23 Mar – 25 Mar
I was initially going to take a bus to Buzios, but it just so happened that Dani, Wally and Dario (Brazilian girl and two Argentinian guys I met at the hostel in Rio) were also heading to Buzios, so they insisted that I join them. Such kind and lovely people, not even thinking twice about me tagging along.
It wasn’t too long of a drive there, and soon enough we arrived at the hostel Dani had arranged. It seemed like a decent hostel, so I decided to stay there as well, not having heard back from any of the CouchSurfing hosts I had sent requests to. We headed out for lunch after settling in, and then it was off to the beach!
Beach #1
Buzios, Brazil, Mar 2014
At this point, I was super grateful that I had tagged along, because practically the only attraction in Buzios was the beach, or rather, the one hundred million beaches, each of which was a considerable distance away from the other on foot. But with a car, it was so much easier to get around! Unfortunately, this meant I did not ever figure out the names of the various beaches we went to.
Beach #2
Buzios, Brazil, Mar 2014
In any case, the important thing is that…we went to many beaches!
Beach with red sand
Buzios, Brazil, Mar 2014
Despite somewhat unfavorable weather – kinda chilly, with an annoying drizzle that came and went – we still had fun hanging out at the beach. Or Dani, Wally and Dario did. Personally, I was quite sick of beaches, after the countless beaches (in Floripa, Paraty and Rio) I had visited since I arrived in Brazil, so I was glad I didn’t have to go to much effort to get to these beaches. Still, it was nice, hanging out with the three of them.
Beach #4 – they were a lot more enthusiastic than me about checking out the beaches
Buzios, Brazil 2014
The next day, it was beach, beach and more beach.
More beach
Buzios, Brazil 2014
Oh, and a lake, where Dani and Wallace did stand-up paddle for a bit. At R$30 for 30min, it seemed a little (very!) exorbitant, so Dario and I sat it out. All in all, a pretty nice day.
The Lake! Which also kinda looked like a beach
Buzios, Brazil, Mar 2014
So. My faithful readers (if you exist, HELLO!) would remember that in Paraty, I jumped/fell 12m into a pool and somehow hurt my chest. Despite that being almost two weeks earlier, my chest was still hurting, so I finally decided to go to the hospital to get it checked out. Dani very kindly accompanied me to translate and keep me company, and after getting a chest x-ray done, I was pronounced intact. The doctor said the pain was probably from some bruising, and prescribed some painkillers, and I got an x-ray of my chest as a souvenir!
My healthy chest!
Buzios, Brazil, Mar 2014
After that, it was off to get some delicious burgers – mega monsters with chicken, beef, ham, cheese, eggs, and a whole lot of other stuff, that tasted like heaven exploding in my mouth. Oh yum, I’m starting to drool just thinking about the awesome burgers.
Definitely tasted better than it looked
Buzios, Brazil, Mar 2014
Fed and watered, we headed back to the hostel to pack up, as Dani, Wally and Dario were heading to Arraial do Cabo, and I had decided to take a beard from the endless beaches and head inland to check out Belo Horizonte. Unfortunately for me, there was no was no direct bus from Buzios to Belo Horizonte, so I had to get to a neighboring town, Cabo Frio, to catch the bus. So the next morning, on their way to Arraial do Cabo, Dani and Co. bid me farewell at Cabo Frio, where I had to spend the day – my bus was departing only much later in the evening.
I decided to make full use of my day in Cabo Frio – chucked my backpack at the baggage deposit at the bus station and set out to explore. It is a relatively small city, so I (as usual) walked around, visiting various monuments. A church on top of a hill,
Pretty nice, despite the shit weather
Cabo Frio, Brazil, Mar 2014
with a gorgeous view,
View of the harbour from the top
Cabo Frio, Brazil, Mar 2014
the shopping district where I bought myself a new bikini, my old one having developed a hole in the bum after being abused on the toboggan in Paraty, and (again!) a beach, but this time with a cool fort.
Gloomy skies on the beach
Cabo Frio, Brazil, Mar 2014
The fort was fun to climb around
Cabo Frio, Brazil, Mar 2014
And after a day of walking around Cabo Frio (which sounds like “Cold Finished”), I decided it should be called Cabo Quente (“Heat Finished”) instead, because it was actually quite cold! Still, I had a nice time wandering around town, and after dinner it was time to catch my bus (well actually it wasn’t, but I changed my bus ticket for an earlier one because Brazil is awesome like that and you can change your bus ticket randomly). With that, it was goodbye beaches and hello beautiful horizons in Belo Horizonte!
