Ho ho ho hello there, go to Beirut and do a show there...heya guys, I'm back, and pretty much alive. Tonbridge in the news eh? Who'd have thought it? I know nothing. I was in the jungle at the time. As unlikely as that sounds, it's pretty close to the truth... - we did our four night tour of the Pantanal, which was an incredible experience - despite some organisational problems created by our tour operators which thankfuly didn't affect us, but meant others were missing a booked night's accommodation in Rio. The first night was spent a few hours drive into the Pantanal at a lodge by a lake (pictures to follow), where we slept in hammocks and drank the wonderful cachaca. The next day saw a '7' hour trip into the heart of the area where we were staying at an amazing 'fazenda`(farm). The wildlife spotting on the way was awesome - going past caimans, and capybara (thanks boon) - the largest rodent in the world - blue macaws, vultures, eagles, hawks, wild horses, hump-backed cows and their hump-backed calves, and a whole host of other species which I can't remember the names of. Unfortunately we were soon to learn that our guide, Walter's, idea of time was slightly different to the rest of the world's, and we arrived after about 13 hours, having got stuck in infested swamps (not sure what they were infested with, probably best if I never find out) so we had to get out and push the truck - I actually thoroughly enjoyed it but I think some were getting a bit fed up! Once at the fazenda we did various activities such as piranha fishing - personally I miserably failed to catch any - so many times did I pull it out of the water only for it to fall back in, complete with meat, and a gill raised in mocking defiance...alas, nada - then swimming in those very same waters, along with the fish and the caiman - took a few seconds to take the plunge, but well worth it! The horse riding was certainly the best part - despite my horse deciding he preferred to follow suit if anybody else went off for a gallop, meaning that more than once I was caught holding on with only one hand as my steed cantered and then gallo(p)ped off, while my other hand desperately clung on to camera, water and doffed hat. Fun though. :) Once more the people made the group - a couple who have been living in Brighton for the past 5 years or so, Tina and Carly, who run a fetish night there, another English couple, Pat and Gemma, from Alton - the southern one, without the towers, and another couple, Paola and Eddie, Brazilian and Texan respectively, who live in Sao Paulo, one of our next stops - awesome! On the final day, as we commenced our night safari (3am), we saw a couple of giant ant-eaters - mahoosive creatures! Then it was back to Corumba to prepare for our 30 hour bus journey the next day! Such a relief to find that Brazilian buses have this thing called air-conditioning, and that the companies understand that there are members of their consumer community who have legs longer than 30cm! So now we're in Rio where, as Bob puts it so perfectly, the sun is shining and the weather is sweet, makes you wanna move your dancing feet. It's Carnaval people! After partying until 6:30am yesterday morning, we had a chilled one last night, but I think it's off to the Sambadrome for us tonight! Whoop whoop put your hand in the air! More from Rio soon, tis breakfast time! Much love, keep the messages coming, I'm lovin it lovin it lovin it!