Nicole and Arthur just gave me some of their pictures from Carnaval and Ilha Grande, respectively, so I've created new albums for them and updated the respective posts!
There have also been a couple updates to the "People, Places, Things" and "Graffiti" albums.
The parents arrive in 3.5 days, to visit for 2 weeks! Woo!
quarta-feira, 28 de março de 2007
domingo, 25 de março de 2007
Ilha Grande
At Mom's (not-so) subtle request:
Last weekend Galen, Nicole, Arthur, Arthur's 2 good friends Kathy and Christina and I traveled to Ilha Grande - an island about 2 hours south of Rio - for the weekend.
I had a meeting that didn't end until a bit after 1:00 on Friday so Galen (graciously) waited for me and we met up at the bus station. Naturally, since apparently traveling can never be easy in this country (at least for me), we got there about 35.581081385 seconds after the 2:00 bus left, so had to amuse ourselves in the bus station for an hour and then catch the 3:00.
There are two towns where one can catch a ferry to Ilha Grande - Mangaratiba and Angra. Mangaratiba is about 30 minutes closer by bus to Rio, but the guy at the bus station told us that there were more boats leaving from Angra, and since we had missed the 3:00 Mangartiba ferry, we should just go to Angra and get a water-taxi to the island (otherwise we'd have to wait in Mangaratiba for the next ferry... at 10:00pm). We got on our bus and headed down to Angra, getting there about 5:45. When we were about half an hour out of Angra, it started POURING rain. Kind of a bummer since we were headed to an island renowned for its beaches, but we were both intrigued by the idea of taking a boat to the island in the rain - something very exotic and tropical about it!
Well, we got to Angra and had THOSE dreams immediately dashed - apparently since it was starting to get dark and (more importantly) it was pouring rain, none of the taxis would be running any more that night. We made friends at the little tourism-info-desk in the bus station and asked them about 5 different times in 5 different ways if there was ANY way we could get to the island from Angra.... but the answer was always "no." (even though I think they liked us).
If we had been 35.581081385 seconds earlier to the bus station in Rio, we would have been in Angra an hour earlier, and thus beat both the rain & the dusk... and been on the island by around 6. Instead...
Back on the bus, to Mangaratiba. The bus (which was on it's way back to Rio) was considerate enough to drop us off on the edge of the highway in the middle of nowhere by a road which headed to Mangaratiba, with explicit instructions to "Eh, go over there and wait for another bus." "Which bus?" "It'll say 'Mangaratiba.'" Right. Stood in the downpour at a "bus stop" watching small-town-Brazil life crawl by and waited for our mystery bus. When it hadn't materialized in about a half-hour, we managed to flag a kombi (kind of an unofficial bus - usually of the Volkswagen breed) driven by a toothless-yet-chatty gentleman who finally delivered us to Mangaratiba , where we sat and amused ourselves (It's a damn good thing that 2 guys in their 20's can still be fully entertained by hangman tournaments on restaurant paper table-cloths) until the 10:00 ferry.
Finally completed the 3.5 hour trip after about 9.5 hours. But it was worth it!
Ilha Grande has a pretty interesting history. To be honest, I'm too lazy to look up specifics, but (based mostly on hearsay) throughout history it's been home to two notorious prisons (at different times) as well as a popular stopover for smugglers and pirates. It's remained mostly undeveloped (due to the prisons), with only a few small towns, and almost no cars on the island. The most recent prison was only closed (relatively) recently, and since opening up to tourism it's apparently been somewhat of an experiment in sustainable tourism. There is (again, based on hearsay) no foreign investment in tourism on the island, so all the hostels and pousadas (guest-houses) and other tourist-businesses are owned and run by locals. Most of the island (I believe it's the 3rd largest island in Brazil) is completely covered in Atlantic rain forest. Everywhere you look is green, the waters are crystal clear and perfectly blue, and it looks like the kind of place where at any moment you'll hear "Yo-ho, yo-ho" approaching from the distance. Basically, it's unbelievably beautiful... the kind of place that's hard to believe still exists today.
Despite the rainy weather, we decided to spend Saturday hiking. Just wandering through the forest was amazing, and the off-and-on rain made it just feel that much more exotic. We hiked to a natural pool formed at the base of a small waterfall in a freshwater stream. Nearby to this stream were the ruins of a couple-hundred-year-old aqueduct that used to be used to bring water to the city (and which, being guys, Galen and I were obligated to climb on top of). We then continued on to a more serious waterfall further in the forest. I still have no idea how you're supposed to get to this waterfall, because we definitely took the most convoluted route possible (including using vines to repel down short rock-faces).
[A cool side-note: almost all of the paths used to hike around the island today are the same paths that were used by the natives who lived on the island before the time of colonization]
Up above the waterfall, Galen discovered a fantastic natural water-slide, courtesy of smooth water-worn rock, slippery moss (as Nicole and Kathy demonstrated for us) and a well-placed pool. No, the slide did not end by going over the waterfall (fortunately or unfortunately)!
From there we hiked to a beach where we were able to catch a water-taxi back to Angra dos Reis (the main "town" on the island - where we were staying) and finish the day with a huge buffet dinner.
Sunday, Arthur, Christina and I decided to take a boat trip to a couple of the sites around the island. For R$15 (about US$7) we were taken around to a lagoon and 4 beaches around the island from 10:30 to 4:30... and they even served us some fruit for a snack! I don't remember the names of all the beaches, but the lagoon (Lagoa Azul) was incredible. Just floating in the crystal water and staring at the island, it felt like another world - or at least another century. The funniest part of the trip, however, was when another boat arrived in Lagoa Azul and, in the process of trying to drop anchor and park, collided with our boat. Nothing too terrible (just a little rip in the tarp over the deck), but the skipper's look was classic - he just stood and watched helplessly as the other boat loomed near, with an expression of "Are you serious?". The entire post-collision discussion between crews was communicated in shrugs.
For lunch, the boat dropped us off at a beach where Arthur, Christina and I shared some great fish (well, actually, Christina doesn't like fish... we had been talking about having chicken and then Arthur and I changed our minds in favor of fish - but unwittingly made that decision in Portuguese and forgot to confirm with Christina in a language she speaks! Sorry Christina!). And then on to a couple other beaches! The day itself was not incredibly eventful, but I don't think I've said "Wow, look at this!" so many times in a 6-hour period in my life.
We got back to Angra dos Reis at around 4:30, killed an hour with a leisurely tigela de acai, and hopped on the ferry back to Mangaratiba and (delightfully uneventfully) back to Rio.
I already want to go back! Why does this country have to be so big and have so many places I want to visit?
On an entirely different note: I had an hour-long in-depth conversation about movies, literature and music last night... all in Portuguese! Whoooaaaaa!
Update: Arthur's awesome and gave me all his pictures from Ilha Grande, so I made another album with a handful of them -
Thanks Arthur!
Last weekend Galen, Nicole, Arthur, Arthur's 2 good friends Kathy and Christina and I traveled to Ilha Grande - an island about 2 hours south of Rio - for the weekend.
I had a meeting that didn't end until a bit after 1:00 on Friday so Galen (graciously) waited for me and we met up at the bus station. Naturally, since apparently traveling can never be easy in this country (at least for me), we got there about 35.581081385 seconds after the 2:00 bus left, so had to amuse ourselves in the bus station for an hour and then catch the 3:00.
There are two towns where one can catch a ferry to Ilha Grande - Mangaratiba and Angra. Mangaratiba is about 30 minutes closer by bus to Rio, but the guy at the bus station told us that there were more boats leaving from Angra, and since we had missed the 3:00 Mangartiba ferry, we should just go to Angra and get a water-taxi to the island (otherwise we'd have to wait in Mangaratiba for the next ferry... at 10:00pm). We got on our bus and headed down to Angra, getting there about 5:45. When we were about half an hour out of Angra, it started POURING rain. Kind of a bummer since we were headed to an island renowned for its beaches, but we were both intrigued by the idea of taking a boat to the island in the rain - something very exotic and tropical about it!
Well, we got to Angra and had THOSE dreams immediately dashed - apparently since it was starting to get dark and (more importantly) it was pouring rain, none of the taxis would be running any more that night. We made friends at the little tourism-info-desk in the bus station and asked them about 5 different times in 5 different ways if there was ANY way we could get to the island from Angra.... but the answer was always "no." (even though I think they liked us).
If we had been 35.581081385 seconds earlier to the bus station in Rio, we would have been in Angra an hour earlier, and thus beat both the rain & the dusk... and been on the island by around 6. Instead...
Back on the bus, to Mangaratiba. The bus (which was on it's way back to Rio) was considerate enough to drop us off on the edge of the highway in the middle of nowhere by a road which headed to Mangaratiba, with explicit instructions to "Eh, go over there and wait for another bus." "Which bus?" "It'll say 'Mangaratiba.'" Right. Stood in the downpour at a "bus stop" watching small-town-Brazil life crawl by and waited for our mystery bus. When it hadn't materialized in about a half-hour, we managed to flag a kombi (kind of an unofficial bus - usually of the Volkswagen breed) driven by a toothless-yet-chatty gentleman who finally delivered us to Mangaratiba , where we sat and amused ourselves (It's a damn good thing that 2 guys in their 20's can still be fully entertained by hangman tournaments on restaurant paper table-cloths) until the 10:00 ferry.
Finally completed the 3.5 hour trip after about 9.5 hours. But it was worth it!
Ilha Grande has a pretty interesting history. To be honest, I'm too lazy to look up specifics, but (based mostly on hearsay) throughout history it's been home to two notorious prisons (at different times) as well as a popular stopover for smugglers and pirates. It's remained mostly undeveloped (due to the prisons), with only a few small towns, and almost no cars on the island. The most recent prison was only closed (relatively) recently, and since opening up to tourism it's apparently been somewhat of an experiment in sustainable tourism. There is (again, based on hearsay) no foreign investment in tourism on the island, so all the hostels and pousadas (guest-houses) and other tourist-businesses are owned and run by locals. Most of the island (I believe it's the 3rd largest island in Brazil) is completely covered in Atlantic rain forest. Everywhere you look is green, the waters are crystal clear and perfectly blue, and it looks like the kind of place where at any moment you'll hear "Yo-ho, yo-ho" approaching from the distance. Basically, it's unbelievably beautiful... the kind of place that's hard to believe still exists today.
Despite the rainy weather, we decided to spend Saturday hiking. Just wandering through the forest was amazing, and the off-and-on rain made it just feel that much more exotic. We hiked to a natural pool formed at the base of a small waterfall in a freshwater stream. Nearby to this stream were the ruins of a couple-hundred-year-old aqueduct that used to be used to bring water to the city (and which, being guys, Galen and I were obligated to climb on top of). We then continued on to a more serious waterfall further in the forest. I still have no idea how you're supposed to get to this waterfall, because we definitely took the most convoluted route possible (including using vines to repel down short rock-faces).
[A cool side-note: almost all of the paths used to hike around the island today are the same paths that were used by the natives who lived on the island before the time of colonization]
Up above the waterfall, Galen discovered a fantastic natural water-slide, courtesy of smooth water-worn rock, slippery moss (as Nicole and Kathy demonstrated for us) and a well-placed pool. No, the slide did not end by going over the waterfall (fortunately or unfortunately)!
From there we hiked to a beach where we were able to catch a water-taxi back to Angra dos Reis (the main "town" on the island - where we were staying) and finish the day with a huge buffet dinner.
Sunday, Arthur, Christina and I decided to take a boat trip to a couple of the sites around the island. For R$15 (about US$7) we were taken around to a lagoon and 4 beaches around the island from 10:30 to 4:30... and they even served us some fruit for a snack! I don't remember the names of all the beaches, but the lagoon (Lagoa Azul) was incredible. Just floating in the crystal water and staring at the island, it felt like another world - or at least another century. The funniest part of the trip, however, was when another boat arrived in Lagoa Azul and, in the process of trying to drop anchor and park, collided with our boat. Nothing too terrible (just a little rip in the tarp over the deck), but the skipper's look was classic - he just stood and watched helplessly as the other boat loomed near, with an expression of "Are you serious?". The entire post-collision discussion between crews was communicated in shrugs.
For lunch, the boat dropped us off at a beach where Arthur, Christina and I shared some great fish (well, actually, Christina doesn't like fish... we had been talking about having chicken and then Arthur and I changed our minds in favor of fish - but unwittingly made that decision in Portuguese and forgot to confirm with Christina in a language she speaks! Sorry Christina!). And then on to a couple other beaches! The day itself was not incredibly eventful, but I don't think I've said "Wow, look at this!" so many times in a 6-hour period in my life.
We got back to Angra dos Reis at around 4:30, killed an hour with a leisurely tigela de acai, and hopped on the ferry back to Mangaratiba and (delightfully uneventfully) back to Rio.
I already want to go back! Why does this country have to be so big and have so many places I want to visit?
 |
| Ilha Grande |
On an entirely different note: I had an hour-long in-depth conversation about movies, literature and music last night... all in Portuguese! Whoooaaaaa!
Update: Arthur's awesome and gave me all his pictures from Ilha Grande, so I made another album with a handful of them -
 |
| Ilha Grande from Arthur |
Thanks Arthur!
segunda-feira, 12 de março de 2007
Parque Lage
Parque Lage is a park I live next to which used to be some old rich guy's estate until he died, some other stuff happened [...] and now it's a city park which basically consists of a chunk of walled-in forest with paths running through it.
The old estate-house now hosts a school which holds art classes, and in the courtyard is a cafe (which holds the occasional Friday-night jazz concert, like the one I went to last week).
The park is incredibly beautiful and peaceful, and has quickly become one of my favorite haunts - relaxing on a bench reading, sitting in the cafe doing some homework/research or just wandering around the paths enjoying the scenery and feeling outside of the city.
When I was in the park the other day, I brought my camera with me to take a few pictures. If I take more pictures in the park in the future, I'll upload them to this same album:
The old estate-house now hosts a school which holds art classes, and in the courtyard is a cafe (which holds the occasional Friday-night jazz concert, like the one I went to last week).
The park is incredibly beautiful and peaceful, and has quickly become one of my favorite haunts - relaxing on a bench reading, sitting in the cafe doing some homework/research or just wandering around the paths enjoying the scenery and feeling outside of the city.
When I was in the park the other day, I brought my camera with me to take a few pictures. If I take more pictures in the park in the future, I'll upload them to this same album:
 |
| Parque Lage |
domingo, 11 de março de 2007
My Night With The "Haves"
So I had an interesting cultural experience last night... which was actually the opposite of the kind of cultural experiences I expected to be reporting on as "interesting."
I was hanging out at my local "pé sujo" (literally "dirty foot" - used to refer to the little bars located on pretty much every block where every type of person can be found) and, after having a 20-or-so minute "conversation" with some very drunk and confused Brazilian man who decided we were best friends, I determined that I needed some different society. I made friends with a group of 4 (closer to my age, and sober enough to speak Portuguese that I could understand) Brazilians sitting at a nearby table.
I was enjoying just sitting and chatting - for the practice, if nothing else - but they decided that we should all go to some club in Ipanema. Since I had decided my theme for the evening was to "go where the night takes me" (it had seemed like a safe theme at the moment seeing how I had no plans and no ideas of what to do for the night), I accepted their invitation to come along. It quickly became evident that I was keeping company with some of Rio's high society when, upon arriving at the chic club, I was informed that we would not be waiting in the gigantic line outside (pshaw, how plebian), because my new friends knew pretty much everyone there.
After waiting in the line-to-not-wait-in-line (this aspect of clubs always amuses me), which was more of just a mass of people standing around by the entrance waiting for their "friends" to get them in, we were brought inside and given our wristbands which would grant us access "upstairs." I had forgotten to grab my ID when I had gone out, and technically you need some form of ID to get in anywhere, so (at my companions' direction) I got to act the ignorant American tourist for a little bit and pretend I didn't know anything about anything. Surprisingly, it was actually difficult to not slip into Portuguese for my few minutes of playing dumb!
Anyway, we got in and immediately went upstairs (of course we wouldn't want to be mixing with downstairs people, now would we?), which was pretty much the same as downstairs except smaller and with a couple couches. My companions had some friends who had gotten table service, so we wound up hanging out around their table for the night. Apparently the gentlemen who had gotten the table service had decided that the best use for the couches around their table were as platforms to stand on while drinking.... what better way to ensure everyone can see you and your bottles of champagne and expensive liquor and foreign-bought Abercrombie & Fitch shirts?
High society is funny.
I danced, hung out, tried not to gag at the American-level drink prices and ate some sushi (because naturally there was a sushi bar upstairs); but mostly enjoyed just watching Rio's young, fabulous and sickeningly wealthy playing their game.
I think I prefer the pé sujo.
I was hanging out at my local "pé sujo" (literally "dirty foot" - used to refer to the little bars located on pretty much every block where every type of person can be found) and, after having a 20-or-so minute "conversation" with some very drunk and confused Brazilian man who decided we were best friends, I determined that I needed some different society. I made friends with a group of 4 (closer to my age, and sober enough to speak Portuguese that I could understand) Brazilians sitting at a nearby table.
I was enjoying just sitting and chatting - for the practice, if nothing else - but they decided that we should all go to some club in Ipanema. Since I had decided my theme for the evening was to "go where the night takes me" (it had seemed like a safe theme at the moment seeing how I had no plans and no ideas of what to do for the night), I accepted their invitation to come along. It quickly became evident that I was keeping company with some of Rio's high society when, upon arriving at the chic club, I was informed that we would not be waiting in the gigantic line outside (pshaw, how plebian), because my new friends knew pretty much everyone there.
After waiting in the line-to-not-wait-in-line (this aspect of clubs always amuses me), which was more of just a mass of people standing around by the entrance waiting for their "friends" to get them in, we were brought inside and given our wristbands which would grant us access "upstairs." I had forgotten to grab my ID when I had gone out, and technically you need some form of ID to get in anywhere, so (at my companions' direction) I got to act the ignorant American tourist for a little bit and pretend I didn't know anything about anything. Surprisingly, it was actually difficult to not slip into Portuguese for my few minutes of playing dumb!
Anyway, we got in and immediately went upstairs (of course we wouldn't want to be mixing with downstairs people, now would we?), which was pretty much the same as downstairs except smaller and with a couple couches. My companions had some friends who had gotten table service, so we wound up hanging out around their table for the night. Apparently the gentlemen who had gotten the table service had decided that the best use for the couches around their table were as platforms to stand on while drinking.... what better way to ensure everyone can see you and your bottles of champagne and expensive liquor and foreign-bought Abercrombie & Fitch shirts?
High society is funny.
I danced, hung out, tried not to gag at the American-level drink prices and ate some sushi (because naturally there was a sushi bar upstairs); but mostly enjoyed just watching Rio's young, fabulous and sickeningly wealthy playing their game.
I think I prefer the pé sujo.
sábado, 10 de março de 2007
Pirate music on the bus and Brazilian Louis Armstrong
Connor and his apartment-mates were lovely enough to host a little party Thursday night. The party was all well and good and the company sublime, but the real highlight of the evening was the bus-ride there.
That's because when I stepped on to the bus, I was greeted with PIRATE MUSIC! This gentleman was posted up in the first row on the bus, playing his accordion with a grin of absolute self-satisfaction on his face. It took all of my self-control not to burst out laughing immediately, but I kept it to a chuckle and sat in the seat behind me. The entire bus-ride, he kept turning around to look at me with an expression of "look at this! Isn't this great! I'm playing the accordion... on a BUS! HAH! I'm brilliant! HAH!" And every time we'd pull up next to a car at a stoplight with its windows down, he'd play with a new vigor and volume and try his damndest to make them love his accordion, too.
I say: well done, sir. Thank you for making my busing experience that much more ridiculous!
Last night I went to the Parque Lage (a park I live next to that used to be some rich guy's estate and is now basically just some walled-in forest with an estate-house in the middle of it that has a cafe in it - really an amazingly beautiful place to seek respite from the city) to see a jazz show at the cafe. It was a really informal little deal... just a small handful of older Brazilians playing old New Orleans-style jazz. It was worth it just to see/hear old Brazilian men sing (or try, at least) in a Louis Armstrong voice... complete with thick Brazilian accents. That combined with the wonderful summer night weather and the beautiful surroundings really made it a lovely (and amusing) night!
That's because when I stepped on to the bus, I was greeted with PIRATE MUSIC! This gentleman was posted up in the first row on the bus, playing his accordion with a grin of absolute self-satisfaction on his face. It took all of my self-control not to burst out laughing immediately, but I kept it to a chuckle and sat in the seat behind me. The entire bus-ride, he kept turning around to look at me with an expression of "look at this! Isn't this great! I'm playing the accordion... on a BUS! HAH! I'm brilliant! HAH!" And every time we'd pull up next to a car at a stoplight with its windows down, he'd play with a new vigor and volume and try his damndest to make them love his accordion, too.
I say: well done, sir. Thank you for making my busing experience that much more ridiculous!
Last night I went to the Parque Lage (a park I live next to that used to be some rich guy's estate and is now basically just some walled-in forest with an estate-house in the middle of it that has a cafe in it - really an amazingly beautiful place to seek respite from the city) to see a jazz show at the cafe. It was a really informal little deal... just a small handful of older Brazilians playing old New Orleans-style jazz. It was worth it just to see/hear old Brazilian men sing (or try, at least) in a Louis Armstrong voice... complete with thick Brazilian accents. That combined with the wonderful summer night weather and the beautiful surroundings really made it a lovely (and amusing) night!
terça-feira, 6 de março de 2007
Carnaval
Aaaaaalrighty, continuing on with the few-week delay in posting... here's Carnaval!
I'll let the pictures (and captions) do most of the talking, but all in all, I have to admit I was actually a bit underwhelmed. I do wish I could do it again knowing what I know now, having been through it, because I just kinda didn't know how it all worked beforehand or what to expect. I was expecting more of a Santa-Barbara-on-Halloween, San-Francisco-on-St.-Patrick's-Day, Las-Vegas-anytime type unavoidable street-party, but it turned out you really had to go hunting for the party. Then again, the fact that I live in a quieter neighborhood certainly had an effect on this... what I saw of Ipanema was much more of what I expected! (see pictures)
I'll let the pictures (and captions) do most of the talking, but all in all, I have to admit I was actually a bit underwhelmed. I do wish I could do it again knowing what I know now, having been through it, because I just kinda didn't know how it all worked beforehand or what to expect. I was expecting more of a Santa-Barbara-on-Halloween, San-Francisco-on-St.-Patrick's-Day, Las-Vegas-anytime type unavoidable street-party, but it turned out you really had to go hunting for the party. Then again, the fact that I live in a quieter neighborhood certainly had an effect on this... what I saw of Ipanema was much more of what I expected! (see pictures)
Sadly, a few minutes after the last picture (of Galen and Nicole) was taken, I had another first experience: getting robbed.
Galen, Nicole and I were in an area of Rio called Lapa which used to be (and still kind of is) a fairly shady area, but has in the past 10-or-so years become gentrified and kind of club/party-central for Rio. It’s basically just a big street party, with the option of going to clubs - however during Carnaval, the city had put on a series of big free outdoor concert there as well (which we thoroughly enjoyed).
After having been on our feet watching the concert for a while; Nicole, Galen and I were sitting on a curb resting and taking pictures.
I was (stupidly) holding Galen’s camera out to take a picture of us (also stupidly without having the lanyard around my wrist), and a kid came up, grabbed it out of my hand and ran.
We took off after him, and it got handed off a couple other times to other kids (which was supposed to lose us), but I saw that the kid who actually wound up with it had stuck it in his back pocket and was trying to casually disappear into the crowd at the concert.
I should have grabbed him in a headlock, since I knew Galen was coming up behind me, but for some stupid reason I instead just tried to grab it out of his pocket by the lanyard, which was hanging out.
Naturally I missed, so he started running and passed it off to another kid, whose tail I was hot on until I slipped (note: sandals are bad footwear for chasing thieves) and slammed my hip into something (I don't remember what, I just know I wound up with some nice bruises and scrapes on my right side). I kept after him, but while sprinting across the street, I almost got hit by a motorcycle (well, he slammed on his brakes and I just kind of bounced off and kept running), which distracted me long enough to lose him in a crowd.
It sucked.
Naturally, Matt’s awesome enough to give me a camera with the explicit instructions of letting it get stolen if it happens, and I have to go and get someone else’s stolen.
I’m sorry, Galen.
Despite it all, however, I had a great time during Carnaval! It’s all just part of the adventure…
Update:
Nicole was sweet enough to give me her pictrues from Carnaval, so I put the few me-relevant ones (sing it! "Yooooouuuu're sooooo vaaaaaaiiiin") in a new album:
 |
| Carnaval from Nicole's point of view |
sábado, 3 de março de 2007
Florianopolis Trip
Once again, this took me an inordinately long time to get up... but here we go!
A few friends (Connor, Moriah, Maria, Amanda, Litonya) and I traveled to the island of Santa Catarina (commonly referred to by the name of its largest city - Florianopolis) for a few days.
We (Connor, Moriah, Amanda, Litonya and I - Maria had wisely planned ahead and bought a plane ticket a while before) initially planned on renting a car and making the drive there ourselves, as we figured it would allow us much more freedom, lend to more adventures, be less expensive than bus-ing and definitely take less time than the 18 hours that the bus would. When we went to pick up the car the morning we planned on leaving, we all (except Litonya) found ourselves with pretty cold feet. We realized:
And then we got on the bus for 18 hours.
Anyway, the rest of the trip was pretty fantastic. We rented a car when we got to the island, so we got to do a good amount of exploring. We slept for pretty cheap ($8US one night) and I saw/experienced some of the most beautiful sights/things in my life.
Most of the pictures in the accompanying album are from the day we spent on the south of the island. The several hours we were there were the highlight of the trip to me, and will stick with me for a long long time.
We went to a pretty abandoned beach at the very south of the island (the south is the least inhabited/touristy - mostly just little fishing villages) - actually the most southern beach you can reach by car. From there we hiked up a pretty well-used path which went up and over a hill and dropped us on a completely uninhabited (and incredibly beautiful) beach (see pictures of me standing on a big rock). The only people we saw actually inhabiting this entire area were a family who lived in a little house overlooking the beach with an attached bar. We chatted them with a bit and found that they live there year-round. An existence I don't think I would mind too much.
Anyway, I think the pictures do most of the talking!
A few friends (Connor, Moriah, Maria, Amanda, Litonya) and I traveled to the island of Santa Catarina (commonly referred to by the name of its largest city - Florianopolis) for a few days.
We (Connor, Moriah, Amanda, Litonya and I - Maria had wisely planned ahead and bought a plane ticket a while before) initially planned on renting a car and making the drive there ourselves, as we figured it would allow us much more freedom, lend to more adventures, be less expensive than bus-ing and definitely take less time than the 18 hours that the bus would. When we went to pick up the car the morning we planned on leaving, we all (except Litonya) found ourselves with pretty cold feet. We realized:
- It would wind up being significantly more expensive than the bus, even without counting gas
- It would probably take about the same amount of time as the bus... especially when factoring in Getting-Lost time
- At least 1 (ideally 2) people in addition to the driver would have to be awake the entire time to navigate
- The map was fantastically complicated-looking
- We'd have to drive the length of a very dangerous highway in Rio
And then we got on the bus for 18 hours.
Anyway, the rest of the trip was pretty fantastic. We rented a car when we got to the island, so we got to do a good amount of exploring. We slept for pretty cheap ($8US one night) and I saw/experienced some of the most beautiful sights/things in my life.
Most of the pictures in the accompanying album are from the day we spent on the south of the island. The several hours we were there were the highlight of the trip to me, and will stick with me for a long long time.
We went to a pretty abandoned beach at the very south of the island (the south is the least inhabited/touristy - mostly just little fishing villages) - actually the most southern beach you can reach by car. From there we hiked up a pretty well-used path which went up and over a hill and dropped us on a completely uninhabited (and incredibly beautiful) beach (see pictures of me standing on a big rock). The only people we saw actually inhabiting this entire area were a family who lived in a little house overlooking the beach with an attached bar. We chatted them with a bit and found that they live there year-round. An existence I don't think I would mind too much.
Anyway, I think the pictures do most of the talking!
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