The GPS and wire mesh net incident
Well there is now 3 weeks to go still no word from the Brazil research centre, no permits for me and no permits for the poo. And no husband.

I suppose I had sort of explain the last statement. Earlier on in the research I was advised to get a cheap gold band of some description to use as a wedding ring. That way should any locals not really take no for an answer it can be used as a deterrent and even more so if you have pictures etc. So I dutifully went and got measured up for a ring. I don’t wear rings as a general rule so haven’t a clue about sizes etc. So I opted for a Argos job they start at £9.99 which I figured was just slightly too cheap so I went for a middle of the road £14.99 ring to which the little lady behind the counter (fairly old) said that the style and size of the particular ring I was interested in wasn’t in stock and would it be a problem if it took a few weeks to be ordered in. Well me not fully paying attention said that it would be fine as I don’t go travelling till later in the year. The little lady gave me a very perplexed look to which it suddenly dawned on me that she thought it was for the real thing. After much explaining of the situation the lady said I was being very sensible and could totally understand the reason behind it I left the shop. About 3 weeks later the ring arrived and I went and picked it up and it was different people on the counter but I really couldn’t face going through the situation again so they probably think I’m marrying some cheapskate fiancé who made his girl go and collect the ring and couldn’t spend money on a decent ring etc etc. So after much playing people up of what did you do over the weekend and wearing the ring and showing hand etc and the local Amateur dramatics offering me the dress up box of a wedding dress one Saturday afternoon that’s as far as I got with that. And now it’s dawned on me that I have no pretend husband!! There’s only one person I could ask really but I’m not going to be able to meet up before I go so let’s just hope the ring will be enough or failing that kickboxing!

Right now that I have explained that I can now explain the GPS and wire mesh incident. Seeing as when I get to Jujuy the students have all broken up for Christmas holidays I have a student who is stopping on a few days to help me locate the Toucans and also show me the routes in and out of the forest, so I figured that having a GPS unit would be beneficial in the fact that when I am out walking the routes I can go and track and map the routes on the GPS as well as the traditional way of compass and map. Luckily I was dog and house sitting for Rob and Pip who were going away and needed the dogs looking after which gave me the prime opportunity to test and play with GPS seeing as they live next to woods. Now thankfully Poppy their dog as a general rule knows her way about and guides me round the woods when I may have taken a wrong turn. It has been known on occasion to turn out to be 4 miles down the road and we both end up having a mid afternoon snooze but usually it works well. So after reading the destruction sorry instruction manual I felt happy enough to take it out on the next walk and plot the route. The only problem being I got a bit marker happy and the route ended up like a really bad pirates map but with no treasure. I managed to mark where the house was and plot where we going only to find out on the map it looked like we had walked round the house, through the house and retraced our steps all over the place so hopefully I will have mastered it before I get there because I wont be able to take Poppy with me for a variety of reasons.

The wire mesh… another of my “good” ideas. In certain parts of South America it has been reported there are a variety of scams and crimes which are targeted towards tourists especially in cities. For example bags and pockets being slashed so the contents fall on the floor and whoever grabs what they can from the spoils that have fallen. Which again I did have funny visions of a whole load of Toucan poo falling to the floor they wouldn’t have bet on those kinds of riches!! So I invested in a rucksack wire mesh net which goes over your rucksack and meets at the bottom and then there’s a big cable that runs round it so you can lock it around a lamppost for example and the netting makes it slash proof because the squares are about three finger widths wide and long. I went and bought one and being keen and excited decided to try it out to see how it works. Which is all very well but it is one of these products that once you have got it out the bag it never goes back in it the same ever again no matter how you try. Also being wire you can’t just squish it back in the bag like the sleeping bag but that’s another story. So it ended up boinging out the bag with destructions which I tried following only for it to be nowhere near what it looked like on the diagram it didn’t meet at the bottom and it was ripping my hands to shreds. After much looking at it from every angle I formed a different plan of attack on it which I am pleased to say worked except I had got the toggle on my fleece caught and also locked in it. The toggles at the top of my fleece which left me with a very full rucksack attached to me round the neck and no one in the house. Thankfully I got out of the fleece over the head tactic once I had stopped giggling enough to be sensible. This was a bit like the sleeping bag incident… except that was more like escapology.