Happy New Year from Ubatuba, Brazil!

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For the first time in many years, I didn´t need to plan this year´s New Year´s Eve. Being Karene´s guest, I told her I´d be more than happy to just tag along with her and her friends. This meant spending a long weekend in Ubatuba, at her friend´s summer house. Ubatuba is a coastal city between São Paulo and Rio.

We left São Paulo Friday afternoon and first made a brief stop in Guarulhos, Karene´s hometown, at her mum´s house. Her aunt was there to welcome us and cooked a delicious lunch and I also got to taste the most exquisite cake ever - bolo de mandioca! Then we picked up Karene´s boyfriend, and after a 4-hour car ride we finally arrived in Ubtauba, Lázaro´s beach to be more precise - as you will see from my pics, a tropical paradise...

Actually there were 3 beaches, a larger one (Lázaro) and 2 smaller ones (Sununga and Domingas Dias). We spent most of our time in Sununga; it was close by and quieter, though the sea (or must I say ocean, hehe) was ´wilder´ at this beach. It was great fun watching people get toppled over by the waves (which were quite high by my standards) and the young surfers kept me rather entertained.

It took me ages to get into the water, as I must admit I was rather impressed by the strength of the waves. And unlike the beaches in Malta, the water does´t get deeper gradually - one minute your feet are grounded in sand, and the next you´re battling the waves. On top of that, the undercurrent is so strong that the sand is continuously shifting, making you feel like you´re in quicksand. But once I got the hang of it (after a couple of hours, hehe) I took the plunge and it was well worth it. The colour and clarity of the water made me feel comfortable and before I knew it, I was also ´riding´the waves!!!

Our days were spent like this, just lying on the beach, sipping on fresh juices of every imaginable fruit (pineapple, mango, passion fruit, kiwi, coconut, papaya) and eating fresh fish and fries.... I also tried Churro com chocolate, pastel de frango com catupiri and caçâo... delicious!

One of the few things I missed terribly, however, was a good book. The setting as ideal to immerse oneself into some story or other.

In the evening, people pull out their plastic chairs onto their patios and cook churrasco (bbq-ed meat), filling the air with that unmistakable scent of grilled meat and pimento....mmmmmm ..... However, please note that BBQs are of a personal nature and Brazilians would not dream to have them at the beach, like us Maltese love to do... hehehe

New Year´s eve was also a totally new experience. Besides stating the obvious that it felt weird to be celebrating the new year in warm weather (great feeling!), I really loved the simplicity of it all. Early evening, the traditional churrasco and then as midnight approaches, everyone heads to the beach with champagne bottles in hand, waiting for the fireworks!

Among the various New Year traditions in Brazil is eating lentils and rice, which is exactly what we ate!!! In Brazil the lentil is believed to bring in good wealth and fortune in year to come. Another tradition is offering flowers and lighting candles to Iemanjá, the Goddess of the Water in the Brazilian Umbanda religion. However, the tradition I liked most was jumping 7 waves on the right foot, making 7 wishes for the year to come... and this I observed faithfully....

Enjoy the photos...

Until next time and Happy New Year!!

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