We timed our visit to the swamps between Brasil and Bolivia perfectly to match with with mosquito season. When our jeep arrived an English guy jumped out screaming ‘Don’t go, it’s carnage!’ making us want to run away. Some more calm German tourist then explained it was bad but still worth going whilst the English guy continued his ranting in the background. We changed clothes to cover our skin and mentally preparing ourselves.

Deep inland in Bahia lies Chapada Diamantina a national reserve that the Brazilian government has forgotten about, here we meet local wildlife protector and guide Puma. Puma takes us for a small hike through the wonders of Diamantina, the suns scorching heat beating at our backs as we hiked through razor sharp canyons and rocky hills. The occasional stop at a waterfall cools our sun scorched skin and fills our water bottles.

Before leaving we dive into the calm black logoon, the falling water makes delicate music. New arrivals scrabble over the rocks, these shouting strangers jump into the cold water. A small black puppy whimpers left cold and wet, only to stop when his owner returns. After absorbing the stunning falls for another moment, we turn away starting our decent as the rain starts to pour. The following day we hear that floods occurred, the owner fell and the puppy was washed away.

Walking down the streets of Pelourinho we’re greeted by the drumming of a samba bateria, people dancing all around, rounding the next corner and an extraordinary battle of breakdancers unravels. After a cooling passion fruit juice, a large group of capoeristas start playing angola to a full bateria and a jazz saxophone on the main square. Everywhere we walk and look, there is people singing, dancing or at least humming, in the morning our hostess dances and sings whilst cooking our breakfast, across the road, the construction workers breaks out singing at the top of their lungs whist using materials and tools as percussion bateria.

 So here we go again, we found ourselves a small island with no traffic (everything was donkey powered), Ihla Boipeba is so quiet so beautiful it almost hurts. Every beach is different, one was rocky, one was windy, but all of them where was extraordinary hot, and the water seemed even warmer than the air! It was like swimming in a hottub! If there is a paradise on earth, Boipeba is definitely it.

After two hours in boiling Salvador we have decided to stay three weeks. The energy of our Pousada spills onto the walls inside and out. Never have we stayed somewhere so colourful and bright. A city with exuberant music, dancing and art. The people so lively and friendly. The food fresh, spicy and delicious. Comments: Anna - Mar 1, 2011Sarah! You have the most fantastic tan!!! lots of love to you both!

We left the small town of Búzios with wonderful memories. Each day a new stunning and secluded beach could be found, enjoyed and painted. A happy white dog appeared and showed us the way to beaches via deserted trails. Friendly holidaying Argentinians gave us speedy free ride on their beach buggy. A wild night out of beer and crepes with our chatty fun Brazilian room-mates.

Standing on the cooled sand new year quietly arrives. Champagne, hugs and laughter shared. Seven waves are jumped each one for a wish. Three parties with music and fruit merge into one and a fire is lit. A calm and happy new year filled with warmth and smiles.

We stopped in San Paulo for a couple weeks. Giving Jim time to catch up with work whilst I explored this giant of a city. When viewed from a high rise building the city seems to go on forever tower after tower. It has a population that is three times larger than London, a size difficult to grasp. We stayed in the design district of Villa Madalena which was ideal for wondering.

Juqueí is where our friend, Fernando, spent most of his summers as child, getting tutoring in womanising by his grandad as so many Brazilians do. Juqueí is a Tupi word, roughly translating to “the singing sands” or “the sand that sings” , and whilst walking along the beach, the sand truly sang, perhaps a slightly repetitive song for the unimaginative walker, but for some Gringos (read this as “us”) jumping and running around can create a symphony of feet in singing sand.

Food poisoning, camping and rain was not an ideal combination. However, the nature and beauty of Ilha Grande made the trip so worthwhile. Fernando introduced us to barefoot hiking. Initially unsure after ten minutes it felt intuitive making us feel more connected with our surroundings. The roughness of leaves and twigs prevented us from slipping. the coolness of a stream soothing our raw soles, a poor giant ant crushed underfoot and the sands softness as it nests between our toes.

Today we discovered amazing cashew fruits. Each individual cashew nut comes from a pepper sized fruit. We’ll never look at a bag of cashew nuts the same way again! Also the juice is tasty.

Finally we’ve arrived at a beach, I mean what’s a holiday without some beach time, and Parati has beaches, at least 43 of them. Now it felt like a holiday, we donned some snorkelling masks and went searching for fishies. And had our first taste of Brazilian food, oh yeah we’re in Brazil now, the land of beans and rice (or rice and beans)! Our first meal comprised of grilled fish, Pirão (fish stew), Farofa (toasted manioc flour), Feijão (beans) and Rice, not bad, not bad at all.