Brasil 12/05

Christmas on Brasil's Most Beautiful Resort Beach and Windsurfing on Lago da Conceicão

Went to LAX to begin my Christmas Season excursion to Brasil. I had round trip tickets on AA to Dallas/São Paulo/Curatiba/Florianópolis. However in the last days we had decided on the outbound trip that Michael and I would drive from São Paulo to Florianópolis, maybe 300 miles and 8 hours. At this time Michael is driving from Rio to Florianópolis anyway, so I could just join him at São Paulo. American Airlines charged me $130 to "give back" my ticket from São Paulo to Florianópolis! Nearly worse, the obstinate lady doing this delayed me so long that I nearly missed the first leg flight to Dallas. Worse yet, at Dallas we transferred to the São Paulo flight - as we started down the runway on takeoff, the pilot aborted the take off due to a "gauge malfunction." Returning to a gate, they were unable to fix it in the speculated short time, so we spent the night in the Clarion Hotel.

The trip resumed 13 hours late, now leading us to a midnight arrival in the São Paulo. Michael picked me up a half our late and I didn't get beaten and robbed in the men's room of the airport as anticipated by the state department.

The exchange rate is down to about $R2.3/$US form about $R2.8/$US when we were in Fortaleza 1/04.

After retiring about 3:00 am we got up rather late, had a little breakfast, then cruised around São Paulo for a couple hours seeing the city. We had a pecanha (Brasillian top surloin) lunch and then headed south toward Florianópolis. Michael is a little loose about organization and focus. The drive to Florianópolis is about 8 + hours but he seemed unconcerned that we weren't getting off till 2 to 3 pm and would still make it by dinner time. We didn't!

After getting out of São Paulo into the countryside the surrounding jungle was very lush, clean and beautiful. There are inhabitants, but few. After descending a long, long hill we began to see small random banana orchards in small canyons between the hills. There were periods of hard tropical rain, though not as warm as I would have anticipated, then periods of dry highway. And always beautiful pristine jungle surrounding. Presently we encountered larger and more organized banana orchards that would seem more like commercial business, and many road-side stands along the highway with nothing but an abundance of bananas and coconuts to sell.

The highway is very good, approaching but not equal to a US interstate and there are 5 trucks for every car. This artery is bustling with commerce.

At one point the federal police stopped us for no apparent reason. The officer questioned Michael extensively about passport, visas, driver's license, and car ownership, but Michael's savvy and Portuguese came through and we were allowed to proceed.

However, as the day was passing it became evident that we wouldn't get to Florianópolis until late night. After much agonizing, we decided to stop for the night in Curatiba. This is a southern Brasillian city of a couple million about 1.5 hours from the coast and 4 to 5 hours south of São Paulo. It has a reputation of being a "model city" in Brasil. I had passed through the airport several years ago but never visited the city. Upon arriving there we found a very modern clean city that seems to live up to the reputation. However, what do you do when you drive into a strange city, not knowing where to stay, or eat, or even the language. It's a bit of a challenge, but we eventually found one of Tom Bodett's Accor Hotels (Formula 1 - re the US radio commercial), but chose a Holiday Inn Express instead. - with breakfast and broadband included for $36. Had a great dinner, a few capirinhas, and a pleasant evening chasing Brasillian girls.

A little exploring in Curatiba. Many very nice old houses, but apparently the owners of the past couldn't afford to keep up, so many seem to be converted to banks and such. There appear to be more banks than in Grand Cayman! We located a long and pleasant walk-street with much of the city's activity and had lunch, leaving town for Florianópolis about 2 pm. I had folks complain about my driving in the past. None of them could ride for half an hour with Michael. He is always at maximum safe speed (or more) and very close to the car in front attempting to get it out of the way and switching constantly from lane to lane to pass. Those who know what driving in Rio is, would recognize him as a professional. Arrived in Florianópolis about 6 pm and visited with Michael's friends, Celio and Sylvia (his Portuguese teacher) till about 10 pm in the village Jurerê. Then off to fish dinner at a little beach restaurant that might have been in Baja California.

Petty crime is a huge problem in Brasil - worst in Rio, but serious in most cities - presumably because there are no consequences. A technique unfamiliar in many parts of the world is for the thief to just grab and run. If you are taking a picture with your camera even in (or especially) a crowd, or counting your money, a thief may just grab it and run!

We are staying at the condominium of Michael's friend Ross Foley (from Australia) at Morada do Santinho, in Santinho. Pronounce it "San chino." The condo is very nice two levels with a lot of beautiful tile everywhere. It is up 5 flights of stairs on the 3^rd floor with no elevator and we arrived in the middle of the night so it was some effort getting all the "stuff" up there. Two lovely balconies with excellent views of the ocean in opposite directions. However someone has too many possessions and they are stacked everywhere, the place has a lot of unusable furniture, and is immersed in traffic, construction, and barking dog noise. Put together a bicycle and rode out to lunch and otherwise. Just up the street is Costa do Santinho, a very large and well-maintained resort condominium - hotel complex. In a day or so I learned that there is only single-string plumbing everywhere. Frequently the complaint of no hot water arises from a faulty heater, but here there's no pretense, no heater and no plumbing. So how do you wash dishes?, clothes?, your body? Well, ………… you let the maid worry about it - except this was an empty condo before our arrival and no one has arranged for a maid yet. Before long I am to learn that there is no hot water plumbing or heater in all but the wealthiest homes - and the hotels where I have stayed on many prior visits to Brasil. A little upside down that we can have a maid, but no hot water - maybe after a little acclamation, I'd take the maid. Oh, well, camping's OK too, but I am usually more prepared for it!

Today we went by Lagoa da Conceicão (Lake Con-say-sow) to check up on Michael's gear and the possibility of windsurfing. There was no significant wind so I walked around exploring and Michael spent the afternoon in the internet café.

A rainy day where the only activity was lunch and exploring an old fort (São José da Ponta Grossa) on the northeast corner of the island. We were invited to dinner at the house of Sylvia and Celio which was very good. Celio was at work and the fourth guest was a lady friend of Sylvia, Florencia.

I am learning that the island and the area is referred to as Florianópolis, but actually the island is Ilha Santa Catarina, in the state of Santa Catarina, and Florianópolis is the large city on the island, but there are many smaller cities and villages.

Today we went for the second time to Lago da Conceicão (Con-say-sow) and found pretty good wind. I windsurfed and Michael went down town Christmas shopping. Got 3 and 1/2 hours of great sailing. The water was quite warm, and smooth - very easy sailing - went first hour and three quarters without getting wet!

Michael's wife (from whom he is separated) lives close by in Jurerê. She got word that her mother, living in Manaus, was in the hospital, so immediately got a plane to there. As a result, we are moving today. For security reasons folks try not to leave their homes unoccupied, so Michael, Nicole (their 8 year old daughter) and I are moving to Lucirene's house. Darn, after a week in the clutter of the Santinho condo, and going out to internet cafes from time to time, we discovered the condo had an operable DSL connection!

Went to the lake again and got in about half hour of sailing, trading off with Michael on his rig, who was sailing also this time. I had the last turn with the rig. The wind was dying and I was well out in the lake hoping not to have to swim back, when a boat from the local windsurf shop came by and insisted on helping. He explained that the immediately arriving storm would suddenly switch the wind direction and be over powering at 40 - 50 knots. Later we went to down town Florianópolis for Christmas shopping where I saw the most impressive mall ever. About 8 levels in height with an open center where one can look down (or up) at all levels with a beautiful Christmas tree and other decoration about half that height.

Seems every day is packed so full of activity and waiting that we are usually getting in to retire at 2 - 3 am. Tonight we beat that a little.

We were invited back to Sylvia's house for Christmas dinner, which occurs late night on the 24^th for Brasillians. Presents are distributed from under a traditional Christmas tree and opened just before dinner. There were about 10 adults and 3 children. A new guide book I got says the temperature in Florianópolis ranges from 3 to 40ºC (37.4 - 104ºF), I hope we don't get any 3º's while I am here.

The town is asleep and quiet today - Michael went to a party at a friend's house and I chose the lagoa to windsurf instead. The wind was south (has been north on prior days), and quite strong. I'm using his equipment, an F2 Axxis 105 liter, 278 cm board (that is just super fast and easy jibing) and today a 6.3 m² sail that was too large for this wind.

Today we explored down town Florianópolis for a couple hours, went to the Morro do Cruz (mountain of the cross) for spectacular views of the city and island and had dinner at a churrascurria. Cell phone messaging is in! Michael is always punching stuff out on the non-keyboard and communicating with all his acquaintances. Perhaps mostly due to the high cost of phone service in Brasil, about $0.40/min from either home or cell phone. Must be mostly tax. In the US I get $0.06/min from anywhere in the country plus free unlimited nights and weekends. Reminds us that there are countries in the world whose main source of tax revenue is the phone tax. Think of it! A voice call at $0.40/min ………while a few word text message requires only a milli-second or so.

Took a tour boat out Praia do Canasvieiras around the harbor between the island and the continent. It was a beautiful sunny and warm day. Lunch at a small mainland beach, a stop at the Fortaleza do Santa Cruz on its own small island, and then a swimming stop at a tiny idyllic island (maybe Ilha do Franciés).

Homeward bound. Another beautiful day and so is Florianópolis from the air while flying out on a day like today. This is a really neat place, especially Jurerê, the lagoa area and some of the northern beaches …….. must return soon on the way to the pantanal or Jericoacoara!