Where did we leave off - oh yeah - Bonito

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So we spent the night in the hotel in anticipation of a 9AM bus to Bonito the next morning. The laundromat didn´t open at 8 as planned, but we still were able to get the laundry, and we also caught a bus at 11AM with a very efficient bus company, Cruzero Do Sul - we arrived in Bonito exactly when we were supposed to.

And Carlos, the driver of the Hostel picked us up as soon as we arrived. But the hostel turned out to be three blocks from the main road, not three blocks from the town as Israel, the guy at the Campo Grande hostel who had booked our reservation indicated. The town was a good 2km away.

We arrived in town at 4, tired and hungry, and unable to truly satisfy our hunger, as no restaurants in the town open until about 7 in the town on Sundays. But eventually, Restaurante Santa Esmeralda opened and served us delicious pasta. And we ate there for dinner the next two nights as well, largely because there are few restaurants in town that provide somewhat filling meals for vegetarians.

While our Lonely Planet guidebook convinced us that desirable tours in Bonito filled up quickly and you needed to book far in advance, our hostel convinced us otherwise, enabling us to book a tour for the next day to snorkel down the Rio da Prata, supposedly the river with the greatest abundance of fish, roughly 50 km from town.

And it was pretty awesome - the river propelled us most of the way through as we gazed with amazement at the fish swimming with and next to us. We just had to make sure to avoid the rocks. Sarah and I wanted to swim one especially quick part of the river over and over again.

The next day we wanted to go tubing down the Rio Formoso (Brazilians call this Boia Cross), about 8km from the Hostel. As Sarah had missed riding a bicycle and we could rent them from the hostel, we did so. I had not ridden a non-stationary bike for at least 10 years - and naturally the ride made me quite sore. As we nearly approached the Rio, we happened upon a cobblestone road. I had never ridden on cobblestone before and did not know what to do. I lost my balance and then I placed my hands on the brakes, only to tumble on to nearby dirt. To avoid hitting my head, I tried to fall on my hands. The impact was too great for one of my arms and I dislocated my shoulder. And relocated it shortly after. And I decided I wasn´t hurt enough to go tubing down the river.

It was thrilling to tube over waterfalls and float on down the river, but we wanted to travel a bit longer.

Bonito leaves you wanting more of what you came for, while still satisfying your initial desires.

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