So much to write about today! It was fantastic!
We took a tour of a bunch of beaches on the island.
First we went to Praia do Sancho, which is voted the most beautiful beach in Brazil and top 10 in the world. We saw it first from 50 meters above. It was stunning.
Really, for most of the things today there really are no words to do justice to what we saw/experienced. The beach was so pristine. And the water was so clear and blue. We saw a ladder that seemed to go down to the beach, and we joked that was the way we were going to get to it.
We walked a ways on the upper trail. It rained a lot last night, so all of the trails were wet/muddy and hiking was precarious and slow going when there was mud. All day we flung it up all over our backs. So – we followed the upper trail to a view over Baia dos Porcos (Yes, the Bay of Pigs). This beach is voted Brazil’s second most gorgeous beach, but I liked it best (especially after the rest of the day).
We walked back to our starting point and found out the ladder wasn’t a joke. We had to go down two steel ladders through a skinny ravine – it looked very 127 Hours.
It was awesome! Then we went down a long, steep staircase of stone carved into the cliff.
The beach was so gorgeous. Especially from the water. Everything was so clean, the sand was so soft, the water so cool. From the water, looking toward land, you could see a waterfall in the cliff, cacti stuck in the rocks, and long-winged birds lazily gliding
We went swimming for a while, then snorkeling in a little inlet. It was better than the snorkeling yesterday because it was much more shallow – you could get so close to the fish. I saw one of those totally flat fish with two eyes on one side. I only caught a look because it kept moving.
Then our guide took us on a little adventure – he told us we were going to “take a shower”. We walked a ways down the beach to where some fresh water was flowing from the cliff to the ocean. The water was so cold (comparatively) – it felt amazing. The whole day was very hot. We followed it up toward the cliff, over rocks, under branches, until we found a beautiful hidden waterfall. The shower felt wonderful. In Portuguese, fresh water is “agua doce” – this water felt truly delicious. It was exactly what we needed to cool off and wash off the salt water.
Then we had to leave back the way we came. Oh man, it was a brutal trip back up those stairs. We walked back to the truck – a long, muddy, uphill walk. Andrea fell and broke her flip flop – the guide gave her his pair. Our truck was really fun and cool. Manda and I sat in two tiny seats in the trunk. Since most of the roads are unpaved and horrible, it was quite a bumpy ride, and we had to hold the bars over our head.
We went to a couple more beautiful beaches. Then we made it to Museu do Tubarões – the shark museum. There was an awesome rocky shoreline. We actually saw one sea turtle from up high! We bought some awesome shark tooth necklaces – very cool.
Then we drove to Praia da Cacimba do Padre which is where Dois Irmãos actually is. We were there for its access to Baia dos Porcos. We had to do some more rock climbing to get there, which was fun.
Baia dos Porcos is amazing. It is so gorgeous. There isn’t really a sandy beach area, so it’s best for swimming or snorkeling. When we got to the cove (far ahead of the rest of the group) our guide toldus to dive in from a high-ish rock as long as we cleared the rocks around us. It was kind of scary, but we all did it and it was thrilling! No other groups after entered that way. It was so fun to be there. It’s small and secluded and there were constantly fun waves to swim in. You did have to be very vigilant about all the rocks. We had such a great time there.
 |
| Mom's a rockstar |
We walked back to the truck and drove to a lookout point (which was also a restaurant and a goat pasture) that overlooked Praia do Americano.
 |
| what? |
It was late afternoon, it was getting cloudy, and we could see a lot of dark rain coming our way from far out on the ocean. It was such a great view and really peaceful just sitting up on the rock ledge looking out.
Then sings my soul
My Savior God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
Then sings my soul
My Savior God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
That was our last stop, and we got back to our pousada right before the rain started.
Two notes:
(1) there are cats all over the place
(2) thank goodness I got contacts. It was a crazy stupid process (I’ll write about it sometime), but everything would have been way less awesome and might have downright sucked without them
No comments:
Post a Comment