| Mar 28, 2006 - Florianopolis, Brazil
| (click to enlarge)
 |  | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | Self-portrait on the balcony of my hostel
| | The crickety footbridge leading from Backpacker's into town and the beach
| | View from the bridge
| | Close up of the colorful houses
| (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | Fishing boat and net, and an unfortunate name
| | The bridge from down below
| | Another fisherman working on his boat
| | Local kids relaxing in the bridge's shade
| (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | Another chill scene
| | More from under the bridge
| | Crossing the bridge itself
| | View from the bridge in the other direction, out to sea
| (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | Another ocean view from the bridge
| | Jet skier going out to sea
| | Touch up paint job
| | More fishing boats
| (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | Another from the boat dock
| | Backpacker's Hostel and the bridge
| | Same pic, with flash for the leaves
| | And now with people!
| (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | Backpacker's hostel
| | Beach panorama 1
| | Beach panorama 2
| | Completed beach panorama
| (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | Beach panorama 3, (don't know what happened)
| | Backpackers again
| | Backpackers and the water
| | The red lighthouse
| (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | Local fisherman casting nets in the shallow water
| | More Barra da Lagoa weekend beach scene
| | Another of the waterway, and messed up picture
| | People fishing at the red lighthouse
| (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | Swimmers and the beach
| | The hills lining the shore
| | The green lighthouse, and a fisherman
| | Some old forgotten catch, or maybe bait
| (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | Fishing off the red lighthouse again
| | Casting out, with light flare
| | Another fisherman at the lighthouse
| | The lighthouse once again
| (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | More play time with focus and a light flare
| | Self-portrait at the red lighthouse
| | Smiling self-portrait at the red lighthouse
| | People playing in the water
| (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | A beach volleyball game
| | They were much better than when we played
| | More of the colorful house scene, back on the bridge now
| | Throwing a fishing net
| (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | Inside the hostel
| | More from the hostel
| | Marcia and I
| | Me at hostel, with Hugh in the back
|
| Florianopolis is technically just a city at the entrance to the Ilha de Santa Catarina (Santa Catarina Island), but because it is the biggest and most well-known area on this large island, Florianopolis or "Floripa" is often used to refer to the island as a whole. Just off the southern coast of Brazil connected by a beautiful bridge, this island has 42 remarkable beaches in all different stages of development within an hour's drive from the city center, and a grand picturesque lake Lagoa da Conceicao right in the middle. The north has fancy resorts and calm waters, while the south is much more secluded and rugged, and the eastern coast has the best and cleanest beaches with the best surf as well. After the 18hr overnight ride from Rio, during which I mostly reflected on the changing nature of my trip and all the different activities I had done and now planned to do, I caught a local bus out to Barra da Lagoa, a small town of fisherman and tourists on the island's eastern coast. There are many houses to rent there like all over Brazil, but since this time I was actually alone I headed to the largest and highly recommended Backpacker's Hostel.
My plan for Floripa was quite simple, and mimics my experiences in the northern beach towns of Brazil. This was going to be my last stop in Brazil, and my last chance for surf and sun since the summer was rapidly ending and I was heading further south and then back up to the Andes mountains. So, I had no goals for my time here other than to seriously relax, enjoy my newfound alone time, catch up this website, possibly meet some new people, and surf as much as possible. Amazingly I was able to fit all this in to the 7 days I spent on this gorgeous island.
As usual by now, my days were all very similar with only a few differences here and there. By and large they included a slow wake up and breakfast at the hostel, some time devoted to uploading photos and writing journal entries, then beach time and at least an hour of surfing on a rented board, and a snack of acai thrown in there somewhere. Backpacker's had a great open air lounge area with TV and DVD's so at night I would hang out with the other guests there or watch movies. My first day though I arrived early on the 28th to crappy weather, so just explored the town of Barra da Lagoa and the beach right near the hostel with a Scottsman named Jamie who had been on my bus from Rio. We ate dinner at Backpacker's, which was throwing a birthday party for one of the guests there, and so I was able to meet everyone and make friends rather quickly.
The following day was still crappy weather but I found some time for surfing in the evening. It was quite windy so I wasn't able to do as well as I should, but still it was just great to be back on a board in the water and making a fool of myself on tiny waves.
The 30th was nice out, so I went to Mole beach with some other guys from the hostel. Mole is the main surfing beach on the island about 15 minutes ride away, with much bigger and better waves than the beach at Barra. Well, I had no idea what I was in for. I got my butt thoroughly kicked by the waves there and never managed to successfully do anything. Just paddling out took me about 15 minutes of serious struggle against the waves, and then never caught anything but had quite a good time getting thrown into the washing machine of crashing waves. In all seriousness, I do actually enjoy that. For one, it is clearly a necessary part of learning the sport and helps you gain kowledge and confidence that you can take pretty hard hits without anything happening. But also, once I realized that I was safe and would always pop back up, I learned to enjoy those pummeling tumbles as one would an amusement park ride since they were the only excitement I got. After getting back to Barra da Lagoa that afternoon I rented a board again and took it out to the much smaller, calmer, and easier waves of the Barra beach. Magically, it all came much easier to me there. Sure I had just had some good tough lessons, but really barely any actual practice. The waves must have been much simpler and coming in perfectly because I was catching and riding almost everything I went for. That night was just pure chilling at the hostel and a very sound sleep.
The rest of my week there followed the typical daily plan. Friday night Backpacker's threw an amazing barbeque, after which a bunch of us went out to the town of Centro da Lagoa where they have the island's only night life other than in Floripa city. I surfed just about every day, and on Monday, my last day, rented a boogie board and fins with my German friend Max. That was tons of fun, since you still get most of the rush of surfing, yet with 1-tenth of the effort. In the end, it was a week of utter relaxation, which is exactly what I wanted. Though I prefer travelling with others in a group, this return to solo travel was very welcome as well. Nobody to check in with or compromise plans for, and Backpacker's was perfect for this. It has a beautiful setting right off the beach with incredible views, open air common spaces, relaxed atmosphere, and great people. We even joked how in most places this setting would typically be home to the high-class 4-star hotel, yet here it was a dumpy backpacker's pit. Every day I just lounged, surfed, wrote in this website which is becoming a bit of an addition, and hung out with the others at night. Floripa also has big sand dunes, deserted beaches, a city center, more developed beaches on the north, and an entire island to explore. Yet I did none of this, and that doesn't bother me. |
| |
| |
