Sea, Sun and Samba in Barra de Lagoa, Brazil

A fine example of Brasil....

I left my scottish travel companion and headed north to Florianopolis (Brazil). My first impression of Florianapolis (bearing in mind I had taken yet another all-night bus) was mixed. The beautiful sea and natural background contrasted sharply with the Miami-like sea front. I was happy to find that I had booked a hostel away from the city on Ihla Catarina, a small island with over 40 beaches to chose from.

I stayed in a quiet hostel on Barra de Lagoa a good 20m away from the beach. The weather was perfect, hot (but not too hot) with a little bit of wind. The beach was erhem..brazilian...long white, sandy with big surf. I hit the beach straight away and was taken aback by the sheer magnitude of visible backsides on the beach.

I now officially and completely understand the meaning of the "brazilian bikini". These people love "le posterieur". Both the extremely fit and the extremely unfit find it necessary to wear the tiniest of bikinis that covers next to nothing of their behind. In the midst of all this bum exposure I couldnt help but feel a little like Bridget Jones wearing her granny pants.

On the men front, they are definitely "caliente". Most are beefed up on criatin and sport a variety of tattoos and I am sure dream of being the next Brasilian 2Pac. (I wish I had taken photos of all these lovely people but I had been warned of beach theft so I left everything locked up in the hostel).

I met a French girl from Nice (wooho...what are the odds) in the hostel who was travelling with a German (and portuguese speaking) friend. They had met some random brasilian girls during the day and were hitting the town that night. So having spent one night partying with the locals what have I learnt?

1. Decisions take a long time to make (ie there is a lot of hanging around)
2. Men stare A LOT ... think 180 degree neck turn
3. Men just dont give up (ie. perseverance is key)
4. It is seen as weird to have two guys at the front of the car and the girls at the back
5. It is seen as completely normal to ask some random guys on the street whether they have a car and would drive us lovely girls to a bar (which they did)
6. Cairpirhinha is potent...
7. Brasil is F.U.N

Ok this post is looking a little sad without a photo. So here goes a little somethin´somethin´for your eyes only. The most useless and unpractical invention ever; yes you´ve guessed it´s a turn-thingy to get on the bus. You can imagine how easy it was for me to get over that beast with my backpack this morning.