Bonito and Pantanal. Don't Worry, Be Happy.

             30th October. Sunday. Waterfalls, Alligators, Snakes and Friends.

Waterfall.

Had to wake up at 6 today because we had to leave at 7. Woke up at 6:45, got ready by 6:55. 5 minute breakfast. Ready at 7. Advantage of being a boy! We had an hour's drive to get to the waterfalls or Caminhoes as they call it in Portuguese. Again, we were divided into groups. These waterfalls were somewhat different. There were 6 waterfalls within a 300 metre radius. The first one was normal. Just a little waterfall, nothing special. The second one was quite interesting. There was a little cave inside the waterfall and we had to swim to get to it. Another thing at the same place was the 'Masseur' It was a waterfall where you swim beneath it and it gives your back a wonderful massage! Very nice, indeed. Free Massage! The third one was a waterfall with a platform 6 metres high and you can jump from there if you want to. I won't lie. I was pretty scared when I reached the top. But, who cares? I just jumped! WHOOOOSH. SPLASH. That's all I remember from the first time. Was fun! Went atleast 5 times more.. Taught me to overcome my fears. It's weird how EVERY little thing teaches me something. Something worth learning. Something to treasure for my lifetime. Moving on...

The Leap.

The fourth waterfall was kind of different. Swim to a rock and a wonderful scene awaits. I got a really really 'In The Moment' picture on this waterfall which I'm never going to forget. I'm not being lazy but everyone was so tired that we just glanced at the 5th and 6th waterfall and we were on our way back, hungry and happy.

SSSSSSSSSSSSS

After a rather wonderful lunch of black beans, sausages and rice, we had some time to spend with the alligator. His name was, get ready, Tony. Yes, the alligator was named Tony. (Which later, a lot later, became the reason for laughter which made me cry) So, after all this we were off to meet snakes. It was a project to preserve the snakes in Pantanal called Project Jiboa. We ended up watching a snake eat a rat, snakes having sex (!) and taking the big, smelly reptile on our necks. (I also gave it a little kiss. Dont worry aai-baba, was a female.) The rest of the evening was spent playing in the swimming pool. Dinner. Sleep at 12:30.
                           
                                    31st October. Monday. A New Motto

Tubing!

This morning was different yet similar to yesterday's morning. I mean, we had to wake up late but I woke up 15 minutes before departure time. Had a quick breakfast and was off for a new adventure. Tubing or Boia Cross as it is called here was the event. It was a wonderful place, like a resort really. They had archery, swimming pool, general river for swimming. We had to plit up into groups of 11 and the group I formed at Tubing automatically became my best friends. 2 girls 9 boys. (Talk about equality) I should probably mention their names... But, I shall save that for later.  Our group was to be the last one to go so we had time to flex our muscles a bit by trying Archery (The Canadians were really good at it) and then just have fun by jumping into the river! Tubing was kind of hard! Everyone was told to fit in one big tube like thing and you had to manage yourself. Half of us were holding on to each other to get a tireless, peaceful ride. The rapids were quite nice and we did manage not falling off. It was almost a 90 minute ride through water. With friends. With nature. All these activities make a person really hungry! And food was next. We had some time to chill later. Well, chilling meant playing Beach Volleyball even though we had a tiring activity lined up for us later...

Volleyball amongst 10 countries.

Some Icelandic dance move called The Crab.

This tiring activity could be called a 'Obstacle Course' between the trees 30 feet above the ground. Was scary at the beginning, but got easier, you know. ;) No, seriously, it got easier. Then, we had to zip-line into the river. 45 minute course all-in-all. So tired, yet so much more fun to have! The evening was spent in playig football and then we had to attend a party. 80 people. 80 exchange students partying sounds AMAZING. But, it just sounds amazing, not at all what was expected. 12:30, the lights were out. The people from the other bus (you would know if you have been paying attention) were leaving the next day for Pantanal and the Mexican guy (Alfonso),who I had grown quite fond of, was leaving with them. Probably never going to see the guy again. Sad, I know. Thus, ended another wonderful day.

Now, you guys must be wondering what the title of 'This day' means. A New Motto? Makes no sense! Well, I'm going to tell you all about it now. There is a certain guy called Bob Marley. There was, I should write. Most of Brasil LOVES this guy and I got addicted to him too. I knew him since India but the addiction started here. So... Without any rhyme or reason, I generally started singing the tune of the song Don't Worry, Be Happy. I couldn't get that tune out of my mind and I was CONSTANTLY singing it. Instead of it annoying people, they hung on to it as well. So, I became (inevitably) the Indian Bob Marley and everyone was soon enough majority of people were singing the song. Hence, the title.
May Bob's Soul Rest in Peace. (:

The E-PIC.