Arrival in Brotas

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Please ignore the above location. Sao Paulo is incorrect and we couldn't find precise location. Only way to 'publish' blog is with a location saved. Sorry...........................

The school opened early and we had to leave by 6.00 am. As mentioned previously, it is no fun stuffing everything bak into its stuff sack, finding your clothes in the dark and taking your tent down in the dark. The one good thing was that the 24-hour garage also had 24-hour coffee and we were able to buy hot drinks before leaving.

Amber is ill. We were supposed to leave at 6.00 am. However, the air brakes weren't working and this locks the brakes so the truck wouldn't move. No spare parts but brute force and ignorance won the day and with the brakes OK again, we left around 7.00 am.

Back on the road with breakfast and lunch on the way, several more garage stops for toilets and drinks and our arrival at a camp site with a very nice pool in a little town called Brotas around 6.00 pm.

Prior to arrival at the camp site, we stopped on a hill by one of the town supermarkets.

(We stopped on a hill facing downwards as Amber is still poorly and now her starter motor
has given up which means that until Dave and Ivan can buy a suitable replacement
part - quite difficult apparently for a 25-year old truck - all the boys on the
group join together either at the front or back of the truck to give her a push
start until she picks up enough speed for the engine to kick in!!)

Our cooking group (the two of us and two others - Branca and Elisa) were commissioned with making breakfast the following morning and at Paraty the morning after. The budget was very low and we only had 30 reals per breakfast per day (2.50 reals per GBP). We had been commissioned with using the porridge oats up from a prior shopping trip so we only needed to buy fruit, yoghurt, milk and some other cereal. We spent over half one day's budget on a decent muesli as we were tired of the same old cornflakes! Ed had wanted to make pancakes but the other two group members put up more than a certain amount of resistance so we agreed not to bother.

We were very happy to be able to upgrade at the camp site to a nice double room
with air-conditioning, toilet and shower and a fridge. On a hot day, the warm
treated water from the tank on the bus tastes a million times better when it is
icy cold! We also had a bottle of wine to put in it....

The cooking group prepared a good meal of tortillas with chicken and vegetables and we cracked open our wine in the knowledge that we would sleep well in a comfy bed.

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Photos

Overnight camping......
........alongside the school's football field

Brotas
Cooking at the camp ground