Brazil: Barra da Lagoa perfection

I have learned a lot about myself on this trip, like in the many other trips earlier. One thing that I have long known but truly only now understood is that neither my body nor my mind work very well without a healthy and regular dose of exercise and adrenaline. The last few weeks in the cities and being ill with the flu made me feel so bored and lazy but then hopping on that surfboard and trying out some yoga streches just brightened my mind, cleared my head in a way. And since we both seemed to feel the same we decided to skip a day in another city (Porto Alegre) and just continue directly to Floripa's beaches. So after a night in the bus we arrived to Porto Alegre and soon took the next bus to Florianopolis. It would only take 6hrs so we should arrive early enough to find our way to the island and a hostel from there. We had booked one already but only for the next day! Florianopolis city itself wasn't our final destination but the island Ilha Santa Catarina and its beach Barra da Lagoa.

This 6 hour busride took 10 instead and I was pissed off and hungry. Gladly at the terminal we met the most helpful people who truly saved what was left of that day. We got a map, called our hostel, we got directions to the right bus and all this in Portugese! And by some miracle I actually understood it all. After 1,5 hours we finally made it to Barra da Lagoa!

A guy spotted us carrying our backpacks and convinced us, in Portugese, to stay at a hostel (or more like a homestay) nearby. The price for a double room wasn't bad and we weren't eager to look for much longer so we took it and left to have an excellent seafood dinner to a nice restaurant in the town.

Cheers for being in Brazil, my 69th country!

The homestay wasn't too clean so we were happy to continue to Barra Beach Club Hostel. Located a bit higher on the hill it had an amazing view to a smaller and more isolated beach bay. The big main beach wasn't far either and nor was the town. We had booked two nights but during the first hour we booked two more! The staff was so extremely nice that we felt home before even seeing the rooms. The facilities were great and one could borrow laptops, games, snorkels and - the best part - surfboards! For free! Anytime! One just had to sign their name and that's all. Also the staff helped us to organize everything and advised to all the activities available (and there were many!)

So, we were psyched! First we took a stroll around the town to see where we were. It wasn't a big place but touristy enough to have all kinds of services. The town had a big long beach with white sand and surprisingly clear water. So after some shopping we went to fetch the surfboards!

The view to the river

And to the otherside of the river

The big beach of Barra da Lagoa

We carried the boards to the big bech and paddled for some time but unfortunately we had missed the best waves. It was still great, and even with the hot sun we lasted somewhat long. After the surf it was time for some sandboarding. Sandboarding is like snowboarding but down sand dunes - simple right? The dunes weren't far and they rented boards right there so it was easy and quick to organize. Easy was also the activity eventhough the boards were just pieces of wood and missed proper bindings. First the board felt so loose in the bare feer and hard to control because of that but quickly I got the hang of it and it was a lot of fun! Hard work though, no skilifts to pull one up and walking up the in the sliding hot sand took some energy! The views over the dunes and hills all the way to the sea were great. The wind blew this superfine sand everywhere and the the sun started setting which created an amazing light and sight with the flying sand.

Chris sandboarding

A bit nervous

But on it

Climbing up, check out the views

Someone yogaposing

Exhausted

Happy sandboarding fans

Sand was everywhere...for days

Haha, Chris created a gif

After this a shower was called for and then some free caipirinha drinks! Every night there were free caipirinha at the bar from 19 to 19.30 and at 20.30 the dinner started. One could sign up to eat for a reasonable price at the hostel and today on the menu was BBQ, risotto, salad and wow we were in! Superb! We enjoyed our dinner with some German engineers who were in Floripa for a summer school from Unversity. Sounded almost as legit as an exchange in Bali ;) The boys left for a party and happily we went to bed.

A little bug in the night

Free caipis

Saturday morning was beautiful and since I woke up early, I sneaked out to the balcony for some morning exercise. And then it was time for breakfast! Fresh fruits, juices, tomatoes, sandwich stuff, coffee and of course the great view to the beach and the beautiful bay. My favorite part of the day :)

Breakfast <3

We spend way too much time trying to organize some climbing, contacting local climbers etc., so we just had to get out and do something. We tried our luck, and went to search for some rumoured boulders nearby but without results. It was flat and so there was no surf but there was something we hadn't tried yet! SUP aka stand up paddling aka paddling while standing on a surf board. This we tried on the river which floated from our beach to the Lagoa Concepcao lake. The water on the river wasn't the nicest but swimmable. Not the ideal place but still good fun and good exercise. And a lot more difficult than I had expected, I thought my balance was quite fine but paddling on this wavy board wasn't too stable. Also I was a bit petrified of falling into the water as it wasn't quite as clear and clean as the seawater. It brought a nice little spice to the sport as did the passing by motorboats! Afterwards a refreshing swim at our beach was welcomed and some hackysack before the storm - and what a storm it was!!

SUP

Storm was coming

I've never seen such lightnings in my life! I wanted to write the blog downstairs that evening but I had to join the caipirinha enjoying Chris to the terrace to watch this show! Massive bright thunders stroke through the whole sky in these clear ziczac formations and sometimes with kind of bursts that resembeled fireworks. Incredible. The crowd on the terrace went "Woooow" every few minutes. We got to watch this the whole evening with excellent Brazilian meals and good company.

We had booked diving for the next day which meant that we needed to get to the north of the island by 8.00. Sunday timetables sucked so there we were waiting for the first and only suitable bus at 6.30. At 7.30 we gave up and walked back to the hostel: no bus. The night receptionist tried to help us the best he could but he didn't quite know how and there was no chance we could make it anymore by 8.00 so we hoped to be able to move the diving to another day. It was still early so we took the boards and went for some paddling practise on our beach! Why paddling practise? The waves were tiny so surfwise it was a bit pointless but after some wateractivities breakfast tasted even better. Later we heard that we had been misinformed and there actually wasn't even an earlier bus. Nor was there more diving this week, shit. Well, we got our money back and at least we'd still go climbing! Yep! We had managed to contact a local climber who'd be bouldering at Barra da Lagoa around 17.00 that day, so we made a date.

Chris felt comfortable with the cows, god knows why...

More breakfast

At 17.00 we were at the bus stop waiting and trying to spot people with crashpads. At 18.00 we gave up and walked back to the hostel: no one came. SECOND TIME that day our plans wouldn't work out. We crabbed the boards again and headed disappointed to another paddling practice before dinner. At least the dinner was fantastic and we had nice company so the misfortunes of the day vanished from our minds. Later we heard that the climbers had gotten stuck in the traffic and couldn't make it, I was not surprised by this at all, the traffic jams were notorious.

Early night ended in an early morning and so I got our for a run on the beach! I was excited, I hadn't jogged for ages since I don't have suitable shoes with me but on the beach one doesn't really need them. I had underestimated the power of the morning sun and even at 7.00 suncream should have been applied :D After a pleasant jog I found Chris awake and we took a swim before breakfast.

The plan of the day was to rent a scooter and drive south to see more of the island. We chose a bit the wrong day for this though, it was insanely hot and I was sure to burn my skin. I was also sure we would die! Huh! Being in the back of a scooter was a lot scarier than I remembered. After a while I got more relaxed. Chris is a good driver.

We drove first on the east side to the beaches, drank some refreshing juices and continued to the oyster farming west coast. It reminded me a lot of Bali somehow and it was interesting to see the different villages and beaches. For lunch we stopped at a fancy looking seafood restaurant. The prices were high but we thought we could splurge a little for some fresh local specialities so we shared a salad and some shrimp skewers. The price made more sense when we saw the plates, Christ, the salad would've fed four people and the skewers came with such amounts of cheese and rice and fries and whatnot that we felt like inviting the people from the next table to join the feast. Why oh why didn't the waiter tell us that the plates would be plenty for sharing!?? We took a doggy bag and actually ate the rest for lunch the next day. We didn't manage any dinner anymore either that day so actually moneywise it wasn't a bad deal at all!

Armacao beach

More of the south beaches

Insane amounts of food

It was Saint Patrick's day aka a good excuse to party (like you need one here?) so people headed out to a nightclub. I was happy to fall asleep in the empty dorm but of course the party people made quite the noise when coming back. Since I couldn't sleep, I went for another jog. This time better prepared with more time and suncream. It was nicely cloudy too and not as disgustingly hot as the day before. We had made a deal to meet downstairs with Chris at 7.10 and there he was when I came back (red faced and sweating, mmmm). We grabbed the boards again and headed back to the big beach where I just came from. I had checked and the surf was up!

Massive monster waves! Or, probably not really, but to me they felt huge. Once I tried to be smart and waited: Chris took the first wave of the set and I thought: "I'll take the next one, so that I don't get completely washed afterwards by the second one, the bigger one". The second one indeed was bigger, and it fell exactly on top of me. I chickened out and threw the board away and dove just to be laundered by the masses of water. Scary but oh-so-great!

Back from the surf

Breakfast company

More breakfast company

What a super start for the day! But unfortunately everything good has to end at some point: we were leaving that day to Curitiba and onwards to the Iguassu Falls. Two days later we were still wondering if we should have stayed. And actually even now, writing this I wonder if we should just go back ;) Barra da Lagoa and the hostel there were truly among the best places on this trip!

BTW obesity is nowadays a handicap...my oh my

Uruguay: thieves, cousins, birthdays and surf

We entered Uruguay with a boat from BA to Colonia de Sacramento. For being dubbed as one of the must-see destinations in Uruguay and conveniently on our route, we decided to stay one night. One night was truly enough: this historical old town had some pretty cobblestone streets, nice colonial era buildings and some lighthouses but in 20 minutes we had pretty much covered the whole place. Still, our hostel El Viajero was very nice and Colonia was an easy introduction to Uruguay, with the new currency and all.

New currency meant that we needed some of it too, so we headed to the ATM where a bunch of Germans were hopelessly lost. In the queue behind them stood some pretty annoyed Australians, who'd lost their nerves with the Germans, but they were at least - if not even more - confused with the impossible seeming task of withdrawing money. After watching this show for some time, highly amused, we asked if they might need some help. Chris guided the Germans, in their own language step-by-step through this process, and finally they got some money out of the machine. The funny part was that the Germans were so amazed, they kept asking Chris where he is from and wondered loudly that this miracle now happened and oh-my-how-fantastic!! And even after telling them that he is Swiss, they would say: "Ooh wow, and you speak such good German!!" Yep, wow indeed. The Australians were beyond help though, they stormed out before even listening to us or the lady from the bank. Strange mates.

Uruguay was even more expensive than Chile or Argentina. We thought we'd save some money and cook some tortillas at home but in the end I think it didn't really save us anything. But I have to say that even if expensive, the fruits are just always worth it! Hell, we've eaten so many pears, mangoes, bananas, pine apples and ooh the avocadoes! Every day, at least one avocado and a million fruits, no lie! Also, they make some wicked fruit juices here. The fruits are just perfect!

Next day we bussed some hours to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. Colonia and Montevideo are both on the coast but the river delta in the bay makes the water muddy brown. The port plays a big role in the city in Montevideo and the coastline has a long walkway all around. The old city and the center are quite compact and near the coast. We walked about 5 km from the terminal to our Willy Fogg hostel which was quite near the center. The hostel was big, with many rooms, huge living room area, roof top terrace and all but unfortunately the rooms were quite dirty.

Buenos Aires from the boat

Tortilla dinner at El Viajero

TERO the most annoying bird of all times

Colonia

We took a stroll in the old town and the main streets. The city was dead. Everything was closed and the streets were empty except for some trash and street dogs. We had heard such nice things about Montevideo but now it didn't really impress us much. It was the end of the holidays, the last weekend, and everyone was away or partying at the carneval in the evening. So all the shops were closed and also most of the restaurants and bars. We called it an early night.

I was eaten alive by the mosquitoes during the night.

Sunday it was, and we had some plans! We would meet Daniel, a cousin of a friend from Finland, one quarter Finn who also spoke Swedish but lived now in Montevideo. And after meeting Daniel, we'd have a date with another Swiss called Chris (aren't they just all called Chris?). Let's call him by his last name, Thomann, to avoid the confusion. Thomann was a friend of Chris, from Switzerland. He'd also been to Helsinki once and now we happened to be in Uruguay at the same time!

But before all these happenings, we headed to the Sunday market. This market sold everything from fruits to handicrafts to aquariums and puppies. We walked through the crowds, bought not one but two pine apples, mango, a new straw for our mate set and all kinds of stuff. Suddenly I heard Chris shouting behind me and gesturing to a very much junkie looking guy. This lowlife had just put his hand in Chris' pocket and picked his phone. The guy was still there, right in front of us, and so was his friend but the third guy already vanished in the crowd. A shouting match started but there were no winners. We lost the phone and there was nothing we could do about it: the pickpocket stayed there listening to us shout but he had passed the phone on and it was already far away in the pocket of the third guy. So a police station visit it was. Gladly this turned out to be quite a bit easier than we had expected (Mongolian or Guatemalan police station visits were so catastrophic: they took hours and in the end the reports got some completely wrong names and Finlandia was interpreted as Philadelphia etc.) The policeman here was very friendly and we even managed to handle all in Spanish.

After something like this, it's hard to get your mind off of what happened. It's easy just to play the thing again and again in your head and question your actions: maybe I could've done something differently or I should've done this or I should've done that. It's pointless though, nothing one can do anymore.

Gladly we had plans to distract us. First we met Daniel with whom we walked around a bit and then sat down for a chat and some drinks. We got some nice recommendations for restaurants and bars and surf spots. He was sad to hear about the phone but not surprised when he heard where it got stolen: "Aah, Tristan Navarro market, that's no place to go, that's where they SELL the stolen phones...you'd probably find it there next Sunday!" Well well, should have known. Anyway, enough about the phone. It was nice to meet Daniel and hear about the life in Uruguay from a local! Our evening dinner was also fantastic, we ended up in a fancy but great restaurant and stayed up so late that even the mozzies didn't bother me anymore :) It was great to see Thomann and his friend, exchange travel stories and all.

Tristan Navarro market

Poor puppy

More poor animals

Daniel

Next day we finally got out of the city, after an unlucky search for a climbing hall in Montevideo. Or actually, we did find the hall but there was no chance for us to climb even with the most helpful girl working at the sports center: no keys for the hall nor anyone nearby with the key. At least we gave it a try.

Our next stop was Punta del Diablo, Devil's point, where we arrived in the evening. We were staying in a hostel called El Diablo Tranquilo, in a big red house on a hill with multiple balconies and hammocks and a cool view to the sea. Our 10 bed dorm on the other hand wasn't too cool since it was packed with some messy, but very nice young British boys. Never mind though, the atmosphere was quite alright. We had an early dinner and night since the next day we'd celebrate Christoph's 34th birthday! I had some organizing to do.

I woke up at 2.40 am to the loadest snoring of all times. Even the earplugs brought no aid, it was merciless.

I got up early and sneaked to do some shopping but I was a bit too eager and all the shops were still closed. The wait wasn't too long and soon I found myself carrying bags full of fruits, croissants, little piece of cakeish kind of thing and brie for breakfast and some wine and chocolates for later consumption.

Chris was of course already up but chilling happily in a hammock with a book so I had time to prepare the breakfast. Our fellow hostel guests were confused with my massive preparations (someone even accidentally started eating the bananas I was cutting, it was an awkward moment I can tell you) but everyone was in on the whole thing when I told them about the celebration. Chris was welcomed with a multi-languaged birthday song and congratulations.

Chris' wish was to chill, in a hammock or the beach so that's what we did. I made lunch which we enjoyed on our own balcony: I had booked us a fancy double room with our own hammock and bathroom and all as a surprise! The sun was hot and the water was cold so swimming and playing in the waves was quite an excellent way of spending time. We also admired the surfers and talked about going surfing the next day.

First time for everything, and today it was yoga for Chris! We took a private yoga lesson on the beach, in the sunset while listening to the waves and the sea. Sound cheesy much!? Hahah, yeah, I know, but I have to say it was superb! I was even happily surprised to find out that the birthday boy enjoyed it too. Afterwards we had a great dinner in a romantic restaurant and the best night's sleep in our own room, with clean sheets, and without mosquitoes or snoring room mates. Life is good.

Punta del Diablo and the bar with the coolest tapestry

Birthday breakfast. Inka <3 Chris

34 years of being awesome

Beach

More beach

Birthday boy enjoying the beach Lunch on our balcony

And excellent birthday dinner after yoga

We were leaving to Brazil next evening but we still had the whole day to enjoy in Punta del Diablo so we rented a surfboard (EXPENSIVE) for a couple of hours. It's been years for the both of us since the last time surfing, so the long board did just fine. Also, for the size of the waves, it was perfect. The beach was excellent for beginners (aka us) with an easy paddle out, not too scary waves and of course a beach break but not just white water, but proper waves to catch. I went first and even got the first wave! It was good fun but I gave up quite quickly, the sun was already giving me a headache and after being ill I was easily exhausted. Chris continued for a bit but didn't last much longer in the crazy sun and the cold water. He did well though, and we were both excited, have to go again soon, we thought!

6 am sunshine

Surf´s up!

Chris taking a wave

Fruit juices <3

El Diablo Tranquilo

To get a bus to Porto Alegre, we first needed to get to Chuy, to the border. So we took a bus there and hopped out in the last stop as the girl at the hostel had told us. The bus driver was a bit confused when we said we want to go all the way to the center instead of hopping out at the aduana (the customs) as he suggested. Of course he would have been right, so we ended up in the wrong place and completely lost. Luckily we had hours until the bus to Porto Alegre would leave and we finally figured out the right way after asking for directions, interpreting them from Portuguese, asking again, calling the hostel etc. We walked some 3 kilometers from the center to the customs and actually it was a good way of spending time after all, since we still had plenty of it. For killing time at the border we came up with all kinds of activities like playing hackysack, listening to the weirdest but maybe the most beautiful choir of frogs, watching fireflies, playing with a dog, spotting an owl, reading and drinking wine. And then finally at 1.00 the bus showed up, only an hour later than we had been told.

Dog friend on the border

Crossing the border is a lot nicer with some wine and friends

Cool tail :D