Bristol Castelmar Hotel Florianopolis

... while it seemed quite apparent that we shouldn't have come this way.... the evidence being some scrapes on our arms and some seeminly unsafe rocky routes up the stream... before we knew it, we had even more scrapes on our arms from these stickly grasslike plants that grow about 1m tall... but when you move uphill they seem taller and when climbing you'll find that you need things to hold onto while doing so, they just stick to you and when you try to move ...

... compared to Impanema and Copacobana it is quite serene and it was very relaxing to settle into the sand with a fresh coconut drink and the sun beating down on us. It is surrounded by beautiful lush hills and there was no cloud in the sky. For some reason it is very windy at this beach so make sure to put weight on your towels and hold on to your belongings. We met Tiago who was working on the beach lending out umbrellas and chairs ...

... and was still shivering. Joao decided not to come with us, so we continued south. First stop was Campeche. The beach had beautiful white sand and good surf and looks out to the stunning Campeche Island, which I am planning to visit later in the week. Further down the coast there was a driveway that rose up to some Christian house. We didn´t go in the house, but the views along the beach and over nearby Lagoa do Peri (Lake Peri) were stunning. The main beach it ...

... here, the only other person in the class is Veronica, the Colombian girl I mentioned before. I lived with her for a few days back at the first place I stayed. Luckily we hit it off pretty quickly. I'm sorry to say, Veronica and I speak english, and very occasionally, Spanish. But that gets very confusing because of the portuguese. During the first few weeks, besides going to the beach, another hobby I picked up was taking the wrong bus. Not being used to ...

... answer is usually "não". With lots of patience, a little bit of desparation and persistence all is negotiable. Florianopolis is a nice city and I was happy to find lots of people running, walking and exercising by the beach. Well, those bodies don´t come for free, do they. All is very different from Chile, the land of big bellies.

... fully equipped apartment to rent for 40Reais/night or about $20 USD in the small village of Barra do Lagoa. I was hoping to get a lot of sun and surf time but the weather didn´t cooperate. I did get to surf on Wed at Joaquina, a beachbreak which used to hold the Brazilian surf championships. Although I only caught a couple of waves, it was an awesome feeling to be surfing again ...

... Bar und so hab ich mit ein paar Einheimischen, und zwei Caipirinha intus, froehlich mitgesungen. Die eine Familie lud mich fuer den naechsten Tag in ein Hotel-Resort ein. Dadurch, dass sie dort arbeiten, konnte ich einen Tagespass bekommen und mich in Ruhe umsehen. Fuer den Abend luden sie mich noch zum Essen ein und wir sind in ein argentinisches Steakhause gefahren. Das Hotel-Resort befand sich an einem anderen Strand und ich entschied mich zu ...