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The island of Santa Catarina has a fitting name, as this is where we decided to spend Christmas. We arrived on Christmas Eve, greeted by lots of "Santa's" riding around the town on the back of pickup trucks throwing handfuls of sweets at everyone. It was a roasting hot day in Brazil and those poor Santa's must of been ready to pass out in their wooly Santa suits!
That night our hostel organised a Christmas Eve dinner for all the guests. We were expecting roast turkey with all the trimmings, but instead of turkey they served chicken - buffet style with salad, potato, rice, vegetables and fruit. A bit different to what we are used to back in England and we'd be lying if we said we didn't miss the good old British Christmas roast!
We got chatting to a young couple from Norway, two girls from London and three lads from California. The drink was flowing (as it tends to on Christmas Eve) and everyone was in the mood for a big night. As well as beer and wine, the hostel served us homemade punch (that pack a punch!) and strong caipirinha's - the national cocktail made from sugarcane alcohol, ice, lime and sugar. Later, we all headed down to a little beach-bar right on the sand for more drinks, then to a party till the early hours. A good night was had by all.
The next day we were feeling the effects. With inevitable hangovers, we missed breakfast, then spent most of the day lazing around on the beach. Christmas Day in the sun was very chilled and very different to what we are used to back in England. Apart from the odd Christmas Tree here or Santa's hat there, it was easy to forget that it was Christmas Day. Just another day on the beach for most people. Dinner that evening was fried fish, eaten outside while enjoying the summer evening.
On boxing day we explored the local coastline. We followed the coastal path south, passing some pretty little coves and more pristine beaches. As we walked, we picked up a new mate - a friendly little dog. He liked lots of fuss and stuck with us the whole way. When we stopped to admire the views, he'd disappear into the bushes to escape the hot sun. On the way back, we bumped into our friends from the hostel and to our surprise, our little friend ditched us and wondered off with them ... that's loyalty for you!
That evening we caught a night bus north. We still had 1000km to travel before we'd be in our final destination, Rio de Janeiero. But we didn't plan to do the whole journey in one go, we'd stop at the pretty town of Paraty along the way. Unfortunately the journey turned into a mistery, but that's another story...
Check out 'Brazil - Santa Catarina' at http://gallery.me.com/peterjprice/102067
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