SAL writes: "An early start saw a short trip to the Argentinean side of the Iguaçu Falls. The breathtaking scenery from above was trumped by the views from the river once we took our aqua safari. Mr Hulme was fully to blame for the subsequent soaking which entailed; when asked, "how wet do the boys want to get," his reply of "very, very" was certainly taken literally. At one point the boat seemed to sit under the water fall and drench the whole party. A quick change and an all you can eat buffet meat feast later and we were ready to drive to Brazil to see the other side of the falls. Delayed slightly by Ed Russell not paying his bill and Jake Studholme losing his camera, we were on our way. The Brazilian side offered a full panoramic of the whole stretch of the falls and was well worth the effort; or so we thought…….when the bus broke down, it was not wholly unexpected as for at least a mile the sound of scraping metal suggested all was not well. Our guide Luis organised some light refreshment and a replacement coach was with us within half an hour. Impressive stuff. After a quick change back at the ranch, we sped into town for our final meat feast. This was followed by a "Kangaroo Court", Judge Ed Oram presiding. Inter alia there were fines for Jones' constant tardiness, Russell ma's constant noise, Hartley-Russell's unhealthy obsession with Russell ma and Mr Gregory's bogus chant of "come on Windsor". Mr Paul was also in trouble with the bench for advising under-age boys that The Ship Inn in Wandsworth (near the McDonald's roundabout) was somewhere they might like to go to meet with ladies and success of a Sunday. Our final port of call was the Cuba Libre. Once again we saw the "Dudge-Step" and Russell mi compromised his integrity by being less than truthful about certain elements of his personal details.

 

The next morning saw breakfast and the opportunity for some tourists to enjoy a helicopter trip over the falls. At 12:30 we embarked on the 25 hour odyssey back to Heathrow. It all went smoothly until the final leg from Madrid. Charlie Hobhouse briefly lost his passport, just at the moment when we were about to have a chat with Ruud Gullit, who was boarding our flight. Fortunately he found it to ensure that bar the odd injury, the tour concluded trouble-free. I would like to thank the boys for their conduct on this tour. It is a somewhat nervy experience, given the range of mishaps which could happen. However, their attitude was constantly positive and they never gave up trying to enjoy themselves both on the pitch and off of it. And in both regards they got it right. I would also like to thank the staff members who came along. Mr Paul and Mr Gregory do not even teach at Eton, so deserve huge respect for giving up their time and for becoming an integral part of the tour so quickly. Mr MacLennan has only been at Eton one year but his coaching expertise and proactive approach belie so little experience. Finally, Mr Hulme, who knew nothing of rugby, proved worth his weight in gold. Knowing that boys taken to hospital were in the hands of a fluent Spanish-speaker made the tour much less stressful all round, as did his good humour and sage advice."

 

----------------------------------------

This email and any attachments might contain information that is confidential or protected by legal privilege.
We advise that you carry out your own virus checks before opening any attachment.
Eton College, Windsor, Berkshire SL4 6DJ