Spring Break in the Fall, Part I: Southern Brazil

Sorry about the lack of updates lately. Kim had a two-week break in her semester—spring break, basically (except it’s fall here). So anyway, we’ve been traveling for a while.

The night her last class ended, we took an 11-hour bus ride to a place called Florianópolis, which is in the south of Brazil. Trains are pretty much nonexistent in this country, so buses are the only way to travel on a budget. And they’re actually pretty decent. The seats have foot rests that you can extend, and you can recline almost all the way back. It’s kind of like sitting in a La-Z-Boy, but not as comfortable. Plus you have someone else’s seat right over your lap—but that doesn’t really matter, since you’re sleeping (or trying to, anyway).

Barra da Lagoa, the little village we stayed in

We arrived around 10:00 the next morning, a bit groggy but ready to begin our vacation. Florianópolis is a fairly large island just off the coast. There are dozens of beaches, so it’s not hard to find a place overlooking the ocean. Our hostel, for example, had a patio with a lovely view.

Not a bad view for 18 bucks a night.

One of this island’s beaches features some large sand dunes. It’s a really impressive sight, especially when you’re at the bottom of a dune and the only thing you can see in any direction is a big hill of sand. We rented boards and tried “sand surfing.” The first time down was pretty fun, but then I realized why ski slopes always have tow ropes and chair lifts. Walking in sand is hard enough, but going uphill is downright exhausting. So, against my wishes, I got a bit of a workout that day.

Sand surfing

The next day we hiked out to a beach that’s only accessible by foot. The waves were about four feet high, so I spent most of the day playing in the water like a little kid.

Secluded beach

A little farther out, there were some big boulders that you could jump off of. I couldn’t resist.

Don’t worry, Mom, the water was very deep.

After three days in Florianópolis, we took another overnight bus to a little town called Canela. The differences between Canela and Florianópolis were stunning. For one thing, it actually felt like fall. I think the temperature in Canela was about 60 degrees, whereas Florianópolis was around 80. The biggest difference, however, was the architecture. Back in the 1800s, a bunch of Germans immigrated to southern Brazil (to escape the effects of the Napoleonic Wars, if you’re interested). As a result, the majority of the buildings were constructed in the traditional German style. In fact, it would be easy to think you were in Germany if it weren’t for the occasional palm tree on the side of the road.

Not Munich, I assure you.

Not far from Canela, there’s a park with a lovely waterfall. At the top of the falls there’s a rickety staircase with about 1000 steps, so we went all the way down to the bottom. Much like our day at the sand dunes, I got an unwelcomed workout on the way back up.

Caracol Falls

We spent several hours walking around the park, just enjoying the trees—which is one of the things we miss most in the concrete jungle of São Paulo.

Actual nature!

After a few days in and around Canela, we headed farther south to Uruguay. But first, we had a layover in Porto Alegre, a large city in the southernmost part of Brazil. We had five or six hours to kill, so instead of just sitting in the bus station we went out to see the city.

It’s probably unfair to judge a city based on just a few hours, but I’ll go ahead and judge it anyway: it’s a crap-hole. There are a few really nice-looking buildings, but they’re surrounded by a sea of ugliness.

One of the few buildings in Porto Alegre that isn’t ugly

Here’s a quick way to tell if you don’t like a place: you’re excited to begin a 12-hour bus ride just to get out of there. And indeed, we were pretty excited to leave Porto Alegre and take the night bus to Uruguay. (I wasn’t really thinking ahead when I called this blog “Nick and Kim in Brazil,” so please accept my humble apologies for the inaccurate title.) We left around 10:00 p.m. and arrived in Montevideo the next morning.

Stay tuned for our adventures in Uruguay!