Well it's our last day in Barra today....and I am feeling really down.

I know the point of going travelling was well...going travelling but this is one place I really don't want to leave. The month here has been so wonderful. We have met some beautiful, warm and friendly people who have been so kind and gracious, even given the language barrier and the fact that we are strangers. There has never been a time here when we have felt intimidated or worried about being a foreigner. (It's strange to remember that when in England there have been many times when I've felt uneasy and intimidated around strangers!) Maybe its the Brazilain sunshine, it just keeps people smiling and happy!

We've had a lot of time to chill out, relax and ponder our next move when we get back to the UK. I feel very privileged to have had the opportunity to do that. Most of my life I have whirl winded from one crazy decision to the next without having the time to really pause for a minute and think things through.

I shall miss the sound of the ocean. It's a constant but we hear it more so in the mornings when we wake up. I shall miss the sound of the wind rushing through the banana trees and the sound of the huge bamboo trees knocking their trunks together, especially when they are being battered during the storms. I will miss the storms...so dramatic and exciting with fork lightning so bright that their flashes stay in your eyes and you keep seeing them for ages afterwards every time you blink.

I will miss the bird song...its nothing like the english birdsong which is beautiful but the birds here make a lovely but very different sound, like pretty whistling lazers all around you.

I will miss the dogs that follow you home. They don't appear to want anything from you..not even food they just want to accompany you on a walk along the beach, wagging their tails and walking by your side until they decide to leave you and trot off to find the next person to follow.

I will miss my hammock and I will miss playing my cavaquinho in my hammock!

I am going to miss the music, (especially the Saturday night rock bands!) echoing around the mountains and the harbour and I am going to miss the crazy lady washing her teeth and clothes in the sea and the little bald Max Wall handy man that seemed to pop up every where we went on the island.... Most of all I am going to miss the harbour with all its fantastic wildlife and busyness.

Our next stop is Uruguay, Montevideo. I am sure it will be beautiful and fascinating in its way but Barra Da Lagoa will always have a special place in my heart. Ray and I have vowed that this is one place we will definitely return to in the future. I would love Tom, Louise and Joe to experience this place and this way of life...just fantastic!

I have always loved the open sea and although I will be sad to leave South America which has surpassed my expectations, one of the consolations is that soon we will be heading to New Zealand then on to Australia and Thailand where I can explore some new oceans and some more beautiful paradise.......

N.B.I won't' miss the huge bin spiders or the ants that invaded our kitchen every night (although they did a fab job of cleaning the floor...lifting up the crumbs and stomping off out of the door !