3 ALLIGATORS LATER!

Finally landed in Saol Paulo, and after 4 hours of hassling to get tickets changes, a run in with the security who deemed our paddle board to be a possible weapon, and then boarding the wrong plane, yes 2 scanner and three lovely hostesses later, I was only alerted to the fact I was on the wrong plane when a lovely old man came up and told me I was in his seat! Now the chances of this were remote as the plane was half empty and he was the last one to board. He said your on the wrong plane - great that he could read the ticket it said Brasilia and we were meant to be going to Campo Grande which is near Brasilia but not Brasilia! So we were escorted off the plane, whisked away in a waiting car and then dropped off and told to run fast. At this stage I got the giggles, it all seemed so funny that I couldn't run no matter how hard I tried...finally made it to the plane and to our seats. Long and short we flew to Campre Grande and then a car drove us for 5 hours in the pouring rain, no idea how they stay alive, passing in the rain, cant see if a car is coming on the other side, and a pair of rosary beads around the mirror seems to make it all fine! Arrived late, and collapsed into bed. Morning time and we headed off the a small forest area- lush green, stunning waterfalls, hiked into the rapids and then back to have lunch at the local eco farm - standing in front of their lake I was greeted by a large alligator who crept up and out of the water rather suddenly, and then 2 more popped their head s up and before I knew it there were three coming towards me - okay I am not crocodil dundee though I was assured they would not come after me, there is too close for comfort and that was it. But I can say I have been as close as 10 feet away from 3 alligators now.. and survived to tell the story! Loving the jungle, Rid is doing its thing, onl a few mossie bites. Off to Manaus in the morning and to the great Amazon river. Filming is going well, weather is extrenely hot and humid, but loving it. LC

Heading out to The Amazon Rainforest tonight in 2 hours from Atlanta - Malaria tablets on the go, and stocked up on chocolate treats for later night snacks! Really excited to finally be boarding the plane. It is going to take us 20 hours, 2 plane trips and a 5 hour car transfer to arrive in Bonito. Currently it is raining, and only 22 degrees in the Amazon, so have just bought an umbrella!! Fancy that - you would think I was still in Sydney. Lots of love and speak to you from the Amazon soon! Liz x

JUNGLE STYLE!

Who could have ever imagined that Jungle Khaki pants and I would end-up in the same sentence! Went on a shopping expeditiont oday ( yes those who know me well know I like to shop a little!) but really my purchases were not for the faint hearted! Rid laden head scarfs, long very unflattering khaki pants, crinkly white grandmother shirts, yes drip dry and no ironing, hideos sandles good for jungle waterways, and to top it off, a khaki hoody that makes me look like Indiana Jones..just need the hat. And speaking of hats, yes it has a mosquito net on it - so you guessed it NO photos of me will be forth coming. So now I am kitted out for the Amazon, I have my Tetnus booster to look forward to and my anti maleria tablets to get started on, really just like going to Hayman Island, how hard can it be?? The boat trip from Belem is on  a commuter ferry and while we have our own private lodgings, I have since found out they are a hamock...no bed just something to swing in for 8 hours +++ So cant wait to get started on my adventures next week. Earthmumliz signing out!

FIRST CAMPING IN -15 DEGREES!

Just back from Greenland and had an awesome shoot. Many firsts for me including my first time camping - own tent, thermal mattress a balmy -15 degrees! Not bad effort for first time with NO toilet and only flat ice, no where to hide - did you know there are no trees in Greenland, really quiet inconvenient especially being a female! Travelled from the far north to the far south to look at what is happening to the icesheet and glaciers to learn about the rate of accelerated melting. We lived in Qaanaaq for 7 days, with bag toilets, really another first but the people were amazing, and walking in the street at 2am with sunglasses on was yet another first for me...sun never sets for many months, so you really have to remember to put yourself to bed. Thanks to Alun Hubbard and his team at S10 camp for a good pot of porridge with strawberry jam and cinamon sugar, yet another first and cold coffee quite a Hubbard special. Foggy weather in IIlulisate enabled us to twist Jason Boxes arm and ride with him to Swiss Camp - met the amazing Steffen Konrad at Swiss Camp and dropped of some bulding supplies for their remodeling works due to shifting iceflows, they are having to rebuild Swiss Camp- it has moved nearly 30kms over the last 15 years.  Dirk and the team from GEUS kindly drove us out to the edge of the ice-cap along the bumpiest road you will every travel on - and then we hauled our gear over the hills and up onto the icesheet for a few nights. This time we had a toilet of types, a blue barrel with a realy toilet seat on it - a bit strange to see this on the horizon and to see the interest it raised from the artic foxes who appeared when you least expected them to check you out! Greenland was an amazing adventure, things magically happened, and we really saw first hand the accelerated changes that are happening on the icesheet, the glaciers which curtain the ocean and the sea-ice which is retracting at rates outside the conservative models from the last Climate Change Summit. Good News is that they are starting a gardening club in Nuuk for the first time - it is getting so warm in the summer now they are going to try to grow small trees, fresh herbs and strawberries.