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Ilha do Mel, Brazil

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Ilha do Mel is a short boat ride from Paranagua, a few hours up the coast from Florianopolis and about 6 hours south of Sao Paulo. No cars are allowed on the island, so transport is by walking, (no harm after all the lazing around!). Men with little carts meet the boats at the dock to help with luggage, but our hotel was conveniently located just a few hundred yards along the beach. The weather was atrocious though, thunder storms and torrential rain and the whole island seemed to be about to sink! With Carnival celebrations only a few days away the locals were starting to panic. Thankfully it took a turn for the better after a few days so we were able to see what the place is really like. Absolutely beautiful! Carnival celebrations are still in full swing, beach parties, samba, and pathways through forests lead to cute little bars with reggae bands playing til the wee hours but the great thing is that the island only allow 5,000 visitors maximum so it doesn´t get too packed. A fab...
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Ilha do Santa Catarina, Brazil

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The city of Florianopolis is the gateway to the beautiful Ilha do Santa Catarina. The island itself is pretty big, about 60km from north to south and ranges from being very developed, expensive and touristy in the north to quite the opposite in the south - which coincientally has the best beaches. So off we went, southbound. Straight away we loved the place, amazing beaches surrounded by green forests. Hiking trails through the forest bring you to relatively deserted little beach havens. This is what Brazil is all about..we were beginning to wonder! Spent a week here, and the weather changed (rain in summer in Brazil!? Whats that all about?) so off we went to the next beach destination, Ilha do Mel.
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Torres, Southern Brazil

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From Porto Alegre we travelled up to the coast to the first beach recommended to us by our new Brazilian friends - Torres. A pleasant enough town, very busy, nice beach with lovely coastal walks and a grand pit stop for a few days.
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Porto Alegre, Brazil

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Our final border crossing! Uruguay to Brazil, all very easy (apart from being told by the coppers that Rio is extremely dangerous..great!). Porto Alegre is the first place of any significance in southern Brazil so we stopped off for a few nights. Not a particularly attractive city, and wandering around trying to find somewhere for dinner was no easy task (unless you want fast food!). Anyway, had the fortune to stumble upon a champagne bar of all things..serving food..so we happily obliged. Hearing Portugese after 4 months of Spanish was a major shock to the system, we are back to sign language and very limited conversation! Had a few drinks, and then went out to sample the nightlife with the waitress and her friend..all very random..but a few caipirinhas later and the conversation was flowing!! Live music seems to be common in nearly all the bars and it was a good taste of what the next month in Brazil will be like.
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Punta del Diablo, Uruguay

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According to our good old reliable Lonely Planet, Punta del Diablo is one of South America´s top 5 beaches..so we needed little encouragement to stop off here en route to Brazil Pure heaven! The town is really underdeveloped..no ATM, a few restaurants and a supermarket and that´s about it! The place was packed though, we are hitting these places at the height of the summer...finding somewhere to stay was a bit of a nightmare, but once settled we could kick back and enjoy the place for what it is. A 3 night stay turned into 5 and could have been longer.We were in no hurry to leave the place. Finally tore ourselves away and headed further north to cross the border into Brazil, a few hours up the coast road by bus. The place attracts a hippy surfing crowd so beach parties were plentiful every night, lots of bongos and in general a cool vibe around the place.
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Montevideo - Uruguay

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Montevideo is the capital of Uruguay, and thankfully with Uruguay being on a par with Ireland size-wise, its a mere 2 hour bus ride from Colonia. First impressions not great, and we were already deciding to shorten our stay. However found a nice wee guest house in the old town, the weather cooled off a bit and things were looking up. My only knowledge of Montevideo is that its where Nando Parrado (survivor of plane crash in Andes.."Alive"..and author of "Miracle in the Andes") is from here, so I was secretly hoping to bump into my hero somewhere! A few days was fine, there is a very impressive market by the port where you can tuck into the biggest steaks Ive ever seen and the night life is pretty good! Tomorrow we leave to go see what Uruguay`s beaches have to offer.. A couple of pics from Plaza de Independencia in Montevideo..
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Colonia - Uruguay

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Colonia de Sacramento is an old smugglers port and one of Uruguay`s prettiest towns. Its only a short ferry ride from Buenos Aires, all very handy and pleasant. Didn´t really know what to expect when we landed there but the beautiful weather and sight of a sandy beach were enough to encourage us to drop our bags for a few days! Had the incredible fortune of bumping into a wee old man with a cottage to let..for all of 12 dollars a night..a garden full of flowers, BBQ area (Conor was only delighted to do a Eugene Perry on it!) and the use of 2 bikes for the duration of our stay. Who could refuse! To top it all off this man was great craic and the kindest person you could meet. Took an instant liking to us and vice versa. When we were leaving he dropped us to the bus station bus station, hugged us goodbye and walked away with tears brimming in his eyes. Heart warming stuff! And a great welcome to Uruguay The most beautiful sunset.. Conor preparing to cook up a storm ;) Departing Buenos Ai...
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