Torres to Florianopolis

Trip Start Nov 29, 2007

115

Trip End Jun 24, 2008

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Flag of Brazil Florianopolis, Brazil
Tuesday, January 22, 2008

We arrived in Florianopolis a lot later than we had expected and by the time we had got off the bus and found where we needed to head it was already getting dark. I had got instructions from the Internet as to how to get to the hostel and on the instructions it seemed really easy!!!!
Florianopolis is a large city on the coast of Brazil, a very popular tourist destination for Argentine, American, Brazilian and many other countries! It is actually split in two halves, one part, the main industrial part and a lot of the housing in on the main land. Then the second part is on the island of Santa Catrina. Santa Catrina is like a tropical island with green mountains and amazing beaches, there are 43 in total on the island. The north of the island is home to the big houses and hotel complexes of the rich tourists and the south of the island is more simple, with smaller wooden houses and fewer shops etc, but in my opinion the most beautiful beaches

The beach on the south, at Costa de Dentro

. Of course we were staying in the south and we had to catch 2 buses to get there.
As soon as we got to the bus terminal a guy spoke perfect English to us asking if we needed any help. He pointed us onto the correct bus, which he too was getting. Then we were off to Rio Traverses terminal on the island. So no problems there. When we got off at the next terminal the same guy asked where we were trying to get to; I showed him the directions we had and he said, no, what beach are you going to? We had no idea! There was no mention of this on the Internet. He said we had to know the beach in order to know where to get off the bus. He ended up calling the hostel for us and then gave the bus drivers strict instructions sot let us off at the hostel! His name was Kiko and it turns out he has spent the last 17yrs or so travelling around the world, 5 of which he spent in the UK. He was a great guy and really nice, he gave us lots of tips about where to go on the island and also gave us his email address in case we needed any help on our trip. We said our goodbyes and as instructed the driver dropped us off right outside our hostel!!!!

The hostel (Alburgue do Pirata) was also really friendly and we really enjoyed our time here. The next day we went on a hike to Lagoina do Leste as recommended by Kiko. It was a hard hike, about 50 minutes up and down a reasonably sized hill, but it was worth it. The view of the beach below was amazing. The only way to reach this beach is either by foot on this trail or by boat - we did consider taking the boat back, but opted for the harder and cheaper option of walking back over the hill.

We were pretty shattered that night, so cooked a meal and went to bed

Heading up the trail to Lagoina do Leste

!
Next day we were hoping to meet up with the friends that we had met in Montevideo, Bruno, Fernando and Christian and Bruno's Mum, but we were having problems getting hold of them. Eventually Bruno called the hostel and we arranged to meet them downtown. Despite the weather being pretty terrible we had a fantastic day with Bruno, his brother Fernando, his cousin and her son, John. We went over to the North of the island, but we didn�t get long on the beach before the rain came! So we headed back to their apartment on the mainland and met up with Bruno�s mum and Christian again. It was so good to see them all again and we had such good fun all day ling. We finished the day perfectly with a trip to the local pizza/pasta restaurant. It is an all you can eat buffet for $12 Br (3 pounds). But this is a buffet with a difference! You start off with a wonderful salad buffet, with fruits, vegetables, cheese, meat etc and then the waiters come around all the time with all of the pizzas and pastas and you select whatever you want. The pizzas were amazing, my favourite was rocket, cheese and sun-dried tomato, well at least it was until I tried the chocolate pizza. Yes they really do have sweet pizzas here, we had chocolate, banana, ice cream pizza and one with meringue on the top - I had thought I wouldn�t like it, but oh my God they were amazing!!!! I tried to take a picture of one, but I think I was so excited that my hand wouldn�t stop shaking, as it came out a bit blurred!

Bruno and Fernando walked up back to the bus stop - which had been moved that day, so good job they did! And we got the bus back to downtown and then back to the hostel. It was a long day and we were really tired, but so glad we had met them again and do really hope to see them in England, America or Brazil again some day.

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The view as we got closer	Worth the hike!	North of the island - in the rain!	Chocolate pizza - I am converted!
At the restaurant with everyone - great pizzas	Good fun, great meal, wonderful people!