Plaia Ingleses: our beach of residence, stretching for as far as the eye can see. The shops and restaurants of the town centre encroach upon the shore, but we never ventured to that side of the beach. Instead, the path directly in front of our apartment led us to a spot on the opposite side of the beach protected by a fence of grassy, little sand dunes. The beach is split in half by the sewage drain, which leaks out dirty, murky water that tends, unfortunately, to flow upstream towards our spot. We swam a little further up in the clear surf, but mostly we used this beach to play fresco ball, drink from huge, green coconuts and also for general tanning in the sun.
We got to know the actual town centre pretty well, either for shopping or checking out the little artisan stalls along the street, or heading there for lunch or dinner. Lunch usually took place at a buffet por kilo restaurant where I made sure to eat plenty of feijão (black beans); dinnertime restaurants were more varied. One particular night, we had dinner at restaurant whose rear opened out onto the beach. We ordered camarão na moranga: an entire (yet small) pumpkin whose middle is carved out and filled with prawns and melted cheese. The idea is to grab a spoon and carve into the interior sides of the pumpkin and then scoop out some prawns and cheese along with it. This is served with rice.
Plaia Daniela: a small beach with exquisite turquoise water in the foreground, the silhouette of dark, green hills in the background. Walk around the bend and there is a series of little sandy shores, each accessible in low tide. Rocks form the bends and are covered with green seagrass and black miniature crustaceans; my friend's father calling this the hair of the sea.
We hopped on the ‘Banana’, a long inflatable yellow banana with handlebars horizontally striped across it. You really have to grab on as the speedboat zooms off, pulling you along from behind. We went crashing over the waves made from the boat, water flooding our faces and mouths, thus having to pause every so often for a breather. Enormous fun and the experience was made even better by a group of dolphins that decided to swim along with us. We stopped to watch them swim off into the distance.
Plaia Jurerê Internacional: the most expensive beach in all of Brazil and holiday destination for the wealthiest of Brazil's wealthy. Mansions border the road as you come in, each with their own swimming pool and shower to rinse off the sand from the beach. Some had their fancy cars parked in the driveway, other houses were too gigantic to see in one glance. The village centre hosts all the best designer stores and top restaurants. We could only afford to drive through here and have a look.
Plaia Brava: the surfers beach, with properly sized waves, and most comparable to Australian surf beaches, except for the large, green hills towering behind the beach apartments. It was packed with people, mostly Argentineans drinking mate. The far end was completely camouflaged with an array of different beach umbrellas from varying companies. My friend and I headed to this beach alone, playing more fresco ball and taking turns to swim. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a Brazilian walking back and forth, obviously contemplating something very serious. With all the courage he could muster, he walked up to my friend and told her how much she looked like a mermaid as she came out of the water.
We went for a freshly, squeezed juice at one of the beachside cafés, next to which stood the showers. A local shampoo company had set up their products around the showers so we took the opportunity to wash our hair for free. On the walk back along to the beach, we came across a fisherman who was unloading his net onto the sand. Tons of medium sized, grey fish sprinkled out. Brava is also a good place to fish it seems.
Barra da Lagoa: the lagoon is most notable for its nightlife, everything staying open longer during the summer so it wasn’t unusual to see a family with young kids still window shopping at 11-12pm. Apparently this is where the football star, Ronaldinho likes to come to party, especially for New Year’s Eve. We tried coming here one night but the traffic made it impossible so we tried again another night, via a different route. We checked out the sites before eating yummy mortadella sandwiches at a popular sandwich bar. I ordered a local Brahma beer, which came out as being barely larger then a shot glass. A lot of jokes were cracked. We then bought fabulous but extremely expensive ice creams because someone opened the packet first before paying, leaving no choice for us all to have one - totally worth it, luckily.
Us kids were supposed to have a night out on the town, that is until I complained so much of an itchy head we went to the pharmacy and it turned out I had lice (most likely from borrowing a hat while horse riding with my parents back in Chile).
Bobinhas: we left early one morning to leave Florianópolis and drive up the coast of Santa Catarina to Bobinhas, the usual family holiday destination. My friend’s father’s relatives were already shacked up in a rented house and we visited them for lunch as well as a lengthy walk along Plaia Bombas, which is pretty quiet and calm; more of a children’s beach then the surfer beaches back on the island. Unfortunately, I was sick with a stomach bug that was going around and I spent most of the day sleeping.
I did gather enough energy though to go with the others to visit Plaia da Sepultura, by far the most beautiful beach I visited while in the south of Brazil. We had to walk through jungle-like fauna down to the beach, which is pretty much just water and rock, with a tiny space of sand. We continued through the jungle onto another opening, where we left our shoes on the rocks and swam out into the crystal clear water. There weren’t many people around, allowing the place to retain most of its uninhabited beauty. A freshly painted yacht sailed past as well as people in hired foot-paddle boats, those scenic Brazilian hills silhouetted in the background.
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