Written Monday 28 & Tuesday 29 April
Made it to Brazil!
...just. Hopped onto our 18 hour train with quite literally seconds to spare, was panic central. With 2 people in hospital in the hours leading up to the journey, drama was always going to be on the cards for the day. Since the invalids were one half of 2 different couples, we had to leave 4 people behind which means they'll miss at least the Pantanal & maybe Bonito. Feel so, so sorry for them. One of the couples already had to miss out on a couple of the cities in Bolivia while they bussed it back to La Paz to get an emergency passport! Bad times. So grateful I haven't been too badly affected by altitude/climate/malaria meds so far (touch wood) - although it may also be down to eating incredibly carefully. The fruit cravings are totes worth it if it means I don't get sick! So anyway, that delayed us from the outset... Then, a dumb employee couldn't find our booking until about 5 minutes before departure time - cue very stressed CEO running round the station while we penguin huddled around our bags to protect them from the hungry stares of locals standing a little bit too close for comfort. Finally got our tickets, only for me to leave my backpack behind - doh. Luckily someone in the group spotted it and presented it to me (all unawares) at security. Experiencing both panic and relief at the same time feels about as oxymoronic as it sounds - can't believe I almost lost all my stuff, close shave!
Train journey was as expected: long, hardly slept and spent a considerable chunk of the night wondering why we were going backwards or had come to a complete stop for half an hour at a time. Currently in the transfer bus (finally!) heading to the Pantanal. Switching to a safari truck in an hour or so - hope we see some good shiz!
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And good shiz we saw - caimen (alligator like things), a howler monkey, a gorgeous pair of macaws, emus, a raccoon and jaguar prints! Sadly they're nocturnal so we probably won't see one on this trip :(
This was on the safari truck and during an hour long walk we took at around 4. Felt like I got absolutely torn to pieces by mosquitos - not looking forward to assessing the damage tomorrow!
Mum: Found a failsafe way to prevent me from using all the hot water at home - set a few frogs loose in the bathroom before and during my shower, it works a treat! After initially refusing to shower until our bemused Pantanal guide had removed all 3 (tiny) frogs from the cubicle, I proceeded to have the quickest shower of my life (cold of course and dark because I was terrified of attracting more buggies with the light!). Maybe the jungle's not for me after all...!
