Fun filled beach weekend for Brazil Gappers

COUNTRY: Brazil
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Wildlife Conservation & Youth Work
WRITTEN BY: Alice Clarke

We got Friday off this week because the teachers at Cidade de Criança were having a teacher meeting. No kids meant no us apparently. Having visited Lagoa da Conceição on Wednesday AND Thursday because of the AMAZINNNNNG juice/smoothie place we took the opportunity so explore the north part of the island. We took the bus to Santo Antonio de Lisboa and then a bus that was supposed to take us to Jurere; the beach Tom's host brothers said was the best and which seemed rather long according to our map and was close to where all the movie stars go on holiday (according to Felix). When we got off at the last stop on the line there was a relatively small beach, deserted except for a pregnant photoshoot. We parked ourselves on the lovely warm, white sand assuming this is where we were going despite the lack of signs or people.

I was eager to get my tan on given that a teacher at the school made fun of my ridiculously pale skin; saying I needed sunscreen. However I was persuaded to venture into The Atlantic and after Jed was so excited at his first dip in this ocean I couldn't resist. Bad move. Not only was the water cold enough to drive Belinda back to her towel but the waves were so strong that I was dunked multiple times: once getting hit by Maddy as she attempted to body surf. Felix was happy to achieve a few good distances body surfing though.

After about an hour we scaled mountains (no where here is a flat, easy walk) to find a lunch spot on another beach. The beach restaurants here (and there are a lot) have their tables on the sand. In Flori they eat a lot of seafood which was bad for Holly seeing as she doesn't really like anything but fish - she tried a battered prawn (one of Felix and my favouriter things now) and didn't seem to repulsed - but she settled for salad (I shouldn't say 'settled' because it is a scarce item in our homes and she actually genuinely wanted just a salad). The food here is a whole other can of worms that I can't open completely in this post but I will say that in the spirit of trying new things, Felix ate a fish eye that I not so delicately removed from the fish head remaining on our platter (#beargrylls).

Today (Sunday) Felix, Maddy, Tom and I along with Grazi and her daughter and boyfriend and a Mexican girl called Maythe went on a bike tour of the south of the island. We saw whales at Morro das Pedras and also had sugar cane juice (amazing!!!), dipped our feet in at Lagoa do Peri - risky because of the alligators that inhabit the water, walked up the island at Armação where we saw a baby quero quero and took some great photos. We had lunch at Bar do Arante - a relatively touristy buffet restaurant where diners write a message and stick it on the wall (Tom confessed his love for Demi Lovato on his). The food was amazing and we all got to share the experience because Jed, Holly and Belinda made it just in time to see us before we set off again (they had spent most of the day waiting for buses but our public transport situation is a story for another day). On our way back to the bike place we stopped at Campeche beach - only a few kilometres away from where Tom lives. Although the late afternoon is not a time when it is in full glory Tom thinks it's the best beach and we plan to go there again some time soon. After the bike tour we were all glad to be heading home as we are all bloody exhausted.

I know it seems like we have spent none of our time working and that is partially true because volunteering at Cidade de Criança isn't really like work. We play with the kids most of the time - football (soccer), tennis, basketball, pingpong, rugby, skipping, drawing, joining in playing xbox and watching movies (in Portuguese so we understand nothing). Each week we have a goal that we have to fulfil this week it was planning all of our English lessons that will run twice a week for 9 weeks. We couldn't finish our first week's goal of painting the sports courts because it was raining for most of the week but we will no doubt begin that project along with the veggie garden and tyre playground soon.

Felix, Maddy, Belinda and I head to Curitiba tomorrow for what we've been told will be the highlight of the trip (however if there are no sloths I'm sure I will be disappointed no matter what). Jed, Holly and Tom will be holding down the fort in Flori and beginning with English lessons. We are going to have to write a lot of blog posts to update you all on the exciting weekend activities we have lined up and our misadventures with food and public transport AND of course our work part of the placement, but I'm sure we will manage it.

Thanks,
Alice