Is it possible to have too much upper class....

Is it possible to have too much 5 star treatment?  Its something I think we all probably dream about - being famous and travelling first class, drinking champagne and having everyone running around after your ever need.  I am having that experience just now (except I am not famous!) and after the initial bit of fun and enjoyment of doing something out of the norm its beginning to become annoying.  I have a driver who asks me constantly if he can get me something, then the nice friendly staff in the production office also constantly ask if there is anything they can get me.  Don't get me wrong being looked after is so nice but I could ask for Beluga Caviar and they would bring it to me, that is just stupid!  and of course I would never ask for it.

so I travelled Virgin upper class and the chef would have made me whatever veggie meal i wanted with what he had in his supplies - how many flights have you taken where that happens?!  well for me NEVER! I had a lie down bed and free PJs to change into, but is it not odd to be in my Jammies lying stretched out in between two strange men?!  some women would love this but I found it odd to be trying to sleep in an upperclass cabin full of business men and women all dressed in the same Virgin PJ's then we all queued up in the morning in the one toilet to brush our teeth and wash our faces - that is definitely weird!

I am staying in a hotel which is full of the over privileged and so many of these privileged people have english accents.  We are supposed to be in recession so where do these english people get their money from?!

I move hotels on Wednesday into the city and I can't wait, this hotel is Magnolia - its bland and rich, full of bland rich people.  I wish they would just put me in a cheap apartment but its not the done thing.

yup I don't look like I am struggling that much with my big seat and my champagne glass but look at the big guy that I have to sleep next too.....

whilst doing our recce's and visiting lots of english looking gardens I met lots of dogs but this one stole my heart - I JUST LOVE BORDER COLLIES!!!

and the only bit of the city I have seen so far is from a backpackers roof terrace when we were looking for a roof location.... just suck up that blue sky!!!

I am heading into a stupidly busy week but if I get the chance will blog some more pictures of the city - probably at night as that is the only time I will have off!

suzxxx

Teaching and learning - well may be...

I sat out on my deck today having been away working in london all week on a really stressful job so was sucking up all the beautiful energy from the sun, the trees, the plants and the water.  I had let all the birds out of their big run and the geese came up the driveway and two of them, Primrose and Luce (who are a couple) came through the gap in the fence to the big pond where I was sitting on my sun lounger.  Luce is very inquisitive and likes to be near people, well without much hesitation he popped himself into the pond - this is the very first time he has ever been in it and I have had the birds for nearly 3 years!  he swam across the pond to where I was and then started ducking his head in to the water and splashing around but he then decided to get out but found he couldn't jump high enough to get out - I had been videoing Luce while he was swimming around but when I realised he was struggling to get out I stopped videoing and thought I was going to have to jump in to help him out but before I could do that, Primrose his beautiful partner jumped into the water and swam over to him and then went back to the side of the pond, flapped her wings and launched herself back onto the side.  Luce then followed but he wasn't using his wings so couldn't launch out of the water.

One side of the pond has a smaller side that the other so when Primrose realised that Luce wasn't getting it she jumped into the pond on the other side and he swam under the bridge to be with her and when she could see he was paying  attention she paddled fast to the edge, flapped her wings and launched herself onto the deck.  Luce was watching and paddled fast, flapped his wings but headed to the wrong part of the pond where we have gabbions filled with stones so he got stuck and couldn't lift himself up.  I was watching this and seeing how clever Primrose was and how she was trying to teach her man how to get out of his predicament but he just wasn't paying enough attention.  Now Luce is a beautiful Goose but really not the brightest and here was proof of that!

So for a third time Primrose got into the water made sure Luce was watching and launched herself out of the pond - I had gone to the top of the deck at this point, worried that my presence was disturbing Luce - so straight after Primrose had launched onto the deck Luce took a run at it and managed to launch himself on to the deck - wooo hooo - well done goosy!!

It was amazing to watch how as a couple his lady had to help him several times before he got it but he acts as her protector and keeps her safe from the other male goose so they seem to have the perfect relationship - he is the protector and she is the practical one with common sense.  I thought it was very cute and I am sure we can all relate to it in our own relationships!

Primrose joins Luce in the water to then try to show him the way out...

Primrose gets out to get into the water again on the side that Luce is in to show him again how to get out using his feet and wings.  After his third go he is successful.

After the geese left the pond the fishes came out - of course I had to feed them first!!!

South America - The Highlights....

Since coming back so many people have asked me 'what was my highlight of the trip' and 'where was my favourite place'.  That is a really hard one to answer and probably why it has taken me more than 2 weeks to start writing my highlights blog!

I absolutely LOVED every single bit of my trip.  I loved all of the countries I visited and also really enjoyed everything I did and all the people I met.

I really enjoyed traveling on my own although once I met up with Mark it was great to have someone to share all the experiences with I still really enjoyed the time I had to think my own thoughts and do my own thing.  I think this is really important for me as I don't do this enough so I plan to do lots more traveling on my own (my sister is not going to be happy about this!!!) and I don't include the traveling I do for work in this as that is absolutely not the same - I head to Berlin on next Friday, then to London after that, yes its great to travel and I love Berlin but its work so my brain is in a completely different place to where it was when I was in South America.

So the highlights (this may be a really long blog!)

Santiago, I am totally in love with this City.  I had a week here in a wee apartment right in the city centre and loved walking around.  It wasn't really a tourist city so not speaking Spanish was a bit of a problem but with lots of hand signals and pointing I had a good laugh with some of the residents whilst shopping for veggie food and getting my way around the city.

There is so much to do around the city I was totally busy for the whole week with 2 lots of horse riding, glacier gazing, wine tasting, walking tours and shopping.

Next time I head to Chile I really would love to go further south and fly over the Easter Island.  Its also so close to Argentina which is probably my 2nd favourite country visited although more to come on that later.

I LOVED all of my riding experiences.

 The San Francisco Glacier - it was hard going as I hadn't done any exercise for the 5 months I had been on Case Histories but it was worth the effort as it was stunning.  The other side of the Mountain is Argentina!

 Chilean Sunset - really beautiful.

and the Chilean wine, what can I say?! LOVED ALL OF IT!!!  also from this pic to my last holiday snap I had lost about half a stone.  All of the location catering on Cast Histories was too hard to resist, especially as Charlie the Head Chef would insist on making me all my favourites!  but all the activities and lack of veggie food helped me to lose some of the weight I had gained on the job.

After my brilliant week in Chile, I headed to the Jungle - Oh man I so loved the jungle even with its big beasties and its blood sucking mozzies!

I headed to the jungle and had a beautiful two and a half hour journey up river on a boat with my laid back guide Fernando - he was so cool, he didn't do that whole guide thing of talking for no reason so we enjoyed lots of quiet moments and just enjoyed our environment.

Of course I had a life defining experience with my Ayahuasca ceremony, really incredible and the experience still sits with me - occasionally the world I am looking at moving in a very weird way that makes me have to close my eyes and focus again.  I learned so much from my 5 hours with the beautiful Master Plant that I am still processing some of that information.  For about a week after I kept having bright vibrant visions and also lots of epiphany moments where suddenly moments of this life would confirm the lesson I need to learn. I do plan to write about my experience as a chapter in my book so look out for it.

There is a website that lists a lot of peoples experiences - its so interesting to see what people have written - all coming to the same conclusion that their lives have changed since this experience so if you want to have a read of other peoples experience have a read www.ayahuasca-info.com.

I am very grateful for my lovely Shaman Carlo for helping me through a really difficult ceremony.  I feel bad for the moments where he tried to help me and I firmly refused, pushing him away from me more than once!  How rude is that! He said afterwards that I had helped teach him that somethings just have to be dealt with on your own and that by keeping his distance it helped me to relax and allow the Ayahuasca to help me.  It confirmed my love of the outdoors, the trees, the plants, the animals, the sun and the beasties (and my wee dead spider spirit!) all helped me through and I could feel the energy from all of these things willing me through the ceremony.  I understand now why I found The Wadlin and why I will always be here - I am surrounded by the things that will keep me strong in mind and body.  The energy that surrounds me at The Wadlin is like having my very own Macchu Piccu.  If you haven't been to my lovely home then you must come and feel the energy that comes from this beautiful place.

This is an image I saw on the internet and it reminded me so much of my 5 hours with the master plant. (sorry if I am breaching someone's copyright but I suppose you shouldn't put your pictures on the internet if you don't want someone to use them!!!)

and here it is the beautiful vine - I spent most of my ceremony outside of the hut on the right where I was supposed to be but couldn't cope with being inside and going through what I did so walked around (or marched around as Carlo told me after!) a lot in the medicinal gardens and quite a few times stopped at the spot below and looked at the plant wondering why it was making it so horrible for me, fortunately it was only the first couple of hours that were like that the last half was an amazing and beautiful experience.

The energy from the jungle is very special, I will definitely be back and I will absolutely have another ceremony.

After the Jungle I headed to Cusco and my most favourite place in Cusco was Moray and Maras.

The energy from this place was so strong, it really drew you into the middle and once in the middle you didn't want to leave.  Truly amazing.

The salt mines of Maras were also stunning and had a fantastic energy

 Just beautiful.

Then of course from Cusco to Macchu Piccu....

WOW WOW WOW!!!

and the view you never get to see - the view from Waynu Piccu - the mountain in this pic - looking back is truly stunning

The energy that gathers in this place between all the mountains is something that can't be described, you have to go and feel it for yourself.  Lying at the top of this mountain it was a beautiful high vibration, I felt like an Angel floating to heaven.

I had three of the most amazing days of my life in this place, I was so lucky to have 3 days here, I would have felt so short changed if I had only had one day.

From Macchu Piccu back to Cusco but then straight onto Puno on the mad bus!

From Puno I did a tour of the floating Islands - they were amazing.  The people who live there live with practically nothing but they are happy!  Things had changed a bit recently when some of the islands got solar panels so they were able to get television!  I told them they shouldn't have bothered if there telly is anything like the telly in the UK - there is never anything on worth watching!

The colourful happy ladies of the reed islands.

We then headed to Taquile Island, this was on Christmas day so most of the men were in church singing and the girls turned up with their offerings.  They were all immaculately dressed.

I had an omelette and chips for my christmas lunch - it was great not to be doing the usual christmas stuff, really enjoyed being out in the sunshine doing something different.

On my birthday I headed over the Peru border and into Bolivia and since no one asked to see my fake yellow fever exemption certificate I didn't have to worry about what Bolivian Jail would be like - phew!!  Thank you Universe!!

So into Bolivia and off to watch the blessing of the cars - definitely think we should take this up here in the uk on a sunday - instead of washing your car with soapy bubbles you wash them in fizzy bubbles - although I think my car would always be dirty as I would refuse to waste the fizzy bubbles on my car and of course would be drunk!!

After wandering the wee town of Copacabana we headed off on our Catamaran to the Sun Island - hard to believe that my and a girl from korea were the only passengers - it was great to not be part of a huge crowd and Guido our guide was lovely and quite a spiritual person himself.

The Sun Island - so beautiful and full of amazing energy - I felt so much here, it was a bit like Macchu Piccu in that it was a hard place to leave.  I could have stayed here for a week.

From the Sun Island we sailed across Lake Titicaca and headed for La Paz

from the sun island to the moon valley of la paz - what an extraordinary place - it really looks like something from the moon.

I was in La Paz for such a short time it was a shame as it looked like a great city with great people living in it.

On 29th december I started my long day travelling to Rio - La Paz to Santa Maria to Sao Paulo then to Rio.  I was knackered when I arrived but it was great to meet up with Mark who had arrived the day before me and had already found the beer shacks on the beach so we headed there as soon as I arrived to have a beer and catch up - we hadn't seen each other for nearly four weeks.

The next day we did the city tour which was a bit of a nightmare as the traffic was hell - nothing moved much and we were on the tourist bus anyway we got up to Sugar Loaf Mountain to see the expanse of Rio below us - Copacabana beach is the one to the top left - it stretches for 4 miles.

and here is Jesus - that was mad - there were so many people trying to take his picture by lying on the floor, it was so busy people were getting trampled on.  I hate that tourist shite and much prefer to be off the beaten track but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and get on with it.

We had the best time at New Year on the beach - we were in the water till about 2am then went off and had a shower got changed and came out and watched the bands on the stage near our apartment.  Think we headed back after 4am.  We head a great time.

The next day we took it easy and hired a couple of deck chairs and a brolly and lay on the beach until the sun went down. Perfect way to spend New Years Day!

In the Botanic gardens - have a wee sit down before I got chased by the parky!

Have no idea what kind of tree this is but its beautiful isn't it?

It was nice to go to a Botanic gardens and not be inside as you have to be when you do a visit like that in the UK!!

Our trip in rio came to an end and we headed off to Foz Iguaco which is on the border of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay.  It was the place where we went for dinner and it cost 10 quid each to eat as much as you like pizza and pasta - it beat me after 15 mins but Mark managed to eat a lot more than I did.

The falls were very impressive on the Brazilian side, I love this pic

We then got the local bus over the border to Iguacu and got our big bus to Buenos Aires - 18 hours on the bus - I watched 4 films - 3 of them with Jennifer Aniston in them!  There was no veggie food so Mark had my dinner and I had his pudding.  Wish I had taken a carry out onboard as I was give a tiny wee bottle of red wine with my dinner and then one wee glass of champagne!  It was a long night and then a brat started chattering away at 6am so no sleep really and I had my sick bands on as the roads to BA were rough and I though I was going to chunder a few times.

We arrived in BA and our apartment wasn't ready but our lovely landlord Juan took our bags into his apartment and me and Mark went off to get me something to eat - I was fecking starving by this point having not eaten dinner and breakfast was a croissant that was about 2 inches long!

We had a city tour booked that afternoon so went off to see the city - its an interesting city, I really enjoyed being in BA. Palermo Soho where we stayed was such a lovely area.  The metro was so easy to navigate too.

We also both went horse riding here - Mark having never been on a horse in his life within half an hour was trotting and then cantering and then cantering hands free!  Miriam was a fantastic teacher.  I had such a blast and cantered and cantered and cantered!  I look at this photo and wonder why I haven't been riding for 10 years - I look so relaxed and happy.  I loved Isobel my horse too - she was the perfect size for me and had such a lovely temperament.  One day I will have my own horse, hopefully in the next year or two!

We also had a cooking class and learnt to make Empanadas with Teresita - what a brilliant laugh and also loved Teresita and how she cracked the first bottle of white wine at five past eleven in the morning!! and Mark had a tour of a football stadium while I had a polo lesson - we did so much in BA - can't wait to go back for longer!

Here I am in the polo swing.... this was before Big Daddy decided to rear up and buck a few times!  Thankfully I stayed on and took control of the situation and I was happy it wasn't my last riding experience on my hols - I was lucky I got to have an adventure ride with Raul back in Brazil.

We flew from BA to Iguaco - so much better than getting the bus! and had a relaxing afternoon at the pool - I had a lovely massage and then a nice swim and a few beers.

The falls on the Argentinian side were certainly bigger but just as spectacular as the brazilian side - we got wet again but it was roasting this day so it was welcomed!

We also met some cute and furries - I had some peanuts that I shared with them - I will do a separate blog on the cute furries and the not so cute but definitely furry but thought these would cheer you up specially as this is a very very long blog!!!

After the falls we got the bus and crossed the border back to Brazil - I had been told by the hotel to just get a taxi from the border as the hotel was nearby and also near the airport for our stupid o'clock flight the next day but getting a taxi at the border was easier said than done!  in the end I had to call the hotel and luckily they had a van just crossing the border so we jumped in that and got to the hotel.  While having dinner at the hotel we met a Brazilian lady who is married to a scottish oil worker - she normally lives in Aberdeen but was back home for 6 months working.  Its a small world!

We flew to Sao Paulo the next morning and got our transfer to Paraty.  The weather was awful on the 5 hour trip and the roads were full of hairpin bends!  I wasn't feeling at my best when we arrived even though I had my sick bands on so I went for a lie down in our tiny bedroom at the hotel.

Paraty was a cute little town, it was hard to walk about thought because of the huge cobbles but we had a nice time here and enjoyed our boat trip around the islands and swimming in the beautiful green sea.

and after 4 days in Paraty we headed back to Rio by bus and then got our plane home.

I had 6 amazing weeks, totally loved every minute - as I said at the start its so hard to pick a highlight as it was all amazing.

Look out for my cute and furries blog.

suzxxx

A message from another World....

Some of you may have read about my Shaman Ceremony at Macchu Piccu with Adrian my Shaman and if you haven't go to blog titled Macchu Piccu 21st December so you get the whole picture!

At the end of my ceremony I had a message from another world...I had a message from a little beastie, well actually it was quite big!!

At the time both Adrian and I called it a Centipede but now I have looked at the  picture and looked it up on google, this is a Millipede - how amazing is that!  Adrian had just been telling me how our Angels appear in different forms with messages and to look out for them when this wee cutie appeared in the grass next to us and Adrian immediately said to me - 'you have many feet and will travel, that is your message'.  Well those of you that know me even when I am not on a 6 week tour of a continent then I am usually off somewhere - my best friend lives in USA so I am lucky I get to go over there whenever I can and I get to travel a lot with my work so this really made sense at the time but I have done a bit of googling into what the spiritual meaning of Millipedes might be and this is what I found....

- Centipedes and millipedes alert us to new psychic environments and connections and to new and previously 

unrecognized psychic relationships. They also appear to alert us to any possible pitfalls within those relationships. 

Theirs is the energy of quiet protection in psychic exploration - 

That means so much more to me in the way things are than the traveling message from Adrian - I am sure travel is included in the message the Millipede was giving but to have quiet protection from this wee cutie makes total sense.  I am sure I will learn about the psychic relationships I need protection for or from!  I have been pushing forward in the psychic world, recently becoming a Master of Mediumship, so it makes sense that I need protection whilst doing this.  I am keen to do some platform work so will definitely need quiet protection for that!

It also shows that what is presented as a brilliant message from another world can change and lead to something else so we should always look a bit deeper into whatever messages we get.  I will continue to ask my Millipede Guardian for further clarification and I promise to keep you posted on whatever develops.

I am going through all my photos from my trip and will post blogs on various things things that spring to mind and of info I have to share and promise to do a blog with the highlights which will be mostly photos some of which you won't have seen as they were taken on my big canon camera.

suzxxx

Paraty-Rio-London-Glasgow-The Wadlin - Home safe and sound!

Home safe and sound but bag less!  Can you believe my bag made it through 5 south american countries, 14 flights, loads of buses and a couple of trains and it's between Heathrow and Glasgow that my bag goes missing!  I laughed when the woman at the desk told me my bag hadn't made it! She was very surprised, I don't think she has ever had someone laugh when they get the news that their bag hasn't made it to its destination!

Some of you will remember at the start of my trip there was a chance my bag wasn't going to make it to Chile because I had to change my flight and instead of going via Madrid I went via Sao Paulo and they really didn't think my bag would make the change as there was only 40 minutes but it did and it was a bit of a miracle so if this is Karma balancing all the positive force that was put into getting my bag to Santiago then I totally accept it, coming home and my bag being a bit behind me isn't a problem at all - at least I get to delay the HUGE wash that I will have to do - although some of my clothes should just be incinerated after 6 weeks of travelling, even though I did wash my clothes it was always by hand and usually with warmish or cold water so there are definitely some bits of clothing that will need a 95 degree wash or just put in the bin!

Fortunately Raul, my monkey, and Fernando, my Parrot, were in Mark's Suitcase so I have put them out in the conservatory - aren't they so cute?  I think they will be very happy living here!

My cats were pleased to see me too - Dexy enjoyed a big cuddle and a BIG head rub

and Finnley slept on my head all night, although that might be because we have run out of oil so there is no heating so we had a wee electric heater on in the bedroom so it was the hottest place in the house!!!

I will write another blog on the trip - the highlights etc but will get the house, animals and my washing sorted first - just thought I would let you all know I am home safe and sound after an amazing 6 weeks.

And of course I will continue to blog about my experiences as a trainee healer so please keep checking in.

suzxxx

Riding with Raul - Day 41

Today started with me having to run up into town to pay for our new transfer to Rio airport for tomorrow because the company I had booked with emailed saying they couldn't do the transfer any more which is really shite as it was fully paid up front but fortunately through paypal so I know I will get my money back.

So I had to get to the tour company to pay the full amount and then get back to the hotel as Raul my riding partner for the morning was meeting me at 10am.  So I ran up into town to do that while Mark had a leisurely morning - he didn't come riding with me choosing to let me go off and have some adventure while he sat by the pool topping up his sunburn (the pair of us are like a couple of burnt lobsters!!)

So I got all that done and met with Raul and headed off to the horses - Raul has a small horse riding business but offering more adventure than most - with the promise of at least one gallop!  The one thing I haven't done since being back riding is to gallop!  The last time I galloped would have been about 14 years ago on a lunatic horse called Mulder - we went on a trip to the beach with the riding school and this lunatic hoofed it down the beach like a galloping loony and then turned immediately and galloped like a loony back!  not my finest moment of horse riding it has to be said!  I clung on for dear life and then had to switch horses because he really was difficult to handle!

Anyway my horse Little (Big) Jack was nothing like that, although he was a strong horse with his own mind and very bouncy in trot but a good solid horse.  He is an ex jumper so he wasn't used to some of the hills we too (Raul has only had him for a year) so he was sweating within the first 10 minutes through the hard labour as we went through the mountainside but he was always willing for a canter and when we got to gallop its unfortunate I got a bit scared - he is such a big fast horse that his gallop felt just a bit too fast and as we were heading past Raul at top speed I said to him 'he is a bit too fast!' and Raul responded 'well just tell him to slow down!' simple but true!  I was letting Little Jack take the lead but I had only been riding him for about 30 minutes when we went into the gallop so we hadn't really sussed each other out yet but as I reigned Little Jack in he slowed his gallop and then we went into a fast canter.  But I galloped even if it was just for a short time it was amazing to do - I AM BACK IN THE SADDLE!!! although saying that I used to really love jumping and I haven't been back to that yet but give me time!

Raul and I had great chats about training horses and how you have to listen to the horse and learn from it, we must not be forceful. I totally love Raul for loving his horses so much that he won't ever use force to train them in a way they don't want to go.  don't get me wrong we shouldn't accept bad behaviour from our horses but being a gentle leader is such a great thing or in fact being a 'Passive Leader' which is something that Mark Rashid writes about in the book I am reading at the moment 'Horses Never lie'.  If you own a horse, want to work with horses or just love horses you have to read this book - he is a true horseman - none of this Monty Roberts pish who forces horses to give up.  Mark Rashid writes about how we cannot be the alpha leader in a horse herd - WE ARE NOT HORSES - SIMPLE!  Its the same as dogs, why do people think they can be the Alpha Leader in a pack of dogs - YOU ARE NOT A DOG SO YOU CANNOT BE THE LEADER OF THE PACK!

Animals accept us as part of their life but they don't accept us as being the same as them!  Horses and dogs are usually happy to go along with a lot of what we offer as human beings as we make their lives a little easier but they know we are not the same kind as them so they are never going to follow us as alpha leaders but Mark Rashid's idea that you can be a Passive Leader which is someone who the horses and dogs want to follow is something I totally sign up to.  My dogs, Chip, Poppy and Molly wanted to follow me, they loved what I could give them - freedom, playing with the ball, treats and of course dinner.  I never beat my dogs, I very rarely raised my voice and in fact when I was trying to rehabilitate Mad Molly I never once reprimanded her for biting me - many people thought I was mad but I was ignoring the bad behaviour and praising the good behaviour so when she didn't bite me she got lots of love and attention and when she did bite or growl I turned my back on her - it worked and she and I had a much better time together because of it.  But I am classed as a 'soft trainer' because of the way I work with animals but is that not good?  I would hate it if people talked about me as a hard trainer.  Animals are part of our lives and we love them so why do we feel the need to be hard on them because they do not give us the behaviour we demand - horses that must stand absolutely still when we want them too, horses that jump huge jumps because we want them to not because they want to and horses that we need to win races - beating them isn't going to make them do it better but loving them is and showing kindness is.

Anyway that's my view and blog rant over!!! Mind you I start my Equine Behaviour Diploma this year so there may be more ranting to come!!

So back to the day and Raul and I were up off into the mountains and after about an hour of riding we stopped at a beautiful waterfall and got off to have a look - I hadn't brought my swimming costume so didn't go in but Raul using this place as his own swimming pool - pretty beautiful isn't it?  but it reminded me of home - I have a few waterfalls just like it in my woods, I am so lucky!!!

this was the view the other way down the river - absolutely stunning but looks just like the Maich Water!

We got back on the horses and headed up the hill towards the Distillery we were due to visit - how amazing to turn up to a distillery to in a minibus or car but on the back of a horse!!! that is so the way to do sightseeing!

This is the inside workings of a Cachaca distillery - its sugar cane that is made into alcohol - it taste GOOD!

I had a couple of tasters although I have been drinking it a lot in Brazil in Caipirinha which is the local drink - its lots of limes, lime juice with Cachaca and sugar - mmmmmmmmm and very refreshing.

One of the distilled Cachacas they do is with cinnamon - it was really delicious - I can imagine its good in coffee so some Brazilian Coffees coming with the Argentine Empanadas when we get home!!!

After the distillery we headed off down the mountain back towards Paraty but thats when it got exciting as we got to cross the river - it had been raining all night so it was deeper than Raul had expected - I was ok because Little Jack is actually quite big so my feet didn't get wet but the water was filling Raul's wellies!!  We crossed the river at one point then road up onto the main road which was quite busy with traffic - another horse riding fear of mine is riding on the main road but it was fine and the traffic stopped to let me cross - that would never happen at home!!!  we then went passed some posh houses then back into the river, this time it was so deep we couldn't take the usual exit Raul would take and had to push the horses up a really steep embankment to avoid the bit of the river that would have made us all very very wet.

I loved riding with Raul, it did push me a bit out of my comfort zone and thats the good thing about it.  Little Jack was a big bouncy strong horse but I learned to work with him and he worked with me.  It was 3 hours of great fun and a great way to end my 6 week holiday - I have been riding in Chile, twice,   Argentina, twice, and now Brazil.  I never managed to ride in Peru or Bolivia but next time....

The only thing about the day was I had to wear my rucksack which was bothering my sunburn especially when we were trotting because Little Jack was so bouncy so I have taken the top layer of skin off my shoulder so it is really painful - I didn't realise until I had got back to the hotel and sprayed suntan lotion on my shoulder - OUCH - that was f*cking sore!  I headed into the swimming pool to stop it stinging and wash the oil off and also to cool myself down as I was roasting after my riding experience.

This is the view back towards Paraty - we had travelled a fair bit...

here is proof we rode through the river!  horses head in shot to prove it!!!  We rode down the side and then crossed just beyond the fallen tree on the right hand side.

Here I am with my big smiley horse riding race!!!

After riding I headed back to meet  Mark at the pool and relax and have a few beers - its our last proper day of holiday as tomorrow is a whole day of travelling.  We then headed into town to my favourite italian restaurant for a big pizza and a couple of drinks although first we had to go and find the monkey that I wanted to buy that I had seen in a shop on the first day we arrived - don't panic its not a real monkey but a really beautiful wooden hanging one that I fell in love with so it took us a wee while of methodically searching the Paraty streets for the shop but after an hour we found it and the monkey is coming home to scotland - he will live in my conservatory and I am sure he will be very happy there.  I also bought a big parrot - wooden again but he will also be very happy in my conservatory!!!

Can't believe 6 weeks has gone - it hasn't gone too fast but if I didn't have all my responsibilities at home and I had the money I could quite easily keep travelling.  I have loved my 6 weeks and all of the different things I have seen and done.  it has been truly amazing and I know I am very lucky.

suzxxx

ps.  meant to add this nice pic of the beach tonight after it had rained - looks very scottish don't you think?!

Out on the boat - Day 40

We headed off after breakfast to go and find our boat - well first we had to find the pier!! luckily Paraty only has one pier so it was easy to find.  Then we had to find our boat - the pier was full of people and their boats selling tours of the islands but we were booked onto Banzay - yup the same name as that crazy Japanese tv endurance programme on the telly - I was really hoping we wouldn't have to swim through mud then eat worms before we could get on the boat!!!

Luckily we found our boat and didn't have to do any tricks to get on board - well all they wanted was the trick of opening my purse and paying for it!!!

The boat wasn't too packed either so we got a couple of seats on the main deck - we didn't want to sit up on the top deck as we were sunburned enough!  The boat headed off passing lots of tiny islands on the way - they looked fab!  great places to hide away from everything!!  there are 365 islands in this area big and small.

Here I am with some of the islands in the background and also wearing my famous orange scarf!! Mark commented on how I seemed to have worn it every day I have been away - well it has saved me from some severe sunburn in Chile (wish I had been wearing it yesterday) and it has helped me breathe through the dusty mountains of Chile and it has kept the rain off my head in Macchu Piccu - it also can be used as a top, a skirt or a dress - what more do you want from a scarf.... my favourite piece of clothing by far!

Thankfully the sea wasn't too choppy - I had my sick bands on but didn't need them at all, very pretty scenery...

The boat stopped a couple of times to let everyone in the water for a swim - it was actually not too cold and was beautiful and crystal clear.  We went on shore using the wee dingy which I made a complete tit of myself the second time by falling out of the boat - luckily I had left my camera, phone and wallet behind on the second trip otherwise more than my pride would had been damaged!!!  Mark was to hand to help me up to my feet although you could tell he really wanted to laugh but since I had hurt my leg in the fall onto the sea bed he had to stifle it and show concern instead!!  The wee boat driver didn't stifle anything and had a good old laugh to himself...fucker!

Here is my very own daniel craig walking purposely out of the sea!  Mark was swimming with his tshirt on, as was I, because of our sunburned bodies!  Thats our boat behind Mark.

I was starving when we got back but we needed to find an ATM as I have booked for me to go horse riding tomorrow so needed to get more cash out so we headed off to do that first before I could get anything to eat - as usual I had to try three different banks before I got money - my bank is owned by HSBC - one of the biggest banks in the world, surely it must be easier to get money from other banks?!!

As we arrived at a restaurant it started to rain so a good excuse for a couple of Chopps (draft lager) and a chickpea and aubergine sandwich for me.

I am off riding with Raul tomorrow while Mark has a restful morning in the jacuzzi.  Really looking forward to riding as I haven't ridden in Brazil yet!

suzxxx