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I arrive in
Florinopolis (or Floripa as the locals call it) at 8:30 am. At least this bus ride was much better than my bus ride up to Cusco (see my Cusco Entry). That was the ride from hell.
It's very hot in Floripa, so, I decide to take a taxi to my hostel,
Casa Brasil. The hostel is a small, family run hostel. The staff are really nice people. They tell me that two of the beaches are only half an hours walk or a 10 minute bus ride from the hostel.
I decide to walk to the first beach (Mole) and don't put on sunscreen as I'm only planning to go for about 1 hour. It's a very nice sunny, hot day and the ocean breeze keeps the temperature down a bit. Mole is a great beach. You can get beer and food right on the beach. You can also rent surfboards and loungers. The sand is white and very fine. To top it off, the water is warm. This is paradise!
After walking on Mole for about 30 minutes, I start heading back to the hostel but I reach a fork in the road. I need to decide if I head back to
the hostel or to the other beach, Joaquina. I decide to go to Joaquina as I'm about half way back to the hostel and it should only take about 15 minutes to walk to Joaquina. It turns out that it takes another 30 minutes to walk to Joaquina. Shit! Oh well, it's not like I have anything better to do. At Joaqina, there are more people surfing and you can get food and beer on the beach as well. It seems that part of the beach culture is to never get up from you lounger even though it's a public beach. What a concept! Wonder if that would ever work in Vancouver?
I spend about 20 minutes walking on the beach before I head back to the hostel. It takes me 45 minutes to walk back to the hostel. Half an hour my ass. I should have expected that the time estimate would be way off. Seems no one can give a good approximation in South America...wait, I don't think people can do that back home either. After spending about 4 hours in the sun, I discovered that I'm a little sun burnt. Well, this really sucks! I need
to spend the next day indoors so that I can recover a bit. I'm not upset about it as I'm spending two weeks in Floripa.
The night life in Floripa has a reputation of being one of the best in Brazil. About 15 of us from the hostel head out to a club called Latitude 69 at 11:30 pm and we end up staying there until it closes at 4:00 in the morning. It was a good night, but we can't seem to flag down any taxis to take us back to the hostel. I'm not looking forward to the walk back as it's about 30 minutes. Shit! At least it's not raining. I end up walking with an English guy named Rollo. It turns out that Rollo was taking a nap at our hostel and was still sleeping when everyone left for the club. He only got to the club at 2 am. That's dedication to partying. I raise my glass to you Rollo.
Rollo and I are lucky enough to catch a taxi after walking for 10 minutes. As our taxi driver is speeding along the only road back to the hostel, we see our friends
who were ahead of us strolling along the side of the road. Unfortunately, we are going too fast to stop and pick them up, so, we don't. In the end, Rollo and I are the first ones back to the hostel. All the other people weren't able to catch a taxi back and it took some of them one hour to walk back. Yes, I said one hour. Drunk people walking...they are slower than a tortoise.
I spend the rest of my time in Floripa hanging out with friends, drinking, eating (mmmmm
açai), clubbing, surfing at Bara de Lagoa and Joaquina, seeing the nude beach next to Mole, and going white water rafting--not all in that order.
Surfing
The surfing at Bara de Lagoa is great for beginners and intermediate level surfers. There are different breaks along the beach. It's a very long beach. Joaquina on the other hand is better for intermediate to expert level surfers. Although I tried to surf at Joaquina, I wouldn't recommend it at all for beginners. And let's just say that I came very close to meeting my maker. I didn't try surfing at Mole as it is only for expert level
surfers.
Note to self: become a strong swimmer.
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