OLA PEOPLE (it’s without the H in Brassssillll) Sorry for the lack of updates but like the cultured person that I am, i’ve been trying to immerse myself fully in the Brazilian culture which means consuming lots of acai (super food!) and coconuts (best hangover cure!!), visiting beautiful beach towns/paradises, doing squats in order to get a Brazilian butt and show it off while wearing a thong bottomed bikini, dancing in my havianas, and making friends/out/love/babies with lots of Brazilianssss (JUST KIDDING GUYS!!!)
It took me forever to leave Rioooo.. i'm so in loveee with the place. i was meant to leave for Ilha Grande and continue on from there.. but since Inga and Tim, two friends from Sucre (!!!!!!!) were coming into town, I looped back around to Rio (really tough sacrifice there!) to see their beautiful faces... though our faces look very sad at this point because we got stuck on sugarloaf mountain for about 3 hours cus of heavy rain and terrible logistics.. ohwell.. they’re good company :)
I managed to do a few touristy things with another friend, Simon, that i met in Montanitas, Ecuador before I left.. we visited Christ the Redeemer together which was super crowded and overwhelming, but still, a must do... i also went up Sugarloaf again, but this time bought a ticket down as soon as i got there.. JUST IN CASE. It was hot but pretty and i was really sick so I threw up after I reached the top (again)... there were other things I didn't get a chance to do, but it’s OK cus I’ll be back very soon… like in two months time! I’ve really fallen in love with the city and the Cariocas (what they call people from Rio!) and its landscapes and its energy and just everything about it… as someone whose visited many places, Rio is definitely one of my top 3 favorite places in the world, the other two being Cape Town and Barcelona, which also have nice beaches and mountains and really fun people, so obviously there's a pattern here.. but really, Rio Is truly a special place! (as a side note, i have apparently developed a Carioca accent when i speak Portuguese.. whcih is basically the numbers 1-10 cus thats all i got down..)
BUT YEAH. So ILHA GRANDE.. its a beautiful island about 2 hours away from Rio (the city) but still in Rio (the state) Its a little paradise where I spent a few days beach bumming in on Lopes Mendes, which was apparently named one of the most beautiful beaches by Vogue (cus obviously i’m into high end luxury shiiiiettt) but it was seriously super beautiful and secluded, which makes me very very happy. I met a ton of nice people on the island including lots of Argentinans on vacay which helped me brush up on mi espanolll, a fun British couple, a Polish stuntman, some local Brazilians, and two super sweet Australian girls, who I ended up partying with before heading back to Rio and then eventually headed to Paraty
Partay is a cute little colonial town that looks extremely Portuguese/European.. the weather was pretty shitty but the people were GREAT & I ended up doing some super fun things. like sliding down a waterfall rock formation thingamabob (sorry i don’t know the scientific word for this naturally occurring landscape..) and doing a bit of hiking (finally!! missed it so much!) with these two amazing chicks i met, che and jane.. it was hot and sticky and sweaty.. reminded me a lot of lost city trek (so long ago!). and in the end we got sidetracked and ended up stumbling upon the recently opened Mamangua Beach hostel in the middle of the national park that was right on mamangua beach.. they had the yummiest acai so instead of burning off some calories, we just chilled (TRANQUILOOO) and cus there was a massive storm headed our way, we took a boat back to town cus we’re baller like that (not really.. we didn’t want to die and we were lazy!)
Even though i was supposed to be detoxing in Paraty... it didn’t really end up working out, though i did resist drinking but not exactly the environment i was hoping for.. luckily some a really nice couple, Kas and Hussien, who I met in Ilha Grande, recommended that i spend a few days in Trinidade, which is about 40 minutes away from Paraty and really low keyy. went to a really nice hostel called Trindade Sea & Forest where I did some yoga, some beach bumming, a little hiking to a natural pool, and even though the last day was a bit hectic cus i was afraid i'd miss the bus to Sao Paulo cus there was supposedly a storm coming so the bus lines back to Paraty were so long.. i enjoyed it and ended up having a great time cus i met this amazing Moroccan couple, Amine and Ghita, who were traveling the world and their nice friend, Amine (dos) and i was super duper excited to talk about my time in Morocco and exchange travel stories with them for a few hours :)
I’m now in Sao Paulo where I’m ready to pretty much eat everything in plain view!! (wooohooo.. so glad Brazilians appreciate curves!!) and enjoy the amenities of being in a bit city.. like museums, speciality shops, etc.. then off to more beaches down in Floripa (!!!) before I catch a flight to the north and explore even moreee beachessss.. and try and learn a bit more Portuguese as well :)
CIAO CIAO PEOPLE!!!