Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Garopaba Brazil

I planned to end my trip with a relaxing few days at the beach resort town of Garopaba, in the state of Santa Catarina. I had hoped to do a bit of whale watching and just hang out on the beach. I knew I was early in the season - early spring - so it might not be warm enough to tan on the beach. What I didn't expect was how cold (50F) and rainy it was.

On my first day, I had planned to go take a boat trip to go whale watching. This was the season for the Southern Right Whale. Unfortunately, it was too windy for the boats to go out. I ended up strolling through town in between bursts of rain.

Bistro in Garopaba

Fishing boats


Main cathedral in town


View of town as you walked along the beach
There is a surfing school that practices at the far end of the beach. This surfer decided to brave the cold and rain.

At the end of the beach is a trail that connects Garopaba's beach to the neighboring Siriu beach. I decided to walk the trail and check out the sand dunes on the other side.
If the weather had been nicer, I could have gone boarding down the dunes. That seemed like it would be fun to try. Unfortunately, even after it stopped raining a couple of days later, the sand was still too wet to go boarding on.

On the trail back from Siriu beach, it started pouring rain and I slipped in the mud and twisted my knee. Because it wasn't yet tourist season, there were no taxis to be found. I hobbled back to my room at the Hotel Pousada da Lagoa. The owner, Renato, and his wife took pity on my and invited me to join them for a simple dinner of potato soup and bread with herbed butter. It was a hearty warm soup that really hit the spot.

The next day, it was still cold and rainy, and my knee was swollen to the size of a grapefruit. Renato and his wife drove me around looking for whales. We eventually found some near Imbituba.

We climbed a muddy hill in between rain showers and saw the whales.

Notice the V-shaped blow of the whale. This is typical for Right Whales.


On my last day, I woke up and the sun was out. Figures! I only had about 3 hours before catching my bus to Florianopolis and then my flight back to Sao Paulo to fly back home.
I hobbled around and took in a bit more scenery and watched a few surfers before heading to the bus station.

Despite the cold rainy end, and my swollen achy knee, I had a great time.

I love Brazil!

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