MondayMorningMutiny.com

I am sitting in a car driving from Taubate to Ubatuba, a beautiful journey across rolling countryside, over a ridge of small mountains to the coast, the frequency of the rich greens of the foliage increasing as we travel. From a distance, all the flora looks the same. On closer inspection, the variety is revealed and it becomes hard to find two trees of the same type.

From the peak of the pass it is all downhill to Ubatuba. There was a memorable section of road to rival that famous one in San Francisco for all it´s twisting, turning hairpins and sharp gradient. I´m thankful our brakes are reliable.

With surfing out the picture and no banks wanting to accept my card I enjoy a much needed break mostly spent on various beaches. Notably Itamabuca, where the river meets the sea. `Red Beach´ is another, where the crusty sand is like demerara sugar, resting in clumps, crunching underfoot like hot golden snow. These are just two of the 74 beaches and 15 islands along the gorgeous stretch of coastline in and around Ubatuba.

Here I spend 5 days learning Portuguese, eating the delicious Açai and reestablishing a sensible diet, away from the Atkins´ orgy and small farms´ worth of cows I must have devoured so far. Concerned over a lack of vitamins, I consume a variety of fruit based Caipirinhias.

Despite only being away for 2 weeks, it feels like much longer. More like a month. This could be due to the unorthodox `routine´ into which I have settled – sleeping twice daily for 3-5 hours – in the middle of the night and again in the afternoon, unconsciousness being a welcome respite from the constant heat. This would explain the feeling of being away for twice as long, as for each 24 hour period  I have two 8-9h our `days´, interspersed by muggy sleep.

I will have a few more days rest, self administered physio and gentle exercise, then make my way south towards the states of Parana, Santa Catalina and Rio Grande do Sul. After this I will head west, inland across the Pantanal to the voluminous Iguassu Falls and into Argentina.

<<pics to come>>

This entry was posted on February 28, 2007 at 10:54 pm and is filed under Brazil, Photos. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.