The Brazil Return

It's been a while since my last entry, but I have a good excuse - Carnaval happened. There was little time to sit in front of a computer, editing my photos and trying to turn my thoughts and experiences into words. Now that it's over, I've finally had the time to take a (quick) breather, while I wait at the airport in Rio de Janeiro.

After Quito, I spent an entire day enduring a ridiculous flight itinerary (Quito to Bogotá, Bogotá to Panama City, Panama City to São Paulo), to then fly the next morning to Belo Horizonte. It was all worth it of course, to return to the place where  I made an amazing last year friend in Maria. She invited me to stay with her for Carnaval, where we could once again party it up with her and her friends.

Walking back into her apartment, where I spent over a week back in April last year, it felt like I was returning home. That feeling was helped by the fact that Maria had sent me a key to her apartment back when I was in Recife, so it really did feel like I was opening the door of my own house. I was able to unpack my bag completely, and have my own bedroom and shower. We had home cooked meals, my laundry was done for me and we spent a fair bit of time on the couch watching Netflix. After 11 months of travelling out of two small bags, a break from the traditional backpacking experience was exactly what I needed.

We partied for days on end, then took a few days off to recover, where we ate a lot of Japanese food, watched TV shows, went to the cinema and even adopted an abandoned puppy for Maria on the day I left.

Just as I had expected, it was another special experience with some great friends, and the return to Belo Horizonte only cemented our plans to catch up again somewhere in the world in the near future. I had plans to fly to Sao Paulo for 2 nights after Belo Horizonte, but decided to stay in Belo Horizonte for a couple more nights to recover from a bug I still seem to be shaking off (to be fair the heavy partying didn't help).

Nevertheless my time in Belo with Maria came to an end, and I spent the following 2 nights back in Rio de Janeiro, I place I just can't seem to bypass when I'm nearby. It's such an incredibly picturesque city. Whether it's due to it's beauty, the fact that it was Carnaval, or maybe just because the amount of special memories I have in this city, it always has a unique feeling which to me brings a lot of happiness.

Unfortunately, I only had one full day to enjoy Rio, and being a Saturday during Carnaval, it was impossible to do the one thing I really wanted to do - hang gliding over the city. But, it makes for a good excuse to return again one day. I met up with Lydia, who works in a hostel I stayed at last time I was in Rio, and we walked around the city, eating and drinking our way around Ipanema, Leblon, Copacabana. We finished the day enjoying the sunset on Ipanema beach, then went for dinner at one of my favourite Brazilian restaurants, Fogo de Chão.

We ate way more than anyone should have in one sitting, but the meats are too delicious to say no to, until you've actually reached the point of being in pain from eating so much. Hopefully, the rest in Belo Horizonte and the amount of food I ate in Rio will give me the energy for the last leg of the trip - Chile, and one other surprise destination... stay tuned!

Sunset at Ipanema Beach

Corumbá, Brazil


I first visited Brazil in 2012 on my first ever solo journey. I remember enjoying it at the time, but I didn't think I'd be back again for a while.

For whatever the reasons (there are many) I've returned twice since that trip. And whilst I barely have a grasp on the language, it's probably now the country I feel most comfortable in outside Australia. 

The first two visits were more of touristic style - in 2012 for Carnaval and in 2014 for the FIFA World Cup. But by that point I was so fascinated by the country, I wanted to come back and see the rest of it. I wanted to experience its rich, diverse culture and as I've found - each city has this in bucket loads.

If someone asked me to describe Brazil in one word I’d probably say “Who are you?” and “Why are you asking me questions with silly conditions attached to them?”. Brazil is an enormously diverse country in every sense of the word. From the north to the south, you could almost accept that it's an entirely different country. The food, language, accent, attitude and appearance are vastly different and the changes in each of these are evident from city to city.

In all of my time in Brazil I’ve had some of the most amazing experiences of my life. I've been on tour groups, been alone for days, made friends from all over the world, met up with friends from Australia, been accepted into the homes of locals and treated like a son, stayed at 5 star hotels, stayed at hostels that smelled of poo, fallen in love, said goodbye too many times to many friends I may never see again in my life (I hope not) and even helped some friends move to Australia.

Today marks 4 months since I left Australia for my year long journey. One thing I had planned from the beginning was to travel a "circle" around Brazil for 3 months before going on to explore the rest of South and Central America. Well, I loved this place so much that I extended my tourist visa so I could stay for another month. And it has been more than worth it.

So now as I begin to plan my way into Bolivia, I've had a bit of time to reflect on my time in Brazil. All of it wouldn't have been possible without the people I've met in this fascinating country. Travelling alone can be difficult at times, but I owe it to the people I've met here for making my experience of this country something truly special that I'll never forget. Without them, it would just be a lot of good food and misunderstandings.

Every stop in my 4 month journey around Brazil

Bonito, Brazil

Almost everyone I had met in Brazil had told me what a beautiful and expensive place Bonito (literally “beautiful” in Portuguese) is to visit. Although it wasn’t until I'd spent some time there that I realised just how beautiful, and expensive it really is.

Bonito is located in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, and is being discovered as the "Caribe do Centro-Oeste" (Caribbean of the Central-West) due to the unbelievable blue colour of its waters. Owing to the enormous quantity of limestone in the ground, the water of these rivers passes through a natural filter where impurities are deposited at the bottom of the river bed, leaving the rivers to be some of the clearest and most transparent in the world.

I arrived on Friday night after a few hours drive from my lodge in the Pantanal. During the drive I met a couple of guys from France who ended up staying in my dorm, so the next day we hired some bikes and rode to Balneario Municipal. Whilst a beautiful place in itself, here we barely scratched the surface of what Bonito has to offer in terms of stunning nature and wildlife.

Back at the hostel that night I met Luiza, a film director from São Paulo who invited me out with some friends to a local bar for some Cachaca and live music. 

On Sunday Luiza and I visited Estancia Mimosa with a few others from the hostel. What struck me on the drive there was not only how beautifully serene the countryside is in Bonito, but it is actually spotless and extremely well preserved. All of the tourist spots in Bonito are located on privately owned farms, so the tours generally consist of small groups and include private transport to and from the farm, as well as a delicious Brazilian buffet lunch and dessert usually cooked over a fire from locally grown ingredients.

A local guide took us on a walking tour of a trail around the farm's forest, where we stopped at countless waterfalls to swim, dive and even explore a few caves. What helped was some beautiful weather, and having Luiza around to take photos like this:

Estancia Mimosa

Monday was another big day. In the morning we visited Rio da Prata where we snorkelled about 2 kilometres down a river so clear that it looked like the fish were floating in thin air. Then in the afternoon we visited the nearby Lagoa Misteriosa for some scuba diving. 

Lagoa Misteriosa (Mysterious Lake) was discovered in 1992, and in 1998 a Brazilian named Gilberto Menezes de Oliveira dived down to 220m - and still didn’t find the bottom. Only having our Open Water Diver certification, Luiza and I could only dive down to 200m less than what Gilberto did, yet the beauty of it still blew us away.

Scuba diving with Luiza in Lagoa Misteriosa

My last full day in Bonito was saved for what was to be the the most breathtaking of all the activities here -  Abismo Anhumas. The easy part was rappelling 72 metres down into the cave; the fun part was scuba diving in an underground, crystal clear lake 80 metres deep, with the area equivalent to the size of a football field; the hard part was rappelling back up out of the cave, manoeuvring around some of the largest underwater stalagmites in the world, up to 18 metres high.

Abismo Anhumas

It felt like you would need two weeks to complete all the activities here in Bonito, and they would all be stunning. You’d be broke by the end of it - but you know you’re really enjoying a place when you don’t give a second thought to the huge amounts of money you’re spending there. Bonito came with high recommendations and it’s probably one of the most, if not the most visually pleasing place I’ve ever visited. And I just so happened to get lucky again and make friends with a special person in Luiza who could not only take brilliant photos, but was great company to have whilst enjoying this 'bonito' part of Brazil.

The Pantanal, Brazil

The Pantanal is a region in Western Brazil which also extends into Bolivia. It is considered one of the world's largest and most diverse freshwater wetland ecosystems and is one of Brazil's major tourist draws for its vast amounts of wildlife - and potential Jaguar sightings.

As keen as I was to try my chances at seeing a Jaguar - after seeing the price of tours from Cuiabá (around USD$2,000), I decided to explore the Pantanal from Campo Grande. There didn't seem to be a lot of reliable reviews on which company to go for, so I ended up choosing one that responded to my emails the quickest. The tour companies seem to work independently from the actual farms that you end up staying at, but everyone was in the same boat in this situation.

The transfer from Campo Grande took about 5 hours, but the accommodation we arrived at was pretty nice - much more luxuries on offer than in my time in the jungle - such as constant electricity!

The first night we took some foam noodles and just floated down the river - it seemed like a bit of a cop-out to include this as one of the "activities", but it was actually alright. Afterwards we played some 3-a-side football with the staff from the lodge (and beat them) which was much more enjoyable. Although we soon regretted being the "skins" team as we later discovered the amount of mosquito bites we earned during the win!

The remainder of the activities were much better - horse riding, fishing, canoe rides, trekking and finally a speedboat ride through the rivers - where I was extremely lucky enough to spot a jaguar for all of about 1 second. We turned the boat around and went back but it had vanished. We lurked around for a little while, and although we could hear it calling, we never saw it again.

The amount of wildlife we saw was very impressive, the most I've ever seen in the wild in my life - Capybaras, Caiman, Howler Monkeys, Macaws, Heron, Kingfisher, Stork, Falcons and more that I can't remember the names of. This is the only time on my trip I wish I'd brought along a better camera, so the photos here don't really do it justice. And while it wasn't the same type of experience we endured in the Amazon, it was a much better place to spot animals in the wild.

Cuiabá, Brazil

I don't like hearing people or websites say that a particular place is quiet, boring, or has "nothing to do", however that was what I was told of Cuiabá before arriving. I guess that's one of the benefits I've noticed from keeping up with this blog - it motivates me to turn every place I visit into it's own little story - of the things I do there or the people I meet.

After Manaus, I needed a bit of time to relax, wash my clothes and get myself back in to the gym. However after one day of relaxing I was ready for a new experience again, so I got in touch with a few people off Couchsurfing.

A girl named Juliana took me into her house with her mother, and straight away I felt at home. Her mum didn't speak any English but I surprised myself in managing to have a few conversations with her. I only spent about 36 hours with Juliana and her mum, but the whole time I was with them they were incredibly nice and generous to me, constantly driving me around and feeding me (guaranteed way to win me over).

On Sunday we spent the afternoon at Chapada dos Guimarães, where Juliana snapped this awesome picture:

It was a beautiful afternoon spent with great company, and another little story created in a city with "not much to see".

The Amazon Rainforest - Manaus, Brazil

Ever since I began my tour of Brazil, Manaus and The Amazon Rainforest had stood out as a significant stop, one that would be a rich experience yet significantly challenging. The lure of the jungle grew closer as I made my way around the North coast from West to East, and whilst I had no idea what to expect of my time there, I left with one of the most unforgettable experiences of my life. 

There was one other thing I wanted to see besides the jungle - Theatro Amazonas. A visually stunning old theatre smack bang in the middle of town, spilling out in front of it an open square of food stalls, restaurants, bars and nightclubs, filled with locals and tourists alike taking in the atmosphere. 

My interest to visit the Theatre stemmed from watching footage of a performance there by one of my favourite bands, The White Stripes, back in 2005. The Theatre is mainly used for cultural and classical shows and to date it's the only performance there by a rock band. It is surprisingly large as it looks quite cosy on the inside - but full of beautiful sculptures and artwork. During the walking tour we were lucky enough to catch a performance by the local orchestra: 

Teatro Amazonas

I'd barely became comfortable with city of Manaus itself before I begun the journey towards the Amazon. I'd got a bit lucky as there was only one other person on my tour - a girl from Holland named Jolien. She was filming a documentary about her travels, so this was sure to make the experience that little more memorable - plus, I'd have some great footage afterwards! And maybe a mention in the credits ... 

Before reaching the jungle, we made a few stops for photos and to allow the guide to explain some of the more interesting facets of the Amazon. The speedboat out of Manaus took us to the "Meeting of the Waters", where due to a number of environmental factors (e.g. speed and pH level of the two waters), the brown water of the Amazon river cuts a visible divide with the black water of the Rio Negro river. 

The Meeting of the Waters

A change of boats and then another hour or so on a speedboat, and we had reached our lodge. It was simple accommodation - no electricity (except for when the generator was running, which was for about an hour each night) and barely any water - but it was enough. The host was extremely friendly and served us up some great meals - the first being a buffet of rice, beans, salad and armadillo. 

In the evening, we went fishing for piranhas and caught a Caiman (a species of crocodile), then retired to our rooms, where we found one of these waiting for us: 

In the morning our speedboat sprung a leak so we couldn't go out for the sunrise. So we had breakfast at the lodge and then did some more fishing and bird watching. In the afternoon we trekked for a couple of hours in the jungle, where we learned about what could and couldn't kill us if we went near it or ate it. We tried worms, Brazil nuts (in Brazil they just call them nuts), drank water from a vine, tasted a natural medicinal cream from a split open tree and swatted hundreds of different bugs off ourselves. 

In the evening we set up camp another hour or two further up the Amazon, and cooked dinner in what was by far the least hygienic meal I've ever had. We took a chicken that had been sitting in the sun for a few hours on our canoe, washed it in the dirty river, cut it on the side of an oar with a knife that was sitting in the bottom of the boat, then boiled it in more river water. 

In saying that, it took so long to prepare that by the time it was ready I was going back for seconds and thirds. Jolien brought desert for us - biscuits dipped in condensed milk, then we took the canoe out for some stargazing. Then it was back to the camp to set up our hammocks. 

By about 2AM we made it to sleep, and I use the term sleep lightly because I kept waking up and seeing gigantic bugs and spiders in my bed, only to realize I was still half asleep and it was only 20 or 30 mosquitos trying to get in. A Taipir came sniffing around our camp at night, but ran away before we could get close enough for a photo. 

Trying to get some sleep

After a couple of hours sleep we got up to take the canoe out to enjoy the sunrise and spot some wild dolphins. Then it was back to the camp for our last, but most frustrating meal in the jungle. All our pots and cutlery were infested by ants at this stage, so we again washed it all in the river then started cooking some pancakes for breakfast. I think we spent at least an hour just getting the fire and water ready to make the coffee and pancakes, and getting bitten by every insect that had come to taste the can of condensed milk. But the conditions made the otherwise basic food taste all the more delicious. 

Julien cooking up our pancakes, or "oil balls" as she called them.

Almost as soon as we finished, it began pouring down and we got absolutely soaked. We took the canoe back to the lodge, constantly scooping out water in the bottom of the boat (the leak wasn't fixed), but our guide assured us we'd take the shortcut back to the lodge. Which was fine until the motor broke and we got lost, so we all chipped in paddling our way to the nearest home to find an old lady who let us rent a spare motor. 

Wet from the rain and sweat, sunburnt, sleep, water and food-deprived, we made it back to the lodge for lunch and a well deserved rest. Although it wasn't over yet, we were to spend another difficult night at a local family's home to see how they lived, and share a few meals with them. 

We arrived there at night, began sifting through our hammocks and mosquito nets to get rid of the leftover bugs, then set them up for our last night of sleep. We prepared a fire and cooked some rice porridge for dinner (it was all we had left), and had a few shots of cachaça to put ourselves to sleep. Again it was only for a couple of hours, and I woke up by falling out of the hammock when I felt something crawling up my back. In doing so I woke the others up, so we took the boat out to appreciate our last sunrise together and spot a few more dolphins. 

Then it was back to the lodge to spend some time with the local family. To be honest, the house was an absolute mess. It was a bit ironic, here we were spending all this money to stay in probably the worst living conditions we'll experience in our life, yet it was the most realistic jungle experience we could get. 

There were about 4 or 5 dogs laying in the yard that barely had the energy to stand up, and there were various other animals roaming around the place - a parrot, a few turtles, some chickens and a couple of ducks. The animals were taking up any space in the backyard that wasn't filled by rubbish or poo. 

The family of 10 or so people slept on the wooden floor, showered and brushed their teeth in the river and didn't eat much for breakfast. They gave most of their food to us. We talked a little in my broken Portuguese, played football and then took some photos. Unfortunately we didn't get to spend a lot of time with them but Jolien seemed to have had an effect on one of the little boys as we saw him shedding a few tears as our canoe left their house. 

Playing football in the backyard

On the way back we stopped at the local community village which had a school, church and a couple more homes. Then it was back to the lodge for our final lunch goodbyes. The host had another group arriving and I honestly can't fathom how this is his job - living off practically nothing and rarely getting a day's break. 

Tired, burnt, hungry, thirsty, sleep deprived, bites everywhere, clothes sweaty and smelly, dirty, we made the trip back to Manaus. It was such an exhausting, yet unimaginably rich experience, one that I was lucky to spend with a knowledgeable and humble guide who did everything to look out for us, and a very interesting and down to earth friend who was perfect company for an experience like this. It was one of those things you don't truly get to enjoy until it's over, but I will never forget it. 

Last day at the lodge with our guide Adil and Jolien

Belém, Brazil

Before arriving in Belém, I was a little afraid I’d given myself too much time there. It wasn’t a city I’d heard of before this trip, nor one of the host cities of the World Cup last year. Yet I was about to spend 10 nights there - close to, if not the longest amount of time I’ve spent in a single city since arriving in Brazil.

It was in Belém that I had to apply with the Federal Police to extend my tourist visa, and knowing how brazil operates (especially in the north) I expected this to be an arduous process. But in almost typical Brazil fashion - I was surprised to be granted an extra two months in the country after only a brief conversation with a lady at the federal police and the handover of a few documents. Problem solved within my first few hours of arriving!

I had previously sent a few Couchsurfing requests to be hosted, and fortunately I was accepted by a local named Lucas. Lucas was an easygoing guy, and we shared a few common interests - beer and football. The first night I arrived, we went to his friends house to watch a Copa Libertadores match, and another night was spent at Amazon Beer in Estação das Docas to sample a few of Belém’s Amazonian flavoured craft beers. Lucas also introduced me to his friends Letícia and Suzane - who were extremely welcoming and went to every effort to make sure I made the most of my time in Belém.

Almost every day they would pick me up from the hostel and drive me around the city, sampling any kind of food I felt the hunger for, then drop me back at the hostel at the end of the night. I bombarded my stomach with every kind of national and local delicacy on offer - Tacacá (a very strong shrimp soup that also makes your mouth numb), Maniçoba (similar to feijoada), Pupunha (a small fruit), Tapioca, Guarana, Cachaça shots (with a chaser of soup, very weird!), unsweetened açai with fish, and a range of natural fruit juices and ice creams. Eventually my bowels had decided it was too much and well, you can guess what happened.

Amongst all the eating, I did manage to squeeze in some sightseeing. I visited Mangal das Garças to enjoy the sunset with Letícia and Suzane, then came back again a few days later with Josué (another friend from Couchsurfing) to take some more photos. We then took a boat ride around the docks of Belém and were treated to some local music and dance.

I also reached a minor milestone on my trip whilst in Belém - three months on the road. It’s crazy to think how quickly more than a quarter of my trip has already passed - and all in one country. But I guess looking back I’ve managed to squeeze quite a bit in. It just so happened that on 3 months to the day, Suzane and I went out for a nice dinner, which was fitting. She even managed to squeeze a free cake out of the waitress by telling her it was my birthday!

The last couple of nights in Belém I spent with Leticícia and Suzane - we ate a lot more food, ice cream and guarana, and also made time to check out some local bands at a bar, and go swimming at a nearby water park (even though it was cloudy and raining all day, the Brazilians seemed to love it). 

Although worn out from so much eating and sightseeing, I was really sorry to leave these girls behind. They had been the main reason I was able to enjoy such a long time in this city, and we genuinely got along like we’d been friends for years.

São Luís, Brazil

Arriving in São Luís, I felt a bit disappointed - there didn't seem to be much to do in this city, so I was glad I only booked one night at the hostel. Although, I had a great lunch at Restaurant Senac (A chef school that offers a buffet lunch of local dishes) and then spent the afternoon walking around the Historic Centre.

On Friday morning I took the bus from Sao Luis to Barreirinhas, the main entry point for tours into Lençóis Maranhenses National Park. During breakfast I made friends with Matthieu, a guy from Montreal who was making the same trip, and we decided to stay at a hostel in Barreirinhas with Assi, a girl from Finland who I met in Pipa. It was great to have some company for a few days, especially while travelling through these remote cities where there's not a great deal to do, and few people speak English.

Upon arrival at our hostel in Barreirinhas, Matthieu and I took a tour to Lençóis for the afternoon. It was an hour or so on the back of a 4WD, then a walk up a sand dune to reach the summit. When you get to the top, the only way I could describe it was either walking on clouds or something out of Jack and the Beanstalk. It really feels like somewhere you've never been before. We spent the afternoon walking around the dunes, swimming in the lagoons and taking pictures - which kind of felt like a waste of time as any picture wouldn't do the place justice. We stayed for sunset then took the 4WD back to the hostel.

The next day we took another 4WD to Atins, a small fishing village (even more remote) close to the beach. This was where the relaxing really began. There was no phone reception, sometimes no power at all, and we spent all of our time either at the beach, on a hammock or at the restaurant across the road. It was really nice to get away to a place that felt so far away, but in saying that I was also ready to move back towards civilization a bit come the next day!

We left Matthieu in Atins and came back to Barreirinhas for one more night, then Assi and I went out for dinner as it was her last proper meal in Brazil before returning home.

I must be really falling into the groove of travelling now as none of the discomforts of these remote places (Frogs in the shower, ducks running around the hostel, hot and humid weather with no air conditioning) seem to bother me that much anymore...

Jericoacoara, Brazil

After being on holiday for almost 3 months, a relaxing getaway wasn't exactly what I needed (or deserved), but my travels around the northern coast of Brazil brought me to a quaint little town called Jericoacoara.

Since it is relatively unknown to many people outside of Brazil, I've borrowed an introduction from Wikitravel:

Jericoacoara is a small fishing village cum beach hippie mecca in Ceará, Brazil, some 300 km west of Fortaleza. It is a place removed from the hurried modern world of screeching sirens, maniac deadlines, traffic jams and endless lineups. A place where streets are paved with sand, where beaches stretch as far as the eye can see and where warm water marries with palm swaying breezes. Until about 20 years ago, Jericoacoara was still a secluded and simple fishing village. There were no roads, no electricity, no phones, no TV's, no newspapers, and money was rarely used.

So you can imagine it's a pretty relaxing place to be. Upon check in to my hostel I put my bags down, and met up with a tour guide for a free walk to Pedra Furuda to catch the sunset. The contrasting landscapes of sweeping sandy beaches on one side and rolling green hills not unlike an Australian farm (it reminded me of childhood trips with my family to Bridgetown) was beautifully calming.

The next two days I spent exploring distant beaches, dunes and lagoons either side of Jeri, and as a result I left with a pretty sweet tan. Initially I was set on travelling from Jeri towards Barreirinhas (with the goal of visiting Lençóis Maranhenses National Park), however I soon found out it was going to be a pain in the backside to organise. It would've involved multiple buses and layovers in tiny cities I had no knowledge of, and in the end I was lucky enough to find a cheap flight from Fortaleza to São Luís, rendering the bus trip useless.

So here I am back in Fortaleza for one night with an early morning flight tomorrow. I'll make the trip to Barreirinhas and Lençóis from São Luis, and hopefully sort out my visa extension so I can (legally) continue my circle of Brazil.

Fortaleza, Brazil

The hot weather, beautiful beaches and delicious food continued in Fortaleza as I continued to make my around Brazil’s northern coastline.

Whilst a big city, I only spent 4 nights here as I’m eager to get started on the trail towards Manaus - i.e. Jericoaoara, Barreirinhas, Lençóis National Park, São Luis and Belém. I’m trying to strike a balance between being able to spend as much time in each place as I like, and making sure I’m at a suitable city to see the Federal Police and extend my tourist visa, which runs out on June 2.

On Thursday I took another tour of some beautiful beaches on the back of a buggy - Morro Branco and Canoa Quebrada. This type of tour seems to be the norm in most cities I visit in the north. Whilst on the tour, we had to form smaller groups and yet again NO ONE spoke English! But lucky enough I was offered by a nice Brazilian guy to join him and his family. We only spoke in very broken Portuguese over the course of the day but it was nice to have a group of people to enjoy the experience with.

Finding good food and coffee being one of my favourite hobbies on this trip, I decided to take a walk around the Varjota district, which is supposed to be famous for its abundance of cafes and restaurants. It didn’t disappoint and I found myself returning the next day to visit Amika Coffee House, and then Recanto da Varjota for their superb meats and salad. To top it off, I treated myself to an ice cream from San Paolo. Brazilian’s seem to have a bit of a fetish with Nutella, so I opted for the Nutella Ice cream with Kit Kat, Brownie, and M&M filling - and it’s safe to say I’ve rarely had so much enjoyment from food in that small space of time (Mum: besides your cooking of course!).

On Friday night I went out with some new friends (friends of Sálua whom I met in Salvador), but the shots of Cachaça left me with a rotten hangover on Saturday morning. So off to the beach again it was to try and shake it off. Simone and Alfredo (both who work at the hostel) took me to Praia do Futuro - a beautiful surfing beach lined with restaurants and beach clubs. We spent the afternoon looking out across the water, sipping on coconut water and listening to music - a superb way to cure my hangover and end my time in Fortaleza.