Dear Mama, Daddy, and Duncan,
    We have just arrived in Brazil. I'm so excited! I wanted to get off of this ship for a real long time.
     I asked Captain FitzRoy if I could go out today, and he said yes. I was so happy I didn't know what I was going to do first. But then Captain FitzRoy called me into his headquarters just before I left the ship.
     "Shoshana!" Captain FitzRoy called out. "Come in here please!"
     I came into Captain FitzRoy's headquarters, and asked. "What is it, Captain FitzRoy?"
     "I want you to go into the rainforest with Darwin," the captain replied.
     "What?" I replied in shock. "Why?"
     "It's because Darwin thought you could use a bit of education," FitzRoy replied.
     "Well...ok...I'll go with him," I replied.

     The rainforest was fantastic! The rain forest was very hot and wet. Not good weather for a princess. Don't you think? All around me were giant trees, and ropey vines. The ground was covered with fallen leaves and plant roots. The sun had a very difficult time shining through the tree tops. It was beautiful in the rainforest. There were all kinds of creatures. Here's how I describe what I saw:
     There was green everywhere, light green, dark green, yellow green, emerald green, bright green, blue green, copper green, jade green. There were also colorful flowers, butterflies, and frogs that weren't green. They were orange, red, and blue. At times the rainforest was very noisy and at other times there always seemed to be some sort of buzz or hum.
     EWWWWWW!!!!! I tried not to complain about the bugs but it was hard not to. There were so many bugs of all sizes. There were lots of animals, too.
     Darwin was collecting beetles and lizards. I didn't like that too much. As you know I don't like bugs. I had to stick with Darwin the whole time. I was interested in the animals. Luckily, Darwin pointed out some really cool animals for me to see. Here's how I would describe my favorite jungle animal: Hanging from a tree was a... brown furry animal with a face like an old man. The animal had three toes and it moved very slowly and you couldn't tell if it was sleeping or awake. I also saw a brown pig-looking thing. It reminded me of my little piglet princess whom I left on the boat. Another animal I saw was little, about one foot long, not counting the long tail. He had orange fur that looked like it had lion's mane. His face was wrinkled and he had a flat nose. Then I saw a whole bunch of these swinging on vines. I think they were some kind of noisy monkey.
     Sometimes, it was so hot I found it hard to breath. I was glad to return to the ship with Darwin for a break. Even so, I'm looking forward to going back to the steaming hot jungle to see more fantastic animals.
    

You Loving Daughter,
-Shoshana