swamps and cowboys!

really sorry everyone for not posting for a while, at first there was nothing to post about and then john and i went to the middle of a big old swamp (roughly the size of switzerland and france combined (i think) ) in the middle of cowboy country in brazil!
the big old swamp is actually called the pantanal, which, after another failed atempt to learn to surf , is where we decided to go. we caught an overnight bus to campo grande (translates as big field ?) from curitiba and spent the day wandering around looking at all the comedy cowboy shops and indeed almost purchasing the highly compical rodeo cologne aftershave (but not having the guts)! the next day (a friday i think) we set off with our tour group to the heart of the pantanl (stopping for lunch on the way and sharing some banter with some brazilians about the game). we arrived late that night and all found a spare hamock then after dinner sat round the camp fire accompanied by a pet calf and a kitten!
the next morning we were awakened early by some exotic birds (i didnt care to find out which ones that early in the morning) sining outside, once up we stumbled to breakfast and then had a cold shower before going of on our wildlife walk around the swamp!
that first day we had a walk and boat ride and saw a boa constrictor, some funnby monkey rakoon things, capibaras, aligators and lots of pretty birds! the next day, a sunday, we were supposed to go horse riding, but after an hour wait our guide came back dripping wet and saying that he couldnt find the horses. instead we went piranha fishing, although for some reason none of our group caught piranhas, just cat fish, also got to stroke a baby capibarah which had been orphaned and taken care of by a lodge nearbye.
monday, our final day we finally went horse riding which was awesome! saw an oselot (wierd pretyy cat thing) and an armadilo and just rode about prettending to be cowboys! also found out that i am a rubbish rider, couldnt get my horse to do anything but trot, so i was very sore by the end of the ride! on the drive back to the camp we spotted a giant ant eater in a field and went running beside it for a bit, was absoloutely amazing!
so yeah, that was the pantanal, from there we have come back to sao paulo and next tuesday we fly back to england! strange to think that im finally comming home, it hasnt sunk in at all yet, and i dont think it will until im on the plane. i think im going to miss speaking portuguese and im going to miss seeing strange exotic places and things, but im really looking forward to seeing all you guys again and having some english home comforts!
stay safe until i come home and ill see you all soon
ate mais!
God bless!!
andrew