Dear Diary

To get to the Pantanal (wet lands with tons of wildlife with an area the size of Switzerland) we had to go via Sao Paulo (biggest city in the whole Southern Hemisphere). Agh, that city is just not for the tourists. It's too big and generally not very inspiring. The guidebooks go on about its vibrant nightlife and great food but unfortunately they're just making excuses on its behalf. Plus we were there on a rainy Monday, a day on which any vaguely interesting museum is closed. We visited a food market instead and had the surprise pies. Nick got bully beef (corned beef) and didn't even complain. After one full day in Sao Paulo we were looking forward to getting back on the overnight bus. Over an hour into the journey and our bus was still battling through the suburbs of 'Sampa'. All was good until the woman who had reclined her chair into our faces was probably one of the grossest individuals we had ever set eyes on. And even with the lights off her grunts, snorts, and snoring just served to remind us of her presence. We we only too keen to get to Campo Grande - gateway town to the Pantanal.

We shouldn't have been so excited... At Campo Grande, we followed the advice of our guide book. This was to not agree to the first tour offered to us by numerous touts at the bus station, but rather shop around in town to find the best deal. Bad advice. We trekked the main grid section of the city, in the steaming heat, lugging around with us a bag of damp laundry that was starting to smell worse by the moment. In about 4 hours we managed to find one travel agent and one laundromat, both of which were charging ludicrous money for their simple services, so we returned to the hostel where the wifi and then our basin sorted us out for a fraction of the price.

(Editors note- the laundromat episode was a terrifying ordeal. With full knowledge that we were unlikely to use her services due to cost we made a nice old lady assess each item of this foul smelling bag with a view to dry cleaning it. Watching her count out rotten smelling pants and socks and fold them onto a pile was excruciating. When she quoted £60 we made vague excuses in Spanish which she didn't understand, and then ran out of the shop in embarrassment. This was one of the most humiliating episodes of the trip so far, if not of life so far.)

Once we got to the Pantanal we were impressed. We stayed at a converted farm called Pousada Santa Clara and made friends with other travellers Jo, Charlotte and Andrew. We went piranha fishing with caimans (alligators) chilling right next to us on the river bank. I freaked out when i caught a fish and the crocs started edging forward for their next meal. Fortunately for me and my credibility there is no video evidence of this occurrence. Later we did a night drive to a small lake where we were surrounded by literally thousands of caimans and realised that they are unlikely to bite animals (and humans) which are bigger than them. But they are still very evil looking! I much prefer the pretty parrots that stay in their trees :)

Now we are in a town called Bonito. We've done two main activities - one was disappointing (a tour of a little cave with a blue lake at the bottom). The other one was totally fabulous. We hired wet suits and snorkel gear and went floating down the Rio do Prata (River of Silver). It's a crystal clear river with tons of fishies and small monkeys in the trees lining the river. The water is super warm and you don't need to swim at all, the current just gently takes you down... Aaah it was so peaceful and relaxing - the only thing that has managed to cure my 2 day Cachaça hangover.

Tomorrow we are heading to the Iguazu Falls... wish us luck xx