Cant believe it's November already, where on earth has the time gone, this time last year I was about to start the working the 3rd month of my notice at work!!!! Now I'm in the tail end of the trip - it has flown by! So, I have done nothing today, everyone else headed to Paraquay for shopping, whereas I opted for a lie in and to get up to date with these, a bit of banking and to have a bit of a rest, I am knackered! It was quite a productive day, apologies for the bombardment of photos etc……. but at least I am not out of date on these or once in this tip.

Having waited for hours to get on the night bus which was waiting round the round the corner for ages rather than outside the hotel we hop on for our overnight journey to Bonito. All I will say is thank god we had seat belts, there was a couple of 'I think I might not make it off this bus alive' moments. Unscathed and no sleep later we arrive into Bonito, a smallish town with one main road holding all the shops and restaurants, we are staying at a lovely little place with a really chilled atmosphere, we were also joined by another group which was nice.

So all feeling quite disgusting and tired we set off for the Cave with the Blue Lagoon. We made the hour long journey by bus across one of the most bumpy roads, it even rivalled the outback roads for bumpiness. Having arrived, armed with hairnets and helmets we made our way into the cave. We headed down the stairs to the bottom of the cave, it was enormous, only 200m inwards of the cave has been explored, the lagoon is massive, although it doesnt look it and at 50m deep you wouldn't believe it. The water so clear and blue, it looks shallow, but isn't. There were also loads of stalactites, you wouldn't want one of them falling on your head, they were huge!!!!

Having admired the caves and lagoon, we made our way back to the hotel and had a very well needed shower and then played cards. We resurrected the game I used to play on our many a fantastic family holidays in Hillcrest in Devon with the Wood, Perry and Vincett contingent…….Pig! This was great fun, it was me that was responsible for shouting pass, it got quicker and quicker and so did the beers as we tried to cool down in the heat. We even roped in the other Gadventures group, it was hilarious and provided laughs, lots of noise and entertainment for a few hours before we then went off to dinner and left the hotel in peace for a couple of hours… Uno has also made an appearance over the next few days……..great fun and surprising how competitive a card game can get, it was a bit like playing my cousin lollypops! (sorry Laura :) x)

The next day was snorkelling in the river, once of the best snorkel sites in the world I've been told and I could see why. The day started out with a bit of a lie in, and a visit from our new roommate, Mr Cockroach. We then set off with the other G group and arrived after another hr on another bumpy bus. We had the most amazing lunch, I was a bit concerned that I might sink, even though our wetsuits were to provide 70% buoyancy. Then we were off, first things first trying to squeeze into the smallest wetsuit ever, which the man insisted was my size, all I will say is it was the best push up bra I've ever worn, my god it was tight! But apparently the tighter the better……hmmmmmm, not too convinced about that one, but anyway. Barely able to move, I was hoping it might loosen a bit in the water. We boarded the truck and had a 10min drive to the point when the truck couldn't go any further, we were then to walk through the jungle/wood area to the river, whilst spotting various wildlife including lizards and monkeys as we went. Finally we reached the river, armed with our masks, snorkels, ill-fitting wetsuits and my now once again water proof GoPro, no hairbands in sight this time, we were in. The water the clearest I have ever seen, no wonder this is one of the best snorkel sites in the world. There were so so many fish and some of them were massive, and didn't look like they were going to move, some with big sharp teeth too. Of varying colours and sizes, they were quite inquisitive the fish, there was also some bubbling sand at the bottom which was pretty cool. So having played fish chicken a couple of times, I always won, having seen myself in my snorkel gear I am not surprised they gave way in the end. After about an hour we went through a rapid bit of water with our guide standing at the rocky bit to push us to the other side of the river, this was great fun, wished we could have done that again, it was a bit like going head first down the rapids at Center Parcs! Brilliant fun. In total we were in the water for about 3hrs, as soon as we got out I was attacked by mozzies!!! they drew blood the little blighters!!!! one wasn't so lucky I got him, blood and mozzie all over my leg!! little did i know but this was to become the order of the day for the next few days……..next stop was the Pantanal - a mozzie haven.

Both groups set off on the bus for our trip to the Pantanal, an amazing place for wildlife spotting and full of mosquitos, we had been told to use the bug spray like your life depended on it and my newsfeed on Facebook was being filled by the same advice from people who had been there before. So this was a war against the mozzies for 2 nights!!! Oh yeah and not also forgetting the fight against two very swollen feet, the left foot has now begun swelling up in sympathy for my always a little bit swollen right foot. So sleeping in hammocks for the next two nights with my feet up should really help my new kankles!!! They look worse than a pregnant women's feet for goodness sake, Im putting this down to the humidity, someone else in my group is also suffering with the same things, so we have now vowed at every opportunity to put our feet up!

We arrive at the farm which will be our home for the next two nights, the Pantanal is very wet, which means it is infested with mozzies, but also means it is a haven for all sorts of birdlife, kingfishers, macaws, eagles, owls, a shed load of frogs, cayman, piranha, Jaguar footprints (we never managed to actually see one), Racoons, storks, armadillos, acouti, toucans, horses, piglets, beautiful butterflies and copybara (not sure thats spelt right though). Having arrived,had lunch and sprayed myself in deet, skin slightly burning from the industrial strength mozzie repellent we off for a 2hr walk around and saw lots of the aforementioned wildlife. And one site I won't ever forget, it was like off of a David Attenborough wildlife documentary, suddenly form nowhere a huge number of birds of all shapes, sizes and colours took flight from beside the water, it was a beautiful site and one I won't ever forget. A fantastic day finished off with an ice cold beer and dinner.

After a decent nights sleep in the hammock and having managed to not stand on a frog, but was made to jump as one jumped out of the toilet at me, I had discovered that my ankles had made a reappearance! Yay! No kankles for at least 1 hr today…….that was not to last, and all my mozzie bites from the river were now massive and swollen, my legs and feet now looking like part of a halloween costume! An attractive look in shorts!

Yesterday we were told about our included activities for the next day, the first one being horse riding, my face dropped. To say I don't like horse riding is a small understatement. The last time I was on a horse there was a nasty accident in the group that I was with and at that point I had vowed never ever to get on the unpredictable creature ever ever again. Now, there was no other optional activity and it was paid for as part of the package, so, i thought its now or never, so I decided to go. I was feeling physically sick about the prospect of having to get on a horse again, and every time they bought out a horse it was getting bigger and bigger! Anyway mine finally arrived, not too big thank god, I was then informed it was called Cristiano Ronaldo - great! One of the other group informed me they he thought it was a girl in fact, so I renamed her Christine. We rode for a couple of hours through the grasslands spotting all sorts of wildlife, this was lovely. But the horses occasionally decided to stretch their legs and go for a little trot which was pretty bumpy, I have never been so scared in my life and was also massively regretting not going with the sports bra option, sore boobs and buttocks! I'd take skydiving over this any day of the week, I think I was less nervous for that. Anyway two hrs later we were back, it had obviously warmed up a bit as the same guy that told me she looked like a girl, said, ohhhhhhh noooooo, she is in fact definitely a boy! I apologised to Christine for giving him a girls name and thanked him for not throwing me off. We parted company and I can still safely say horse riding is not my thing and probably won't ever be. I prefer to be on 8 wheels!

The next thing for today was Piranha fishing, on route we were spotting animals left right and centre. We arrive at the bridge where we were given our newly made fishing rods out of bamboo. After about 20mins I actually caught one, dad, I think I should be allowed to come on the boys fishing trip to Scotland, I can then show you how its done :) I then had to retreat to the shade, the sun and heat getting the better of me, I was beginning to feel really rough. I don't think I have ever been so hot in my life!!! All good fun though. We got straight back, showers and then ate our Piranha catch which was very tasty and boney!

So thats it, Brazil, Done! Can't believe I have been on the trip for 2 weeks already, I am having an amazing time with some amazing people, we have a fab group and guide! Brazil is simply stunning, the atmosphere, the people, the scenery, the wildlife, I just love it, it has been a fantastic way to start the final weeks of my trip, at the moment this is ranking up there in my favourite countries of my trip. If you ever get the opportunity to get to Brazil, just do it, you certainly will not be disappointed. I don't think I have used the word wow so much in 2 weeks.

Next stop Bolivia!

laters xxx