Liz and I arrived in Florianopolis, Brazil after a slightly painful overnight bus ride. We had gotten so accustomed to the luxury buses of Argentina, that after what we paid, we never expected to be back at Bolivian style buses. It was hot then cold, the seats barely reclined, and we both had to sit next to strangers. Liz had some old lady yell at her at 3 am to tell her she was in the wrong seat. I had a young brasilero sitting next to me who made himself quite comfortable sleeping on my shoulder, but he shared his blanket, so I couldn't really complain.
We took a short cab ride to our hostel that is actually located in Lagoa de Conceição. We just happened to luck out by staying at the best hostel in the world, Tucanos Backpackers. It is an old house that Caio and Lilia, a brother and sister team, converted just a month ago to a beautiful homey hostel. This is my recommendation for all to stay here next time they are in Brazil.
We spent our first day walking around checking out the town, napping in hammocks, and making our dinner in the kitchen. There is only 7 total travelers staying here. We all made fast friends as we drank caipirinas and vodka with guarana juice before going out. One of the guys who works here at night was teaching us to dance Forro, a traditional dance of Brasil. We all piled into car and went to the local Forro party. It was live music and watching the brasileros dance was amazing. We all danced too, but certainly not as well! We had a blast.
Next day we woke up to a wonderful breakfast, a huge spread of fresh fruits and everything else you could want. We put on our new bikinis (very Brazilian - tiny in the hiney) and headed to the best beach in the area Praia de Mole. We laid out and surfed in the enormous waves. It was loads of fun. We tried a traditional snack at the beach too of frozen blended Açai fruit with bananas... Amazing!
We met up with our American friends we had made on the bus ride over, Alex and Jeff, and made plans with them and the Aussie girls, Nicki and Mandy, that stay at the hostel to go to a Churrascuria for dinner. We all met up at our hostel for some caipirinas and vodka guaranas and a few rounds of ping pong before heading out. We had a massive meat dinner that was amazing. Went out for drinks again at a local bar and had tons of fun. The boys had so much fun with us we even convinced them to check out of their ritzy hotel and stay at our hostel. It's just too much fun here!
We decided to stay off the beach the next day to let our burned skin rest. Instead we went into town to check out the markets.
The following day Liz and I went on a walk with Nicki and Mandy along the Costa de Lagoa. After about a 2 hour walk we ended up at the end of the road which was tons of seafood restaurants specializing in the local fair. We had loads of prawns and fish. It was all delicious. We took the boat ferry back and went straight to town for our dessert of frozen açai.
Nicki, Liz and I made dinner for everyone in the hostel that night and then we all went out to a bar with live music. It was really entertaining as the guy was singing Beatles and CCR but had a really strong Brazilian accent. It was funny. And as it was the weekend the hostel had filled up to nearly 20 guests. But everyone was so cool and we all got on so well, that we all hung out together.
the following day we went to the Praia Mole again, but we rented an umbrella to cover our still slightly sensitive skin. But we couldn't stay away for too long from splashing in the surf and eating frozen açai.
That night at the hostel Caio and Lilia hosted a BBQ. We all sat outside enjoying cold beers and tasty meat. Everyone went out clubbing, but Liz, Alex, Jeff, and I decided to take it easy and just went to a local bar. We didn't stay out long as everyone was exhausted. Jeff and I were hungry and decided to get some food at a stand on the way back. As I was eating this brazilian style hotdog I knew I had made a mistake. I came back and went to sleep. Didn't actually sleep any and spent the whole next day sick with food poisoning. Liz was still able to go out and enjoy the day at the beach.
We have really loved our time in Florianopolis. And of any places we have stayed this is the first that I truly don't want to leave. It is paradise.
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