Surprise Swim in the South Atlantic

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IIhabela, Brazil is a small jungle island. We arranged for a tour of the island which included a visit to a waterfall but the guide was only available in Spanish or Portuguese so Costa asked us to take another excursion where they could provide an English-speaking guide. We agreed. We were told we would be taking a jeep tour through the jungle, to wear lots of bug spray due to mosquitos and then we would be transferred to a beach where we would board a Schooner (a long pirate-like boat) back to the port. I will preface this excursion by saying that I was interested in this excursion last year many months ago but it said we had to swim from the Schooner to the beach and Kamie didn’t want to do that. This time, the description changed and it didn’t say anything about water being involved besides a brief stop at a beach where we would transfer from the jeep to the schooner. Sounded good to us. We woke-up super late and threw-on clothes. I threw on my swimsuit underneath my clothes and then decided I looked like an idiot but didn’t have time to change so I just took off my swimsuit top, kept on my swimsuit bottoms and my capris, put on a bra and t-shirt and we ran out the door barely making it to our excursion on time. Kamie didn’t even shower. We had to take a small tender boat from the ship out to the island of IIhabela. We got on the island and we were directed to these neat-looking jeep covered wagons where we sat in the back and could face the open air. It was like those vehicles you see on African safaris. We sat with our faces to the wind and enjoyed the ride. If the leaves and trees started to invade the vehicle, we would duck or move so none of them touched us. I sprayed OFF in my hair before we left and had slathered us both down in massive amounts of Skin So Soft oil and lotion (which keeps bugs away). Bugs love me so I was determined to not get some strange disease from a bite. On the way to the beach we made a pitstop at an area where we walked through a path to some large rocks. The guide had a small hammer. He banged on the rocks and they sounded like church bells. We all got the chance to bang on the rocks. The entire jeep tour of this gorgeous island was about an hour. We arrived at the beach…and they tell us we have almost 2 hours to swim?! WHAT?! We had to spend ten U.S. dollars and we could get 2 drinks, 2 chairs, and a table with an umbrella. Kamie was not getting in the water. He sat under the umbrella and drank the two drinks. I was unphased but pissed that I had taken off my swimsuit top. I took off my capris, my shoes and socks (I didn’t even have on sandals because they said there was a walk through the jungle), and decided I was going swimming in my bra and t-shirt and swimsuit bottoms. I had on a dark pink bra. I could have taken it off and no one would have batted an eye. I would still have been overdressed for Brazil. I did not care a bit! I ran out to that water and started jumping through the waves and had a great time. I did fine until Kamie was trying to get a picture of me and I had my back turned to a giant wave that knocked me down and filled my mouth and ears full of water. I even had sand in my teeth. I remain unphased. I jumped the waves and swam for almost the entire time, off and on. There was a guy making some homemade jewelry on the beach and some neat seashell bracelets so I bought a few bracelets from him as gifts for people we love. There was a good breeze so Kamie was fine under that umbrella plus he had a drink and he could smoke. I had the ocean. It was the best of both worlds. Unfortunately for Kamie, after the two hours were up, we had to walk to the other end of the beach, through the water and then get in the water and get ourselves up on a little dingy and be transported to the big schooner for the slow ride along the shore back to IIhabela. He was soaked from his knees down by the time we got on the schooner. It was breezy but we had already roasted a little so we tried really hard to stay out of the sun on the boat ride back to the main part of the island. We walked around the small town and checked-out some of the shops but everyone spoke Portuguese and no American dollars were accepted anywhere. It had been a long day, our clothes were soaking wet and our shoes were full of sand so we finally boarded a tender boat and headed back to the ship. We took our clothes off and laid them all over our balcony to dry in the sun. I beat all the sand out of our shoes. I took a long, warm shower. What a wonderful surprise day this had been for me. Kamie was a real trooper about it too since he’s not a beach person.

The island itself is pristine. Beautiful homes with large private gates and fences. Meticulous landscaping. Lots of private docks built next to large 2 or 3 story hillside homes. A playground for the wealthy for sure. There were lots of gorgeous private residences dotting the shoreline on our hour-long schooner ride back to the port but I was too tired to take pictures.

We ate dinner in our club restaurant tonight and Kamie ordered a pasta with clams and scallops. Three large scallops rested on top of his pasta. I snagged one and it was delicious. That was the best bite I had all night. Kamie ordered prime rib and he liked it. I had suckling pig and it was flavorful and good and it came with zucchini. We had ordered an espresso dark chocolate mousse and sugar free yogurt cake for dessert but our waiter brought us an extra dessert and told us it was the best one and we needed to try it. He described it as a Brazilian staple which they regularly make in their homes. It was called “Quindim” and it was a coconut egg custard. It was the best dessert by far. We ate every bite.

Costa had a white party tonight after their late dinner seating at 9:45pm (so around 11pm). Costa has three large bar/dance type areas that all sorta melt into one another with bars in each area. The dance floors and the bars were packed with people wearing white. Everything starts at 11:30pm or 12:15am or 1:15am and is all labeled “sexy dancing” or etc. We’ve noticed the ship is a lot louder since the Brazilians came onboard in Rio and they stay out partying until 2am or 3am. Our waiter told us they have a restaurant up on the 10^th floor that opens at 10pm every night and stays open until 6am. They sell double bacon cheeseburgers. He says they are packed around 3am. He said it is also a favorite of the staff’s and he’s spent $60 in the last week just eating the double bacon cheeseburgers there. It is a pay restaurant but a burger and fries is only $5 but he says he eats two at a time. I have never been awake late enough to check-out most of this but I did see the White Party tonight. The pictures with this blog are from the calm scene. I don’t know if photos would have been appropriate in the back venue but there were a lot of white string bikini tops and these girls make Daisy Duke look like a nun. I don’t even remember why I was walking through there but I did quietly exit and show myself to my old lady, boring cabin.

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Photos

This is a painting on one of the floors
I think it looks like the Titanic LOL

We had to take tender boats to the island today
I do not like tender boats

The road got rough
That biker broke down but finally caught up with us

Comments

[Stacy]

Thanks!
I'd have to say, the menu pics are always my fave and now I'm hungry for dinner! I'm with Kamie on trying anything once. But I'm with you about beaches and swimming!

[Eeda and Jahn]

You are making me laugh
I ordered chicken stroganoff one night because I love beef stroganoff and I was curious. I swear it looked like jellied cow brain. No thank you ma'am. No thank you!