We weren’t sure the whole time whether we should visit Sao Paulo or just leave it before we set off for the protected “Pantanal” swamp area. However, we find a good night bus connection that allows us to spend at least one day rummaging through Sao Paulo and so we drive from Ilhabela to Sao Paulo first and spend a night in the middle of the nightlife district of Pinheiro. As our bus is unfortunately late – and it’s also Sunday – we don’t get to see much of it, have a quick Japanese meal and fall straight into bed.

The next day, however, we have a few hours to visit the artists’ quarter of Vila Madalena with the famous Batman Alley. And what can I say, even on the way there you constantly stumble across street art on small houses, garages or on the top of high-rise buildings, and with every step into the district there is more and more. Batman Alley owes its name to the many Batmans that were spray-painted here, but after a renovation a few months ago, only a few remain. Nevertheless, it is full of great motifs and the district itself is a bit reminiscent of San Francisco or Lisbon, criss-crossed by hilly streets and small cafés or galleries selling art everywhere. You could certainly spend a few hours here…

But we still want to stroll through the city center and visit the Japanese quarter. We spend the remaining hours here, get food for the night bus ride and round off the afternoon with a coffee and banana bread before boarding the night bus to the Pantanal… For the next 15 hours…