on the way to the Pantanal

So, the last day on Ilha Grande was incredible! We were very blessed to be at a campsite with a bunch of very friendly, young, English speaking Brazilian who were great. We rented a boat for a day to go to ride around the island, visit different beaches and go snorkling. It was the first time I had been snorkling, and I loved it! Its so amazing, I felt like I was swimming in a big aquarium being so close to so much life! Rachel and I saw lots of different fish, crabs, jellyfish, starfish, all sorts of coral/sea plants with so many beautiful colors, it was great! The people who drove the boat also made a huge fish feast for us for lunch ( rach ate fruit :( but i loved it). I never have eaten so many different kinds of fish in my life, very tasty. Later that night we went out to a bar with a live band and our Brazilian friends taught us how to Samba as a couple and by yourself, it was so fun! And the best part, the guys did the Brazilian version of the shoppingcart/lawnmower/sprinkler type dances, except in Brazil its the crab, and rowing a boat, it very funny. So thankful to God for blessing us with wonderful Brazilian people who are so kind and helpful to us.

The last 2 days we have been in Teresopolis at the National Park of Da Serra Dos Orgoas, which is basically full of a bunch of mountains you can climb. We were the only people camping and ended up camping in the bathroom cuz the first night we arrived it was pouring rain. Hilarious. You learn to appreciate the littl things while camping. Its great. Yesterday we spent most of the day climbing mountains, its such a cool feeling to look down from the top and see how far you have come and look out on the thousands of beautiful trees. The foilage here is so beautiful, Rach and I aren~t sure if its rainforest, but we think is definitly jungle, cuz there are wild cats and monkeys :) Well, thats all for now, we are heading into the Pantanal for a 4 day excursion with a guide, it sounds incredible. Its supposedly a very diverse ecosystem with tons of different plant and animal life, similar to the Amazon. We´ll let you know how it goes! Love and miss you !
Becky

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