hello folks,

this "hectic" latin lifestyle is starting to catch up with me and im
currently relaxing in lima, peru. well im trying to "relax" but this
football fever is becoming addictive and my current dorm buddies are
running around the hostel at 7.30am in order to catch the best couch
for the 8am kickoffs (as there is a 7 hour time difference between
here and germany)- i think that they need their heads checked!!

i was planning a short and sweet visit here but lima has surprised me
and kinda reminds me of Buenos Aires. It has good nightlife and
plenty of clothes shops (which im trying to avoid cos there is only
so much that you can fit into a rucksack, and my last slave died of
exhaustion so i need to take it easy on the next dude!).
On the other hand the beach here reminds me of sweet old maugherow
(the centre of the universe for any of you who are confused, i.e.
home
sweet home). the waves are good and there is plenty of eyecandy
strutting their stuff on surfboards- ohlalala!!

the weather is a bit crap. well i cant really complain that much cos
it is winter ere and the only problem is that the sun is having a
wee problem trying to break through the cloud but sure it aint
raining and it is not cold. it might be a different story once i
arrive in snowy new zealand in July.

i know that this email is a little overdue, so ill only give you a
brief synopsis of the last 3 and a half months:

IGUAZU FALLS
after my last email we headed for the waterfalls at the Argentinean
and Brazilian border, which are claimed to be bigger than the niagra
falls. i spent most of my time with my mouth open as i gawked at
them. they were fantastic. there were plenty of helicopters hovering
above us but we decided to take a speed boat ride up to the falls on
the argentian side instead, which was such a buzz until i got my
camera
wet.
So after our sightseeing on both sides of the border, we went
camera shopping in Paraguay, which is dirt cheap for electronic
products as
there is no tax. It was hilarious to watch the droves of people
crossing the little bridge as they tried to take advantage of every
possible bargain available. some people were wheeling across hovers,
others were carrying boxes with the latest TV model, while a few were
struggling to maneuver with big black sacks on their backs (they
reminded me of santa!). Nevertheless i was warned that it was a
dangerous area to hang around, so a kind shopkeeper gave me a lift
back across the border in the evening. i was even afraid to get my
exit stamp on my passport (you have to get an entry and exit stamp on
your passport for any south american country that you visit) cos the
shopkeeper was very descriptive of the horror stories that had
previously occurred.
So after my little shopping spree we went on an "adventure" day out
in the rainforest. we went flying through the trees on a cable called
the flying fox, where i was scared shitless! the cable was connected
high in the trees and we had to hold onto a handle as we sped along
for 800m- what a buzz, i flew like a bird!
after that we went on a jeep tour of the forest and we finished off
by abseiling down a waterfall, hee haw!!!

PANTANAL
after our adventure in iguazu we headed to the pantanal region in
brazil, which is a wetland region with plenty of caymans (too many
for comfort!), birds, monkeys, snakes and mosquitoes (i still have
the war wounds to show their affection for me, needlesstosay i dont
have the same affection for them and i tried to fight them off with
my
"mosquitoe killer" DEET but i (like always!) am irresistible and the
mosquitoes ate me alive!!).
we stayed in wooden cabins on one of the river banks but the wooden
cabins were supported on stilts and connected to each other by
bridges, which seemed like a romantic idea until i discovered the
real reason for the stilt support structures. At night we could see
the
caymans ( a sister of the crocodile!)

Hola folks,

Lorraine reporting live ere from a wee place (called San Ignacio
Mini,
where all the Jesuits used to hang out in the 17th century when they
were trying to save the native indians from the greedy Spanish) in
northern argentina, and before any of you get jealous, it is pissing
rain and there is thunder and lightening...welcome to the sub-
tropics!!

We are en route to Iguazu waterfalls (supposedly the "most impressive
waterfalls in the world" - well we have been brainwashed by all the
stories we have heard in Buenos Aires so we are heading north to see
them.)

we were just looking at the calendar today and we have been on the
road for 8 weeks - aaagggghh someone should stop the clock cos it is
flying by, so I reckoned that it was about time that I wrote an
email.
Better late than never ;-)

Oh god where do I start!! Well I was in Rio deJanerio for New Year´s
eve and what a place to bring in the new year. There was supposed to
be 2 million people there, dressed in white and going mad. It is
called Revillion there and there is an africian traditional party on
the beach to thank the gods for the past year and pray for the new
year
by lighting candles, dancing, praying etc.
Everyone was samba dancing and after a few lessons on Copacabana
beach
(and a few swabs of Andrew´s champagne), we were leaping around with
the rest of the possy. To add to the effects, there were a few
cruise
ships docked beside the beach and there was a super fireworks display.

We spent a week in Rio, and we checked out all the usual touristy
things (e.g. statue of christ on the mountain, sugarloaf mountain,
favela tour, nightlife, beaches etc.) and I have to say that the
favela
tour was one of the highlights (the other highlights are top
secret!!). Favela is the Portuguese term for a slum and there are
loads of them around the city. They were erected by the poor people
who had nowhere else to live, as the military government would do
nothing to help them, and they basically look like mazes because bits
of houses are built on top of each other.

After Rio we headed to an island, between Rio and Sao Paulo, called
Isla Grande, and it is paradise on earth. I´m not kidding you and if
any of you are thinking of going to Rio in the future, be sure to fit
a
few days in your visit for this place. There are no cars or high
rise
buildings on the island. We stayed in a hostel by the beach, which
had
a few hammoths for chilling out on and a few kakays to get around as
there were no taxis! I tried snorkelling for the first time ever,
and
after the initial near drowning experience when I tried the
snorkelling
kit, I soon appreciated swimming with all the different types of fish
in the lagoons and the caves. We even got to see the ruins of a
helicopter near one of the lagoons. It was so chilled out. The
skipper on the boat was a lunatic and kept jumping of the boat to
cool
off!

We eventually got kicked out of the hostel cos we were out staying
our
welcome, so we headed to a place called Paraty, which is en route to
Sao Paulo. There, we went to see the "Gold Trail", which was used by
the Portuguese to transport the gold from the interior of Brazil to
the
port in the 1700´s and to transport coffee in the 1800´s, and after
spending one day trekking on it, I´m so glad that I wasn't one of
those
poor slaves carrying the gold or coffee. Needless to say there was a
gorgeous waterfall on the trail, which we had a shower underneath
(and
my head nearly blew off cos it was so powerful!!). Actually we were
on
the tour with an "old-ish" group who were from Brazil, and they all
just stripped off when they seen the waterfall and had a dip in the
puddle underneath the waterfall. It was mad. Imagine everyone
stripping down to their underwear when they go to see Glencar
waterfall
in Sligo!

Next stop was Curitibia, which is far more modern than Rio, and we
took the trai