Day 6 -29th November, Niks 34th (eeek!) b'day - Spectacular Train Journey through the Marumbi Mountain Range and Atlantic Forest to Morretes then boat to Ilha do Mel!!
 
Thankfully we had chosen the cheapest train class which meant no electric doors and open windows, just what I like . We had a guide on our carriage too but she only spoke Portuguese, so we had no idea what she was saying! Our carriage group were all locals but lots of fun and had already opened the beer at 8am! So, excited about what lay ahead, I opened my first 2 b'day cards from mum and Luce which with the emotional words made me blub abit and then we were off.....or so we thought!

After about 2 minutes the train stopped reversed and back we were in the station. After some babble from our guide everyone started getting off and like idiots we sat there not having a clue what was going on!! Thankfully another guide saw us and with his limited English explained than an accident had just happened on the tracks ahead so we had to wait and see if the train could leave. Boo! So we joined the huge coffee queue and the couple in front started chatting away to us, she had great English which helped and again was so incredible friendly! She explained that a guy had apparently committed suicide on the tracks and that in Brazil it takes an age for medical examiners/coroners to arrive so we may have to wait and go tomorrow ...our idyllic week chilling was slowly slipping away!

We learnt other things too, she said the coffee in Brazil was rubbish compared to the Brazilian coffee you get in England because all the good stuff is exported and locals are left the poor parts. I must admit we have found the coffee very bitter and nothing like home, so now we know why! She explained that she was gay and that her girlfriend who didn't say a word didn't speak English and was the quieter of the two but that she liked to talk, so as you can imagine, we both got on quite well!! Such a nice lady and very open, she said this was very much part of Brazilian culture and that they were an extremely friendly society who liked to help people. The one thing that had surprised us about Brazil so far was the people in that when you think Brazilians you think, tanned, long dark curly hair and (for the men) gorgeous bodies and small bikini's, however so far about 60% of everywhere we had gone the locals looked European and not as we imagined at all, light hair and fair skin, I thought at first most of the locals were holiday makers!! But on meeting many locals and speaking to them, most of them were either part Italian, Spanish, Polish, German and hence why most of the population looked European!
 
Next a huge cheer and an hour later the train was running, great news! Off we set, our guide an older lady attempted some English with us now which was really kind then explained to the rest of the carriage in Portuguese where we were from and where we were going plus something which made them laugh, if only we knew, we were DEFINITELY getting a phrase book now!! After being given some snacks we were heading out of Curitiba, leaving the high rises and finally crossing through green land again, open spaces and farmland before reaching the Atlantic Forest of the Paranagua area and the beautiful Marumbi mountain range!
 
Despite the torrential rain at times and unfortunate low cloud on the journey, it truly was a beautiful train ride and lots of fun! Our first tunnel of 13, they left the lights off so we were in the pitch black (nice!) and everyone was making ghost noises and being silly so that was a good mind diverter for me and I made it out the other side!! The mountains were a lush green with a real tropical feel and we passed many beautiful striking butterflies and birds on route as we twisted, turned and curved through the valleys and round the mountain side . Most of the journey when it wasn't too wet was spent leaning out of the carriage taking in the views plus of course taking many photos and videos.
 
On route we went over some spectacular gorges, across one of the famous steel bridges, which with the sheer drops either side was pretty hair raising and passed waterfall upon waterfall and followed many curving rivers. At one point the train went into a tunnel right on the mountains edge which was just wicked then came out round the bend of the mountain edge on the other side. You could see why it took them over 5 years to build this track! We had to stop at one point for a small landslide onto the track which with all the devastation that has happened 2 hours away recently and with all the rain did make you wonder at times how safe this journey was at the moment but you knew that ultimate safety was the priority with the staff so we trusted all would be ok and it was. Then 5 hours later, 2 hours later than planned, we came into the lower valley area after descending 900 metres almost and finished at the small town of Morretes . As we came close to the village, local children were running along with the train waving, barefooted, scantily clothed reminding us somewhat of Asia and the start of our incredible trip. Here the area was poorer and a lot of the roads were all underwater as we watched one guy try and cycle through what now had become a river! Not good.
 
On leaving the train, thankfully our guide pointed us in the direction of the bus stop as we wouldn't have had a clue. By now we had missed the 3 hour boat to the island that we wanted to take from Paranagua so instead got a mini bus to Pontal do Sul for the 30 minute boat journey instead. The bus ride went along the main highway through the forest with tanker and lorry upon lorry making its way to or from the port of Paranagua.
 
Then on reaching the boat, we paid our tax fee, all of a pound, got given our 'rave' style bracelet to prove it and bought a cold beer to enjoy the journey with....wow a full 7 days in one place just chilling, we hadn't done this since OZ and were really looking forward to it!!!