Bonito - 27-30 Dec 2013

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Friday 27^th December (Odyssey Day 49)







Another resting day today. Some went to Paraguay for a day trip but I didn’t want to spend all day out, mostly on a bus, so Hannah and I relaxed for the morning instead. We were planning on heading out for the afternoon, Hannah to the bird park and myself into town, when the rain suddenly started pouring down. We got absolutely soaked while closing everyone’s tent flaps and bringing in their shoes, so we decided to stay at camp. Fortunately, even the rain is warm here so we weren’t too worried about catching a cold.







Cook group two had our last cook day today as we change to the new cook groups and truck jobs tomorrow. Actually, cook group two will no longer exist, as it has been deemed impossible to fill our shoes (and quite possibly Emma doesn’t want to tempt fate and get another such rowdy… err, I mean boisterous… err enthusiastic? group). My new group will be in the new group seven with Donna and Glen. As for jobs, Joanna and I are now in charge of buying for the bar. That’s a job I won’t complain about!







We also prepared dinner for tomorrow night as it will be a very long drive day and may be very late when we get in to our next camp. The less we have to do when we arrive, the better.











Saturday 28^th December (Odyssey Day 50)







Up at 0430 this morning to pack up and leave Foz. We packed up in the dark and departed at just after 0600, as everyone has new truck jobs and the bag packers and tent loaders will need to develop a system to get it done quickly. Today we simply took a lot longer than we are used to getting everything stored away.







Our lunch stop was at 1230 which is a little earlier than usual, but then we did start early today as well. We had nearly 800km to travel today and the maximum speed Simon can get out of the truck is 84km/h. At least the roads in Brazil are generally all surfaced and fairly easy. Not that rough roads stop everyone from sleeping all morning! It did start raining quite early though and drizzled on and off all afternoon.







We arrive in to Bonito quite late and fortunately the light rain stopped just long enough for us to get our tents put up before starting again. At least this campsite has a few communal areas out of the rain, as well as a pool. There is a covered section near the tents and the truck for us to cook in and an area over near the pool to sit and use the internet or play pool. This makes up for the shoddy communal bathrooms.











Sunday 29^th December (Odyssey Day 51)







Today was our free day in Bonito. It’s a cute little town so we spent the morning exploring the main street. There were a lot of little stores and tourist shops plus many cafes and places to eat. We have noticed though that many things are more expensive in Brazil. It is quite noticeable whenever you look at prices of activities, groceries, clothes, souvenirs, etc.







The one item we found much cheaper than anywhere, and readily available, was havaianas thongs – which everyone stocked up on! It’s too warm to wear boots all the time and so we wear the thongs all day on the truck when we travel, around the camps we stay at, to the beaches and pools, in the showers to keep our feet clean, and around town because they are far cooler and more convenient. I think almost everyone has at least two pairs now.







The hostel is only about a 20 minute walk from the main part of town. We could only find a couple of banks in town and fortunately one of them took foreign cards and we were able to get some money for the next few days. We will be out of the cities for New Year and no one wants to be short of money then.







We have a trip to the river tomorrow to go snorkelling so most of the group stayed around the camp chatting, listening to some music and playing cards tonight.











Monday 30^th December (Odyssey Day 52)







Early start this morning, as we had a short drive out to the Rio da Prata in order to go snorkelling down it for an hour.







We were divided into three groups and I was in the first. They supplied us with wetsuits and snorkelling gear and a guide took us a way up the river in a boat we had to row ourselves. The area was relatively pretty and the slight drizzle didn’t detract from the serenity at all. It seemed like we were a long way from anywhere as we paddled up the river.







Once we reached a point up the river, the guide drifted the boat back down as we all took to the water. It was very clear when looking straight down, but a bit murky looking sideways. It is said to be one of the clearest waterways in the world. It is certainly nothing like the Swan! Its a fairly narrow river with trees overhanging the banks and a pretty strong current.







There were a lot of fish, though I couldn’t get too many photos, due to them looking murky, unless looking straight down. I guess the rain didn’t really help either even though it was really light. If the sun had been out, it may have been a lot brighter under the water.







It took about an hour to paddle up the river and then float back down again. I thoroughly enjoyed it although I’m aware a few of the group weren’t as impressed. The fish were river fish and I think some people may have been expecting tropical fish (though I’m not sure why).







Arriving back where we started, we had to stand and drip dry as all our stuff had been put in a locker that the third group had the key to… The first group was meant to be back before the last group left in order to do a passover of all our gear (towels, clothes, etc) but we obviously took too long and so the last group had to get a locker for everything.







I was quite happy to have a rinse in a cool shower and then wait with the free tea and coffee since I thought it was nice and warm but a few people had blue lips coming out of the water and wanted the hot showers and their jackets off the truck. Strange how different people have different perceptions of temperature.







We arrived back in Bonito town before lunch and we made a quick stop so Emma could do some shopping for dinner. I bought a soft serve ice-cream off a vendor in the street, and when she gave me 1 real change, she gave me a roll of 10 centavo coins… Just what I need to lighten my purse!







It started raining when we arrived back at camp. It was a warm rain though so I pretty much ignored it entirely and headed down the street to do my shop for the bar. Now that it is much warmer, a lot more soft drink and beer is being drunk and much less wine. This is a good thing too since wine is far more expensive in Brazil and we have decided not to stock it in this sector.







There was plenty of room in the communal area for us all to avoid getting too wet if we wanted, and a few people went swimming. We were already wet anyway, so why not?







We had plenty of mangoes to go with our dinner salads at this camp, as there were mango trees dropping fruit all over the place. You had to watch where you were standing, or you would get hit on the head. What people didn't eat for breakfast, was added to dinner. Delicious!

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Photos

Foz do Iguacu Camp
The camp cat eats well

Foz do Iguacu Camp
Johnny & Hannah helping the cook team

Foz do Iguacu Camp
Emma preparing the Odyssey Blog

Bonito Camp
Close neighbours at this camp

Bonito Camp
Just in case it's not obvious, Simon has been working on the truck

Rio da Prata
Kelly, Ellie, Le, Toby, Wayne, Danielle & AJ - ready to head to the river

Rio da Prata
A few river fish

Rio da Prata
AJ enjoying the float down the river

Rio da Prata
Above and below

Rio da Prata
Another fish

Rio da Prata
The next group heading up the river