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The South of Brazil
I would never have thought the South of Brazil would score so highly on my "must see / must do" list.
We started our time in the South of Brazil as most South American experiences begin, after a 15 hour bus ride from some other obscure place, in our case Iguazu Falls.
We arrived after the night bus into Florianopolis in search of some much needed beach time. Florianopolis is a small island a short way off the coast of Brazil, but close enough to be joined by a bridge. The beaches here are made of fine white sand, the water is clean, the surrounding mountains are covered in lush thick rain forest, and best of all the weather is warm.
On the day we arrived the sun was shining but quickly turned into rain clouds, and we spent the first 2 days hiding from rain showers and recovering from a recently acquired stomach bug.
Once the sun came out again and the convulsions dispersed we decided to do one of the many activities on the "To Do" board in the hostel, taking an easy walk up the coast through rain forest, passing through a number of small fishing villages. About 1 hour from the end of the 3 hour walk we met a little orange dog who seemed to appreciate a gentle pat, and she followed us along the trail acting as tour guide for the rest of the walk. We finished the walk as the trail emerged into a small village with many simple restaurants boasting fresh seafood at reasonable prices, Tippy (so named after her white tipped tail) still leading the way.
We ordered 2 plates of seafood and I retired into a nearby hammock to swing my worries away and check my eye lids for holes before the food came out. Our tour guide Tippy continued to hang around, occasionally trying to jump into the hammock with me.
When the food came out we ate until full and then took a boat back along the coast to the hostel. Tippy came out and sat on the pier and watched us motor off into the distance with a look of sadness in her eyes. I wasn't fooled however - I'm sure she does this with tourists every day.
During our time at the hostel we experienced some amazing dinners each night which the whole hostel participated in. Each night a dedicated Dutch cook with a Brazilian apprentice served us up some of the best food we had eaten in South America. Sitting in large groups we quickly got to know most of the 70 odd other travellers staying at the hostel, with about 50% of them being the usual - Australians. We had been out for drinks most nights, but come Saturday we hit Pacha with a vengeance - spending and drinking far too much.
With a very sore and fuzzy head we moved hostels the next day to the North of the Island, a bit sad to leave so many newly acquired friends behind. However, the new hostel "Backpacker Sharehouse" was perfect with a fresh bunch of travellers who were equally as friendly, and a location only 2 mins walk from 2 beaches. Needless to say the following days involved plenty of drinking, swimming, sun bathing, more drinking, and a lot of very friendly banter and socialising.
We celebrated Australia day the way it should be done, with a small marquee on the beach serving ice cold beers at cheap prices. After getting lubricated on beer in the morning we headed to Moles Beach were all the bars and cafes had dedicated DJs. We continued to drink into the evening and danced until the DJs finished. I even managed a drunken swim in the large surf with an English couple we met.
After 8 days we reluctantly left Florianopolis behind to head further North up the coast to a small coastal town called Paraty. We rendezvoused with a mate of mine and his girlfriend there and started travelling together. The town was small and quaint, with old colonial buildings and uneven cobble stone streets. The temperature soared to mid 30's with a surge in humidity too. My body started to get confused at the profuse sweating without being provoked by the act of exercise.
After soaking up some sun on the beach for our first day, we went with Brian and Jess on an all day boat trip which had us visiting 5 beach islands and enjoying snorkelling in the warm water around the tropical islands. It was bliss to be amongst so many fish in the tepidly warm water for the day - forgetting that there is any life to be lived but this one.
Leaving Paraty after just 2 days we headed further up the coast to Angra to take a boat out to an idyllic Island called "Ilha Grande" - "Grand Island" for those non-Spanish speakers. The Island was paradise. The large lumpy island was covered in thick green vegetation all the way from the hill tops to the sugar-white sand beaches.
We spent our first night in a hostel with an unreal location right on the water overlooking the bay. A large man made pool shielded swimmers from the incoming waves and was also home to countless fish and sealife making it a very inviting swimming experience. There was a well-stocked bar and hammocks swinging with watery views making it seem like a good choice in hostels.
After a night out enjoying good food and wandering the car free streets in the township we discovered the fan in our room was barely working leaving us to swelter the night away - sleeping in a pool of our own sweat was revolting.
Waking early the next morning we moved accommodation and found a sweet little Posada (basic hotel) with our own room, bathroom, and best of all working fans! The cost was also the same as the hostel so we felt good about the change. We met Brian and Jess and started a trail to a beach called Lopez Mendez. We had two decent climbs along the way affording us spectacular panoramic views along the way - but causing me to sweat out half my body weight in the sun and humidity.
We swam at the first of the two preliminary beaches enjoying bath temperature waters which barely cooled us off. The second beach was also beautiful but we pressed on to Lopez Mendez. When we arrived at Lopez Mendez we saw what all the fuss was about - this beach looked like the ones you see in top quality tourist brochures showing remote island resorts with tranquil crystal clear water surrounded by palm trees and long white sand beaches. I didn't actually think places like this existed, not without the use of hallucinogens anyway. The water was so clear I could see the hair on my toes when I was shoulder deep in the water - the waves were small and barely large enough to make me sway. The best thing was that because of the prerequisite hot and hilly walk not too many people occupied the beach - giving us plenty of space.
We spent the day just enjoying the warm water and bright sunshine, feeling grateful to have stumbled on such a great Island with such a spectacular beach. Towards the end of the day we walked back to the 2nd beach and took a boat back to town saving us the loss several litres of sweat.
Sitting up at Brain's posada higher in the jungle enjoying a few beers before dinner we soaked up the serene surroundings and even managed to see a couple of humming birds. On our way to dinner we saw a large blue crab about 20cm wide scuttling down the street and it made me appreciate the stark differences between here and London.
The following day was spent sailing out amongst islands and stopping to enjoy 4 separate dive spots and lunch on a beach. The water we had swum in up to this point was warm but some of the waters we swam in here were too much and had me diving down deep just to cool down. To summarise, the day's snorkelling was great with excellent visibility all day, we managed to see many brightly coloured fish, striped moray eels, turtles, sea urchins, crabs, and some intricate corals.
Our last day on the island had us just chilling out after a short walk, on "Black Beach", named after the streaks of iron sand throughout the beach. We also managed a bit of exploration into the jungle behind the beach up to some fresh water pools just below an old (but still functioning) aqueduct. The cooler water was a refreshing change.
After having sought some beach time in the South of Brazil we had found it in spades. I'm definitely going to miss being drenched in sun and soaking up the ocean through my pores every day.
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