon house. We finished the tour with a look at the extremely plain presidential palace and a quick jolly up the TV tower to get an over view of where everything is, in what is a very odd city!! Pete was right, Brasilia just needs a morning. It's a plain city with some unusual buildings but I can't imagine anyone wanting to live there as it really is a bit out of the way. It was however on our route and it was a great to have a quick stop.

For the last few days we have been travelling through the middle of south America and we are actually not too far from the Bolivian border. We have had a bit of an odd few days, having bush camped at a great little spot next to a lake, seen lots and lots of rain, lightning, we have also had to change our watches 3 times in 2 days, been first in line behind a motorbike accident, seen a lot more rain and had 2 nights in hotels as we just haven't made camp. The rain has put a halt on our attempts to get to the Northern Pantanal as the roads are just undriveable. Truck life continues and we are headed to a National Park a few hours down the road tomorrow for some more relaxation and to see some waterfalls which I should imagine will definitely have water in them!

Lencois, Brazil

A days drive inland from Salvador and we hit the little town of Lencios and National Park Chapada Diamantina. It's ages since we been for a day out so about half the group headed out with a guide to see what was in the park. I enjoyed the day but I didn't realise there would be so much walking thinking that we would just be dropped off view point to viewpoint. We went swimming in a waterfall fed pool, visited a cave with a 1km long walk way through it which had some cool stalagmites and stalactites. I also really enjoyed snorkelling in another pool where the variety in fish was better than Bonito. To finish the day off we climbed a huge hill to see sunset which was pretty pretty. The next stop is Brasillia, once we get there. It's a very long way!

Salvador, Brazil

Salvador is the 3rd biggest city in Brazil and the destination for our celebration of Carnival along with 3 million more people heading to the city for the week. It's manic!! The group have been split up into 3 apartments in the Barra region of the city planting us just 10 minutes away from the carnival route which has been great as you can see as much or as little of the carnival celebrations as you want. It's obvious that carnival is huge here. Supermarkets and any available space on the street is filled ceiling high of crates of beer, the queues are an hour long and the shopping centre has shut down for the week. Everyone is in partying and not a huge amount gets done

In the Rio carnival, which is the carnival that you see on the TV it's all glitter, feathers and fancy costumes, centered around the samba school parade. Salvador is a completely different experience as the main focus is on the music and instead of watching the parade the thing to do is to take part in it which is what most of us decided to do by joining a “bloco”. The “bloco” is a huge amount of people which follow a specific float along the parade route dancing away to the music. When you join your “bloco” you get a t-shirt to identify you to that group and you are confined to the safety of a roped area whilst everyone else is on the street pavements as “popcorn”. It was a fantastic experience. The first “bloco” was an evening one following the Bob Sinclar float so the road turned into a moving nightclub. With a day off to recover and then we joined the Olodum “bloco” which was a different experience as it was middle of the day- 35 degree heat and it was a lot less crazy as we had a bit more space and due to the nature of the artist it was a bit of an older crowd.

It's not just been about Carnival as there is the old town to explore with the colourful buildings lining narrow cobbled streets. We went to have a look in some of the churches (apparently very impressive inside) but they were closed for carnival so we settled for t-shirt and sarong shopping and a few hours watching drumming parades coming through the square which was great

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A big thanks to Karen for her bloco photos as I didn't want to risk taking my camera out with me.

Beach hop to Salvador, Brazil

We had a bit of relaxation time on the way to Salvador stopping at 2 very nice beaches along a coast where the Portuguese first landed in South America. Puerto Seguro was a big town popular with Brazilian tourists so it was nice to relax on the beach and do a bit of people watching. Olivanca was great fun as there were big waves and a deserted beach. Sadly I'd caught a stomach bug so was recovering from that there, but at least it wasn't a travel day!

Ouro Preto, Brazil

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We left a rainy Rio and headed to a very rainy Ouro Preto. The town was formed after a gold mining boom in the early 18th century and as a result there are lots of pretty building, cobbled streets and 23 churches!! It would have been lovely on a sunny day but we hit torrential rain so there were rivers flowing down the steep streets. I'm just glad that I wore my flip flops!!