Our last beach

So heading out of Paraty on towards Iguazu Falls, this was the hottest day to date, sweltering 34 degress on the bus. By lunchtime everyone was feeling the burn so we managed to find a little town of around 10 local houses. Cameron (the truck) did us proud by taking us down a sharp decline one lane mudtrack to find the most beautiful beach so far in Brazil. After supplying the locals with some of our sandwiches for lunch they didn´t mind our bright orange truck taking up their whole town square as we wandered down to pure emerald green sea and smooth off white sand. This beach find was quite unexpected and we were so desperate to cool off most of us just stripped to underwear and dived in. A few funny looks from locals but no comments were made! It really has reached that level of closeness between us, 22 adults sharing a space 2 x 4m for 20hr a day does that to you!

So soaking from sea water we wandered back onto the truck, a 12hr drive that day to stay on a campsite just south of Sao Paulo. When we say campsite , I use the term very loosely, they vary quite a lot but most have one or two communal toilets with cold showers and nothing else. If we come across one with heated showers and a pool it is comparable to staying in a 6 star hotel.

As we arrived in this little town the sky turned a deep grey and the mountains had soon disspeared by thick cloud and rain. The whole sky flashed white as we saw fork lightening hitting the floor around us. I kindly gave Ollie the job of erecting the tent in the rain (with metal poles - missed him though,dammit ) and I got started cooking. Each night cook groups rotate and they do breakfast and lunch also. Ours was by far the best food of the trip, potato salad with honey soy chicken and aubergine sheeps cheese bake and we filled our bellys watching the electrical storm for hours. We then spent 4 hours playing "shithead" in the pouring rain, playing cards and water = soggy, great combination!!

So off to the falls, 2 more full days driving with only a bush camp enroute to break the monotomy. Plus the fun of service station toilets (did I mention you can´t flush loo roll in south america -overflowing bins and hot weather, smells good) and beating Ollie at backgammon as my only pleasure - oh life is hard.

p.s. Did I mention argentinian vino tinto is one quid fifty, and thats the expensive stuff. I´m officially alcoholic.

p.p.s. Keep seeing shoes tied with their laces hanging from the electrical wires in small towns, apparantly this is where you go to find drug dealers at night and I naively thought it was a childs game or something. Lots to learn.

dee.x