Brazil and the Pantanal

I am currently sitting in a hostel in Bonito, sipping a mango and banana smoothie, made from fruit that I picked up from under a tree outside. This morning David and I cycled the 7km to the national park in Bonito where there is a river with the most crystal clear water in Brazil. Throngs of fish surrounded me as I swam there, I took my camera and got some cool photos.

So the last few days I have been trekking through the Pantanal in the south of Brazil. It is one of the most ecologically diverse areas on the planet. After arriving in Campo Grande I took a minibus for four hours to a town called Miranda, then afterwards in the back of a pickup truck into the jungle for three hours to a small camp. Excerpt from my journal:

"It is... ludicrously, insanely, face-meltingly hot. We are in hammocks in the jungle, the netting keeps out mosquitos like the Australian border keeps out immigrants. The place is CRAWLING with insects and other wildlife. My skin is covered in this thick slime of repellent, sunscreen, sweat and squashed bugs. The humidity is a thick choking blanket that smothers everything. I doubt I will sleep much in this muggy dark. Tomorrow we rise at 5 to go on a safari walk through the jungle. This is the most alive place I have ever seen, EVERYTHING crawls, buzzes, growls, bites or climbs. I am strumming some quiet chords while the guys sit around me exchanging deep philosophical musings. At least I assume that's what they're saying, I can only guess as its all in Portuguese and I don't understand a word."

The noise of the jungle woke me up every morning at 5am. HOLY SHIT can howler monkeys make a lot of noise, I thought there was a jaguar roaring right outside the door. Spent the next two days trekking, taking a boat ride in a tropical thunderstorm, night safari and pirhana fishing. Amazing time.

I met this guy David on the tour. He is a Brazilian traveller who is prepared for EVERYTHING, seriously, the guy has four knives, three ponchos and a freakin' portable HAMMER. He's a great cook and about as crazy as me so I think we might travel Bolivia together for a while. I'm teaching him english and he is teaching me some Portuguese. We made the trip to Bonito together, tomorrow we are going to the river Sucurri to snorkel and take some photos of the fish, after that Corumba and then Bolivia. It's only been a short trip through Brazil but an incredibly beautiful part of the world.

Looking back through my journal I found something that sticks out. In the middle of the page I have written, underlined and circled:


"People fundamentally want to help each other!"


This is an attitude I have been forming for a while but copied a lot off Lily, the amazing woman who organises LIFE charity. She has this belief that everybody wants to help her all the time and nine times out of ten it turns out to be true. Similarly, David is one of those guys that talks to everyone, through him we got a cheap lift to Bonito from the jungle camp with a friend of the brother of the manager there, cheaper hostel rental because the same person owns this one as the one in Campo Grande, and a bunch of other stuff. A total stranger hitched me a lift 7km from the bus station to the centre of Campo Grande and he wasn't even going the same way! Turns out when you talk to people and explain your situation, they will usually be only too happy to help you.

I was worried before I left that travelling by myself might be lonely, but it turns out that... everyone I meet is my friend for the time I am with them. I try to be open and friendly with strangers, and wouldn't you know it most of the time they are open and friendly back, and there you have it, instant friendship. You get out what you put in.

I have been practising guitar every day, my practise log is a few posts below. Six hours a day is incompatible with my travelling schedule, I want to have SOME time for other activities. But 3 hours is easily doable so I try now to aim for 3-6 hours a day. 4.5 is ideal. If I keep it a regular part of my day, I can easily continue with this level of output.

I think everyone should try to learn to play an instrument. In addition to learning the mechanics of playing, I am also learning much more about myself and how I learn (call this meta-learning if you like). Developing a good set of strategies for learning a skill is probably the most useful skill you will ever develop, because it stays with you for a lifetime and can be applied to everything you do.

But remember, dabbling every now and then is not learning. Doing the same thing you know how to do over and over is not learning. Reading about something is not learning. Fantasising and THINKING about doing something is not learning.


Learning is acquisition of new information, then consistently applying it until it becomes second nature.


I'll leave you with some thoughts that Tim Ferris had on the same subject. Although I sometimes think Tim's writing can be a little sensationalist, I greatly admire and hope to emulate his passion for life and learning. Give yourself the gift of reading this, there's some wisdom here:

http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2011/11/16/filling-the-void-thoughts-on-learning-and-karma/#more-6281