Das Pantanal and some more stuff

Yeah, the crocodiles are real and the coco-nuts, too :)))) Yups, I was surprised myself to find myself suddenly in such a tropical amiente :) It was great: Tupane, huge red an blue Araras, really strange animals that they would call water pigs, we met a huge (and dead) Ameisenbaer(we also met many dead cows!), many impressive birds and plants (and sooooo many crocodiles whose eyes would turn red at night. Oh and we also saw Otters and a huge Cobra on the last day). It was great discovering the Brazilian Bush on foot (having our guide clearing the way for us with his huge knife) and on horse! What I enjoyed in particular were the Araras and the Tupane -I never expected to ever meet these animals that I had alwas been dreaming of as a child in real life. I also enjoyed sleeping in the hammocks, swimming in the river, catching piranhas(!!!!), the food in the camp was really really good, I enjoyed the nights around the fire, takling to the guides, the Capirina, the rides on the jeeps, the starry skies at night, I met many other travellers from Holland, Paris, the States and I don't know where, I loved spending some more time with Andrea and Iduna -two girls I had made friends with at the Connectivity. I loved the river-safari and everything else there was. Oh, yes: They showed us how to make these wonderful necklaces and I had my hands colourd black as I wouldn't believe this funny fruit they make tattoos from would actually be powerful enough to coulour my hands black for an entire two weeks (well, I found out it's true ;p)
That's what I remember for now. Tomorrow morning I'll have to get up really early to catch a small plane which takes us to a National Park called Torotoro. Corinna (the girl whose family I'm staying with in La Paz) and me have spent some wonderful days in Cochabamba with a really nice girl we got to know at the Connectivity. We went to see the Cristo (which is some centimetres taller than the one in Rio de Janeiro ;p) and visited the famous (and enormous) market of Cochabamba in the afternoon, We had some GREAT Bolivian food I always wanted to taste (the peanut-soup with home-made french-fries was great and so was all the food of which I cannot remember the name) and in the evening, Andrea and her Mum showed me how to make Empanadas (mine wouldn't stop to look horrible ;p), we talked loads and had a great time. I'm really happy to have gotten to know Bolivia that well: It seems that I have been to all the "important" places now (I do not think, however, I will go to the Bolivian Amazon Rainforest, I want to do that in Ecuador). On Friday, Corinna, Jack (one of the two English guys that built the playground in Sao Paulo with me and came to La Paz after spending some more time in Brazil) and me went out in La Paz with this great Bolivian girl I had gotten to know last week as she was helping her parents in one of the tourist-shops -IT WAS GREAT!!!!!! We had sooooo much fun getting really drunk (wow, they have this really really good jucy stuff with loads of alcohol in it ;p) and dancing the whole night through after :))))) Well, so much for now. I think, I finally got back all my energy and happiness. I am looking forward to all the things to come, best wishes to everyone, take care and see you soon, xoxoxox yours Solveigh