Here I am, in Itacare, thinking about how close to perfect this place is. Were it not for the hordes of mosquitos feasting on my sweet flesh as I write (and read and sleep and walk and lay on the beach), I'd think I had found the best place on earth. Thankfully I have lots of natural repellent, but I do fear that it will run out at the rate I'm using it. I mean, I woke up at 1am to re-apply after feeling about seven bites happen at once!
But really, it is great here. I arrived yesterday after a two-part flight and a long bus ride from Ilheus to here and found a cozy pousada with internet and a very comfy bed. I immediately bought a bikini (hey -- it was on sale for just $20 reals!) and looked at the map to plan today's day on the beach. There are five beaches here. One is a fairly long stretch of beach buffered by a big sand dune/island called Praia de Conchas even though there aren't many conchas (shells) there. The other four are on the other side and are each very small and separated by stretches of rocky cliff/jetties. The surf is better at these beaches, which means there are more surfers on these beaches, which means you can probably guess where I spent the day. I walked through all of the beach accesses on the cobblestone road that goes up and down the hilly coastline to scope things out first and chose Praia Costa in honor of my three favorite Costas: Foca, Ana and Julia. This was a good choice. I found a flat rock to sun on and did my best lagartixa (lizard) impersonation all morning. When I wanted a break from reading, I watched the surfers. And when I wanted a break from the surfers I walked a few feet up to the big empty pool-turned-skate park to watch the guys do their thing there. Needless to say, there were beautiful views every which way I turned.
At about 1:30, when I felt my skin cooking and my stomach calling for lunch, I walked back along the rocks. I encountered some guys who had built a fire within the rocks and were cooking fish. One of them came to talk to me and told me that they stay there to protect the sea turtles that come in at night from turtle hunters. There are no turtles now because they only come when the moon is at a certain stage (when it is waxing, and close to full I think. Right now it is waning.). He invited me out for beers tonight, which I politely declined because I'm not sure what the deal is with going out here at night alone (or with some turtle protector I just met). And anyway, my plan is all beach, all day. I'm not that interested in going out drinking and stumbling home just to be hung over and icky feeling on these lovely beaches.
I ate some delicious acai for lunch and just had a huge plate of fish and rice and beans and salad for dinner ($8 reals, thank you very much!). This morning I went to the bank to withdraw money because I forgot to do so before leaving Brasilia and don't have enough for these two weeks of traveling. I was mortified when I saw that. for no apparent reason, both my debit and credit cards weren't working in the ATM. I found another ATM and tried again, but it wouldn't accept my debit PIN number (it's been so long since I used it, I lost confidence that I was remembering it correctly) and it couldn't read my credit card. I started trying to figure out how I'd pay for lodging and food for the next two weeks on just $250 reals, and planned for lots of fruit meals in super shoddy pousadas. I tried the credit card one last time and lo and behold it worked. Phew.
I haven't taken any pictures yet, and I'm pretty sure I left my cord to upload in Brasilia, so it'll be a while before I can share the beauty of this place. But wow. I'll be here til Friday and then head to Barra Grande, for more beach explorations. I'm working on a bunch of new capoeira songs to pass the time and am spending the night time watching American movies dubbed in Portuguese. Last night was Men in Black 2 (Homems do Preto, Parte Dois). All of this immersion is so fun. I remember last year that when asked for directions in Rio I couldn't understand a single thing that was said to me. Not so this year -- I understand everything!!!
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