Day 9 & 10 – Thunder + Lightning

So we left Paraty today in search of the goal of this whole GAP tour, Igauzu Falls! This involved a night bus to Foz de Igauzu which was a 4 hr trek across Brazil to Sao Paulo where we stopped for a 2 hours including a quick tour by Carlos. To say Sao Paulo is a kip is an understatement!! Granted we were there on a Sunday so it was very quiet, but the place is a high rise jungle and streets are occupied with the homeless and the poor. Carlos gave us a quick tour and the only notable point was the central Cathedral which was worth a visit. After our quick tour we got tram back to the station and boarded our bus to Igauzu, a 14 hr journey south. The bus was OK and everybody got a bit of sleep with the help of Mike snoring!!

On arrival to Foz, we were greeted with a thunder and lightning storm accompanied by a deluge of rain which lasted the whole day! I felt at home! Luckily the hotel was equipped with a dodgy pool table (was grand once you judged the curls!), a fussball table and a few exercise machines. We made plenty use of these all day and surfing the net aswell. Conor and a few others went to Paraguay shopping to a big market type place. The feedback was not good as the place was dirty, sleazy and wasn’t up to the high standards of the Galway market!! That evening, in typical Irish fashion, we drowned out the thunder and lightning with a game of shreades to the amusement of all. Tomorrow is the day we have all been waiting for, Igauzu awaits …

Tom