Hey everyone, long time no write. But, when the sun is shining and you can hear the sound of the ocean at every turn, the internet cafe just doesn't hold quite the same appeal as another day on another beautiful beach. Such a hard life I know! Here's a very quick update on Brazil, hopefully the pictures will tell most of the stories as I am just too partied out to spend too long writing this update. So I survived the death train from Santa Cruz Bolivia into Corumba (what a cool name) in Brazil with the help of two cool Brazilian guys (ola Fernando and Rodrigo). Arriving in Corumba after a dissappointingly calm and utterly unscary train journey, I decided not to take a Pantanal tour as planned (looked exactly the same activities as in the Bolivian pampas and double the price), and instead headed to Bonito. And Muito Bonito it certainly is. Here I took the opportunity to snorkel down the crystal clear Rio Prato which runs through the Pantanal. The sun was beaming down, the water was warm and I saw lots and lots of tropical fish at every turn. I\'m so pleased that I chose to do something different in the Pantanal rather than the typical tours offered here. The pantanal looks very similar to the Pampas, complete with allegators, giant anteaters and deer - all of which I saw here. V.cool. From Bonito I headed up to Sao Luis in the far northeast of Brazil - a mamouth journey by bus and plane. It was definately worth the trip. Sao Luis is a very pretty colonial island town full of folklore and sketchy reggae bars. From here I decided to visit the Lencois Maranhenses national park with two lovely chicas (- ola! Alice and Beth). Lencois is breathtaking - immense white sand dunes for as far as the eye can see, with clear pools nestled between them. After Lencois, I decided to visit Jericoacoara which is a tiny remote fishing village in the middle of the sanddunes. It took 3 days of hitching in a pickup, followed by hiring our own 4x4 to speed through sandunes and along deserted beaches to arrive in Jericoacoara, and it was one of the most awesome adventures of my whole trip so far. From Jericoacoara onwards, I've simply travelled south toward Rio visiting Fortaleza, Praia da Pipa, Olinda, Recife, Porto Seguro, Ilheus and Morro de Sao Paulo. In most I've partied hard, drank far too many caipirinhas, eaten excessive amounts of rice, beans and carne de sol, learnt and watched capoeira, taken every opportunity to sample all the icecream flavours at every sorveteria around the country, (the icecream is self service and you simply pay by weight - genius idea), bought 4 new Brazilian style bikinis (no Bill there are no shots of these on my site - far too shocking for the British public I think!) and tanned to the max on the numerous beautiful beaches. In contrast to the many beautiful pousadas of the northeast, in Rio I stayed at what can only be described as a Big Brother style hostel complete with outdoor hot tub, padded floor chill out room, free internet, cool dorms, lively bar and breakfast available for free until 1pm - definately a clear indication of the high level of partying expected in Rio. All this and only a stones throw from Copacabana beach - awesome fun!! In Rio I became a tourist again (definately was a backpacker for the rest of Brazil), visiting both Cristo Redentor at Corcovado and Sugar Loaf to see the sunset. The views from both are awesome, but Sugar Loaf definately presents Rio to best effect, proving that it is one of the most stunning cities in the world. In turn I suitably posed on both Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, partied at a massive street party in Lapa, toured Rocinha the biggest favela in Brazil and ate at many of the all you can eat churrascarias-yummy. I absolutely love Brazil, especially the northeast which is so colourful and vibrant. Even with the Argentine lure of delicious steaks, fabulous wine and the best beer in all of South America, I was still really sad to leave Brazil, and can't wait to return one day soon. Hope you are all well and had a lovely summertime, Lindsx