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I have definitely found the Gringo Trail...
Florianopolis is swarming with backpackers - the most English people I've met since I started travelling are lying beside me on the beach! It's lovely here, very laid-back with a stunning coastline, lush jungle, long beaches with dramatic waves... but it does feel a tiny bit like Spain just because it is so definitely ON the beaten track.
No KFC thankfully, but there is an English pub around the corner - The Black Swan (accredited by the Telegraph as Best of British, randomly). My hostel is really cute, its like a house (if your house has a jacuzzi) with a great atmosphere - and its about 90% English people! I'm sharing with Lynne and 3 other English girls, who are lovely - we've spent our days exploring the beaches and our nights going to luaus on them! Quite different to the beach parties in Thailand, these are more chilled out with everyone just hanging out around the bonfire, usually someone strumming a guitar.. bliss. Florianopolis has been a good last stop for me in Brazil, after the madness of carnival and the megopolis of Sau Paulo its nice to be somewhere more chilled out.
I visited a turtle sanctuary the other day which was just lovely. I hi-fived an enormous turtle, got soaked as one of them was splashing about (he was actually trying to escape, bless him, the sides of the tank were just too darn slippery!) and posed for lots of silly photos. The project works right across Brazil, helping to safeguard the breeding process for this endangered species and looking after turtles injured by fishing nets, pollution etc. Made me wish I was going to the Galapogas to help marine wildlife, but at around £1,000 that's going to have to wait for another time...
The whole island will be partying tonight as tomorrow is a national holiday in Brazil. Ziggy Marley is playing a concert in the North of the island, and all the bars are running deals to entice us to spend our money (brilliantly, girls pay less than boys in bars here - another one of many reasons why I love Brazil).
Tomorrow I'm embarking on a 26 hour bus journey from Brazil to Argentina. I've done a lot of long bus trips now but this will be the longest yet - but it's totally worth it as when I arrive I'm meeting Scott! He's coming over for a holiday so we're travelling around Argentina together :)
Next stop, Buenos Aires...
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