Deep in the Amazon.... well almost! ___________________________ 11 countries, 245 days, Sun, rain, ice and snow. Tents, hostels, houses and campervans. A whole number of amazing people, a pig loving a dog and best of all Dutch people ...No? We are here, here being Iracambi a reforestation centre in the Atlantic Amazon, Brazil. We're volunteering for 4 weeks. Vic is Forest Futures Co-ordinator, a role where she will convince the general public to adopt plots land which will then be turned, eventually, into rainforest. I'll be working the trails in the mornings (basically hiking through the jungle with enormous machete in hand) then in the afternoons both Vic and myself will be working at the nursery and replanting medicinal plants into the rainforest. Excited but nervous! The place here is quite unique. Having extended our Buenos Aires dream a few snoozes more, we flew out on the 30th not the 27th as planned. Great! And we wouldn't have changed it for the world but it did mean we had only a frantic few days to get sorted for our jungle adventure! What do we need? Wellies, Insect repellent, long sleeved shirts and ..Oh yes, the small matter of learning another language - Portuguese! We left an uninspiring Sao Paulo two days later on the 1st without wellies or long sleeved shirts but with insect repellent and 2 ½ hours of Portuguese! Whoops! The first bus travelled through the night and the second through the day before an exciting VW beetle ride on roads\mud slides. Suddenly we we're approaching! Arrgh, My little brain had just over come 'Gracias' over 'Thank you' and now I'm trying to confuse matters more with some 'Òbrigado' word! Needless to say both Vic and I we're feeling a little nervous! 5 days in now and we're feeling a lot better. It took a bit of time and to be honest we're still settling in. The people here are cool, some very passionate about what they are doing but very friendly nether-the-less. We've our own room, which we've already re-decorated (well more like extracted the bugs, webs and added a bit more bamboo), our own jobs, even our own chicken called MarieLou! We have even visited the local pub! Not quite Wetherspoons more stable, but it sells cold alcohol nether-the-less. Our trip also involved a very exciting ride home. The Bar\Shack\Stable is about an hours walk away on mud tracks so after a couple of jars we we're lucky enough to be offered a lift home, a chance we jumped at. So we climbed aboard the horse drawn cart! Vic and I in the back with Paul, a fellow volunteer in front with Nella in control, rains in hands - one horse power! We set off and you'll never guess what? Deep in the 'Rainforest' it ...rained! Yes we couldn't believe it either :) So in pitch black, soaked to the bone, in the back of a wooden cart we are speeding though the forest, round tight bends, past steep, steep drops and splashing though deep, deep puddles! (remember the puddles) Quite a fantastic experience!! An hour or so later and holding on tight we made it home, or to our gate at least. Paul jumped off to open the gate as Nella guided the horse and cart through. We shined the torch for Paul to make his climb back aboard easier. He started the walk back towards the cart, closer, closer then... he was gone?! A quick flash scan with the torch and we found him face first, fully submerged, gasping for breath in a deep puddle! ...Funny! Lets just say we both warmed up our groins laughing so much!!! With 3 weeks left here, 2 weeks chilling, tanning and samba(ing) in Rio then home we're feeling a little confused! Excited for sure about getting home, seeing people family (yes you guys) and friends. But nervous too, it's been such a fantastic adventure! Amazing!! and I don't think, sorry, know we couldn't, have done it any better and had any more fun! I'm sure we'll have an amazing time here! Just got to loose a few pounds, get BROWN!!!!!!! and yes I know ...trim the Art Garfunkle hair! (and that's just Vic!) Love you all and See you guys 'Real'soon! Re-forestation is the daddy! Swampy Sig and Tree hugging Vee xxxx (Ps.Happy Birthday Dan!)