The one where Lynne nearly missed the Death Train

Bear with me, this is gunna be a long blog, so feel free to log off at any time!
Mimi, our tour leader, held a briefing on our final night in Bolivia. We were staying in a cool town called Santa Cruz. She told us to be ready to leave the hotel at 10.45 the next morning, because the train departs at midday, and we have to be there an hour early.
So I wake up early the next morning. ´Cool, be ready at 11.45´ I think to myself as I head out alone to explore the city on foot.
You can see where this is going.
So at 11.15 I arrive back at the hotel, ask the manager for my key and go upstairs to pack. I look at my watch a little later. ´Oh crap my watch has stopped´. I pelt downstairs and ask what the time is. Its 11.35. `No problem, Ive got another 10 minutes´. But then start to wonder where the other 10 people in my tour are....oh they must have just left early or gone to Santa Cruz Zoo I thought.
Back upstairs, my room phone rings and the manager is saying something in Spanish I cant understand, so I walk down with my backpack, ready to leave.
There is a taxi waiting for me. He knows my name. No one else is around. That´s a bit weird, but oh well, whatever.
I get taken to the train station, arriving a couple of minutes after midday.
Mimi comes rushing towards me, Lets Go Lets Go Lets Go.
What´s the rush, I ask, the train doesnt leave till 1pm, I say,.
Áre You Crazy, she yells, ITS MIDDAY!!!!!
So then its a sprint to the train, the luggage area has closed, I have to remember which of my 3 bags has my passport, all the while hearing the train´s horn.
We run along the platform and jump onto the carriage. I made it by 2 minutes.
The group is cheering, having been stressed for the past hour wondering where the hell I was.
Mind you, I had a lovely morning. Bought 2 new white tops, walked around markets....
Anyway, we are on the Death Train for 24 HOURS...... we travelled 600kms!!!!!!!!!!
The time it takes to fly Sydney to London, I travelled on the worlds slowest and bumpiest train, to get to the Bolivian Brazil border.
So I had plenty of thinking time. As a perfectionist, I dont like to make mistakes, and that was a pretty big one for me. I pride myself on being an organised tourist who never runs late.
Then I came up with an idea for a book. It will be called Perfect Timing, and based on this trip and blog.
It will be about a single woman in her 30s, and how all her life she has aimed for a Perfect Life. Perfect Job, Perfect Man (hence why Im still single) etc.
And the book will be about the search for imperfection across South America. Lisa, can you pass this on to your friends at HarperCollins, Im sure they will agree its the next Eat, Pray, Love.
The other idea I came up with is to extend this Life Break of mine with a month in the US, via Miami, New York and LA....hmmmm...... will have to see if the jigsaw pieces fall into place.

So anyway, after a long long trip we eventually made it to our destination, the Pantanal in Brazil.
It is wetlands the size of France. We stayed in a lodge, in hammocks, for 2 nights.
We saw caimans (small crocodiles), weird wombat sized rodents, macaws, tucans, a rare nocturnal jaguar-type animal, and lots of bugs and mosquitoes. Oh, and two giant 3 metre long white cobras!!!! Which we chased through mud!!!! i hate snakes, I hate em!!!...as Indiana Jones says.

You can imagine the 3 days on the Pantanal put me well outside my comfort zone. Im a city girl. The rest of the tour group (we are a diverse bunch, and Im not really clicking with anyone in particular, but thats ok) seemed much more at ease. So after a day of horse riding, snake chasing and bug ducking and pihrana fishing, I had had my bravery quota filled ... and was dreaming about a 5 star hotel with a fluffy dressing gown and a champagne in hand.

The other hard part was the heat. About 35 degrees. So hot, hot hot. But there is no pool, and you cant swim in the river because of the caimans and the piranhas....

But im now in Bonito, a lovely little town with mod cons. Its still hot though...