On bees and things...

I removed one kilo of rice from my rucksack so that from now on I always have my poncho with me. It weighs nearly 500g and what with snacks and water I am still carrying virtually the same seven kilos. Yesterday I set off to do my six hours and yes, the fates are still against me! I caught the train to the university and it was closed to the public... grrrr.

After some thought I set out to find the nearby Instituto Butantã. This is the (in)famous place from which the African killer bees escaped into the wild years ago, since when they have slowly bred and spread up the South American continent and reached the North American one. The institute carries out scientific research, extracts venom from snakes and spiders and produces serum. The grounds were not as extensive as I hoped and in less than an hour I´d been round, visited the snake pit and was wondering where to go next.

There really wasn´t anywhere else, so I decided to walk home instead of catching the train. Not my best decision. The walk was along a busy ring road, which I had to leave at intervals where there was no pavement under the bridges, making long detours. It was hot, noisy, frustrating and tiring. By the time I got home I´d only done five hours but I was bushed. I had thought to do a circuit of the riding club to make up the time but I was too weary, despite the fact I´d only walked about fifteen kilometres.

There are times when I really wish I were back in England, doing my training walks in the Pennines where I used to live, instead of pounding these city streets. I sure I wouldn´t get so tired.