Tanzanian Safari Days 3 & 4 - Serengeti

Thomas is our driver & guide. He's been working as a guide for 20 years, so he knows Serengeti like the palm of his hand. Amazing eyesight. From hundreds of km away he points at something that for our untrained eyes looks like a stone, and it is a lion. Or we would spot an animal in the distance, trying to figure out what it is: not a giraffe's neck, not an elephant's trunk... He already calls it an antelope impala female. We think he is making it up, but when we get closer, sure enough, it is antelope, impala and female. He is very good. Most guides we've seen around seem to be the same. Sometimes we find another vehicle in front of a tree, and only when we pull out the binoculars we can start to see a leopard through the leaves.

But then this other vehicle stops by. Tourist heads appearing through the open rooftop, and asking us (who also had our heads out through the top) what and where it is. The guide rolls down the window and asks Thomas the same questions. He is the first one we've seen that needs help like that. As he winds his window back up, Thomas rolls his eyes and says to us: "he used to be the cook, and started guiding only in December". So we are finding out that in the safari society, cooks are a lesser species than guides. But there are examples of people moving up a caste.

In days 3 & 4, we spent our time in Serengeti. Managed to see more elephants, giraffes, lions (including females and cubs), another leopard, and a cheetah. In the picture there is a female lion. We got really close to her. She was awake, looking out for a potential meal. Thankfully, the Land Rover with 4 poking heads wearing digital cameras didn't look appetizing to her.

Tonight we are staying at a hotel on Ngorongoro crater's rim. Fabulous view. Tomorrow is the last day. We will go down to the crater, and then back to Arusha. We are enjoying the safari more than I expected.

Mercedes

Tanzanian Safari Days 1 & 2 - Manyara & Serengeti

We left Mombasa on Monday. Like all Kenyan departures it was exactly on time at 7am. The trip turned out to be longer than expected. It took 9 hours to get to Arusha including the Kenya-Tanzania border crossing at a remote town with dusty roads.

Several bus companies make this route, and they stop at several places along the way to pick up and drop off passengers. Companies try to be first at each stop and fight for passengers waiting to board. In one case, a woman was literally being pulled by two competing bus conductors, who were later joined by friends and allies on both sides. Eventually the lady fought her way free, and the mob begun fighting among themselves. Our company didn't get that passenger.

The bus made good progress until 80 km from our destination, where the vehicle begun overheating. To fix it, the bus would stop every few km and the conductor would pour water into the radiator under a lid, conveniently located next to his seat. We were sitting on the first row, and experiencing the sauna effect produced by the steam coming out of the radiator. Finally, we and our bags reached Arusha, completely covered in dust.

On Tuesday morning we met our driver/guide and our fellow travelers, a couple from Norway, and set off in an extended Land Rover. After 2 hours of sealed roads we reached Lake Manyara National Park. The park is very compact and had lots of animal life that we could see up close. We spotted elephants, giraffes, zebras, buffalos, impalas, baboons, velvet and blue monkey, hippos, wildebeest, and several colorful birds. No big cats in this park. Lake Manyara is not a famous park, but rather a stopping-off place on the way to Serengeti. However, we really liked it because it had such a variety of animals in such a small area. That night we slept in a hotel that had a beautiful view over Lake Manyara.

Wednesday was day 2 starting at 8am. We headed up to Serengeti via the Ngorongoro crater. We will visit the crater on our last day, but today we drove by it, and were able to see a spectacular view from the crater rim. Continuing on our way, we saw several Maasai tribes people tending their cattle and goats. They wear colorful clothes, usually in bright red and/or blue. They are nomads and we passed by their temporary villages.

After two and a half hours we reached Serengeti, and after a picnic lunch we started our game drive inside the park. Very different environment from Lake Manyara: endless plains, very few trees, animals widely scattered, and hotter. We saw many of the same animals from the prior day. In addition we saw lions, leopards, hyenas, different types of antelopes and gazelles.

It seems that lions sleep 20 hours a day, and hunt the other 4. We spotted a couple of lions sleeping behind a tree under the oppressive mid-afternoon sun. We drove just in front of one (see picture), who was woken up by the engine. However, continuing his siesta was more inviting than a meal of white tourists with cameras. He didn't flinch, the most movement we got was the opening of his eyes.

We also saw a leopard having lunch on top of a tree. It seems that they like the tranquility of trees to eat their prey and sleep. After a few bites, he made himself comfortable on a branch and got ready for a little nap. Leopards are harder to spot, so every sighting congregates all the vehicles in the park. We had a little traffic jam in front of this tree.

So far, we've seen four of the so called "Big Five". We saw lion, leopard, elephant, and buffalo. The only one missing is rhino, the most difficult to find because of poaching. There are none left in Serengeti, but we hope to see one in Ngorongoro crater.

Tomorrow we will have another full day in Serengeti. We will be looking for cheetahs.

Mercedes

Mombasa and surroundings

My recovery from the cold involved a couple of easy days in Mombasa, when I stayed mostly inside the hotel room, and a tour out snorkeling, which, I've discovered, is the perfect sport for those with a cold since you don't have to breathe through your nose, and can cough freely.
We managed to visit Mombasa's old town, a maze of streets and houses dating from the first arab settlements in the region. People are extremely friendly in this town because there are not that many tourists around. Most tourists stay out of town in the nearby beach resorts, so Mombasa itself is not setup to cater too many tourists. Locals are just happy to see you around, and greet you saying "jambo". The city itself is not that pretty and it doesn't have too many eating options. However, I'm glad we stayed there because it felt like we had it for ourselves and we were closer to locals' daily life.
The main historic attraction of Mombasa is Fort Jesus built by the Portuguese in the XVI century. That was before they were kicked out by the Omani arabs, and later the English. It is now a museum, and it has some nice views. Picture shows the inside of the fort and the sea behind.
On Saturday a van drove us 100km south to Kisite Marine Park. This is a stone-throw away from the border with Tanzania. Then a dhow took us around a few islands, we spotted several dolphins, and got in the water for amazing snorkeling. Fish of every shape, size, and color, and lots of different corals. The tour included a seafood lunch with crabs, lobster, and fish, and a short walk through the small village in Wasini island. Very nice experience; highlight was the top notch snorkeling.
On Sunday we took a matatu to Mombasa's public beach, just north of city, on the mainland. Quite a few tourists, and some locals enjoying the beach on a VERY hot day. We walked along the sand. Sunday is our last day in Kenya. Kwa heri.
Tomorrow Monday we are taking an early bus across the border to a town called Arusha in Tanzania, from where we'll start our safari on Tuesday.
Kenya rocks. People were great (in Nairobi touts were a pain in the back, though), it is easy to communicate, prices were relatively good, and the shore proved to be wonderful. We could have stayed a lot longer visiting so many other parts of the country, but it is time to move on.
Mercedes

Lamu - sailing

Tuesday was our last day in Lamu. We hired a dhow, i.e. a sail boat, no engine, just wind power, for most of the day. It was the two of us and a crew of 4 (they need a few people moving around their weight and managing the sail, etc.) The whole idea of sailing in any direction when the wind blows only one way seems like magic to me, and it was very neat to see these guys maneuver the dhow. Wind is good around Lamu, so we were moving quite fast.
First we stopped to fish our lunch. After an hour we figured that we were not going to catch anything, so we headed to a beach in an island called Manda, just opposite to Lamu. The crew found a shade on the beach where they cooked lunch consisting of rice, vegetables, and a couple of small fish that they had bought in the market in case we didn't catch anything (thank God there was a plan B). After lunch, swimming, and just resting in the shade because it was hot, we headed back to Lamu. The beach was very nice, but the highlight of the experience was the sail boat.
That night we went to a restaurant to try swahili food, which has quite a bit of Indian influence, e.g., samosas, chapati, bismati, pilau.
On Thursday we took a 1pm bus, which we almost missed. This is what happened: the bus departs from the terminal on the mainland; to get there passengers take a 30-minute boat from Lamu. Somehow, the boat left without us and everybody was trying to convince us to take a speed boat, instead, that cost 10 times more. We didn't like that idea. Finally, we crammed ourselves on a slow boat with locals, and arrived at the mainland at 5' past 1pm. We barely reached the bus before it left, but we were scolded by the driver and received angry looks from the passengers for being late. Geeeh, 5' late! They don't give you such a hard time even in European trains. I guess everybody really wanted us to spend the money on the speed boat. Well, we dodged that bullet. The cost: we were seated at the back on a seat that jumped twice as much with every pothole, and our luggage was stored in the compartment that got all the dust from the road. When we took it out, we couldn't recognize it, it had a thick layer of dust. Yeah, the first couple of hours was a dusty road (outside and inside the bus). It was one of those rides where we didn't want to smile, to avoid ending up with black teeth. After 6 hours of heat and potholes we arrived to Mombasa. Dirty, but relieved.
I thought they were a Thai exclusivity, but I was wrong: Mombasa has tuk-tuks, the cheapest means of transportation. It's even called 'tuk-tuk'. We took one to our hotel, the New Palm Tree, near the city center. Best thing about the hotel: it has hot water, yeah! To finish the day, we had dinner in a nice Indian restaurant. We deserved a treat.
Unfortunately, I have to report that I have a cold. Can't understand where I caught it. I guess I'll take it easy today, I should feel better by tomorrow. Everything else is 'sawa'.
I've tried to attach a picture of Lamu's jetty, let's see if it gets uploaded. Mercedes

Lamu and Shela

Lamu and Shela sound like a couple; they are, in fact, a couple of towns, a few kms apart, on an island off the Kenyan NE coast.

This is our first immersion in swahili culture. The island's main industry is tourism, so no cars, no motorbikes, just donkeys and walking. To get here, we took a flight from Nairobi, from the airport walked 500m to a jetty, and hopped on a little boat that took us from airport island (Manda) to hotel island (Lamu) in 10 minutes. Mainly muslim, Lamu island has lots of beaches, but few swimming suits. Fortunately, there are a few beaches were tourists are allowed to wear their skimpy bikinis/speedos and get in the water. Priceless because it is really hot around here. Currently not high season meant that we had more sq meters of sand to ourselves than in any other beach we've been before. And it is very pretty, clear water and white sand.

We are staying in Amu House in Lamu, and old house renovated to be a small hotel of 6 rooms. There's no air con or hot water, but it is comfortable. High ceilings and a fan replace the air con. As for the hot water, you just stand under the sun for a minute and a cold shower is all you dream of.

The town seems middle-eastern in that it has very narrow streets, flanked by 3-story tall buildings, so the sun cannot hit the streets. Need to be careful when walking not to step on donkey's poo, or be run over by one. We also noted that in Kenya there are more pictures of Obama than in the U.S.

That's all we have to report for now. Apologies, but somehow we are having trouble uploading pictures. Tomorrow we plan to take a boat to a beach on a nearby island (where swimming and bikinis are also allowed).

Mercedes

Nairobi - 'Karibu' to Africa

Arrived in Africa, and I have a picture of a giraffe to prove it. We've just been 24 hours in Nairobi. We slept many of those hours, and then set out to walk around the city centre. We passed the local market where most vendors were selling red roses today. Kenyans embrace Valentine's Day; I've never seen so many people walking around with roses.



I'm going on a tangent here, but it was a cultural shock after being in Brazil, where people wear the least amount of clothing possible, to come to Kenya where you can rarely see a naked shoulder.



Later in the afternoon, we managed to take a 'matatu' (local minivan that works similar to a bus) and reached the Langata Giraffe Centre. We were able to feed one, and then spotted another giraffe while walking on a trail.



At night, we followed the recommendations from the people in the know and headed to a restaurant called 'Carnivore' for dinner. Chicken, turkey, beef, pork, crocodile, ostrich, you name the game, espeto corrido style. We hadn't had any food since breakfast, so I think we eat enough to get our money's worth. There's a dance floor to help digest after dinner. Awesome music, a mix of Beyonce, Rihanna, and African favorites. And everybody knows how to move. Loved it.



After shaking it, we headed to our hotel. Around 1am. Tomorrow we are taking a mid-day flight to Lamu. Started Africa with the right foot...

Mercedes



PS: dancing must be good for my bruises, it makes me forget they are there.

Brasil A Deus

After a few days in Floripa, a week in Rio, a handful of days in Paraty, and 9 hours in Sampa, now it is time to say goodbye to Brazil (and South America). Each place left special memories.

In Florianopolis I spent my birthday with mom, aunt and uncle.

Rio is one of the most amazing cities in the world. Beautiful setting with forest and beaches, lots of cultural activities, and laid back people (some could argue, too laid back) that like to dance samba. Picture this: on Superbowl Sunday, a Kiwi and an Argie, went to an Irish Pub in Ipanema to watch American Football's biggest game, while sipping a caipira made with Scandinavian vodka. Can't ask for more from a city. Staying in the old and still not too gentrified neighborhood of Santa Teresa was a big contributor to our wonderful experience. I need to thank my cousin Teresa, who by now is half Brazilian, for this and many other tips.

Paraty was beautiful in a different way: colonial town in a bay with green sea water and white sand beaches.

As for Sao Paulo, well, we were there for only 9 hours, arriving at 5AM after a bad night sleep on the bus, on a mostly rainy day. It is a huge city. Picture shows Simon in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral, also huge. So after a brief walk through the old part of town, the Asian section, and the famous Avenida Paulista, we spent time indoors in the MASP (SP's Museum of Art) and the metro. Our flight to Africa departed at 6PM. Exhausted, slept most of it.

But when I look back and try to choose the most lasting memory of Brazil, I come back to Wednesday, our last day in Paraty. Simon and I rented a pair of bikes and rode to the hills in search of a couple of "cachoeiras", Brazilian for waterfalls. First we climbed a steep paved road to the "Tobogao", a waterfall where people, Simon included, slid down a rock. I was not courageous enough to do it. Then we went to another waterfall called "Pedra Blanca". The road to it was just as steep as the first one, but unpaved. Hard work. The mountain bikes where great, but our legs couldn't deal with every climb, and so we had to get off and push the bikes several times. It was all worth it, at the end we reached a waterfall with fresh cool water. So excited I was of getting into the cold water and getting rid of my biking sweat that I kicked a rock under the water and ended up with scratches and a swollen ankle. Not a big deal. However, on the way back into town, we had another accident. Our camera was assassinated by a flying biker that fell off the bike onto the camera in her pocket. My hardworked suntan is now spoiled by a few scratches on my leg and a swollen square-shaped (coincidentally, the size of a camera) black-and-blue on my left leg. If you worry about me limping, wait until you see the camera, I never knew I could smash something like that. No pictures no more...

Well, now we are in an airport waiting for our flight to Nairobi, let's hope for fewer scratches and less swollen body parts in Africa's part of the tour. We have been on the move since we left Paraty on Wednesday night, so we are really looking forward to a bed tonight. Mooreland Hotel is where we have a reservation, and that's the only thing I can think about right now. All else is fine.

Mercedes

Paraty

We are enjoying Paraty very much. Yesterday we took a trip on a schooner out into the bay beyond the town. There are lots of small islands with beaches accessible only by boat. It was a perfect day - the sun shone, the water was sparkling blue-green, we shared the huge boat with just a few other people, there was relaxing Brazilian background music ... We stopped now and again for swimming and snorkelling off the boat, and to visit a few quiet beaches. All very relaxing and low-key. The five hours seemed to pass very quickly.

With time to spare on our return, we jumped on to a local bus and headed out to Trindad where there are several more ocean beaches. The bus trip was pretty wild (in fact more of an adrenalin rush than our recent hang-gliding in Rio) as the driver careered the large bus around blind corners at high speed. Then only consolation was that the bus was bigger than anything coming the other way. We were glad to reach the relative tranquility of the Trindad beaches and we hiked around them to a natural swimming hole which was protected from the crashing waves elsewhere. Back to Paraty before the rain caught up with us. It seems to rain torrentially for one or two hours every night in Paraty and the cobblestone streets flood severely. But everything dries out by morning and the sun appears again.

On Wednesday, our last day in Paraty, we rented bikes and cycled up behind the town. It was a hard slog uphill in the heat through a few small villages. We ended up at a large waterfall known in Brazilan as the "slide" where we took the opportunity to cool off in the water. And to see if the slide lived up to its name (it did). On the return journey, we detoured onto a dirt road where we really put our mountain bikes to the test. We reached another waterfall where we spent time again cooling down before the final stretch back to town. Again, we arrived ahead of the evening rain and happy with our experience in Paraty. Tonight, we begin our long series of journeys via Sao Paolo to reach Nairobi on Friday night. That is the next time we'll see a bed.

Simon

Paraty

We are slowly making our way down the coast from Rio towards Sao Paolo and have stopped for a few days at Paraty, a small coastal village surrounded by fantastic white sand beaches and a gulf of small islands. It is a very old village with a historic section of cobblestoned streets, lots of small churches, whitewashed buildings and no cars. It was an important place during the days of Brazil's gold trade, since it served as the port from which much of the gold was shipped to other parts of the world (especially Portugal!).

We spent our first day here by taking a public bus a little further down the coast to an area where there are many secluded beaches. Some are accessible only by hiking trail or boat, so we chose the hiking option and, after just an hour or so, found ourselves on a pristine beach with barely a handful of other beachgoers and a few vendors selling drinks and snacks. We hiked still further to a beach which is even more remote - the occasional surfer and no vendors at all. A complete step change from the Rio's bustling main beaches. The day was very warm but the water was refreshing. Just what we needed.

Simon

Rio de Janeiro

Still enjoying Rio after 3 days and more to do. We started Thursday with a visit to Rio's main modern art gallery. It has a great location close to the waterfront. The permanent collection is a little piecemeal because fire destroyed the original collection some years ago. It is being rebuilt with substantial help from artists and other galleries who have donated works. The most captivating works by far, however, were not from the permanent collection but from a special exhibition of Brazil's Vik Munis. We spent a couple of hours looking at the exhibition - extremely innovative in use of materials and media. Works ranged from old masters repainted with food products to giant sketches created in the desert using a mechanical digger. We were surprised not to have heard of this artist before.

Next it was on to a live musical performance which seemed to wrap up every vintage favourite of samba into one presentation. Because of the time of day, the audience was mostly elderly - and they knew all the old songs, and even sang along. Somehow the promoters managed to cobble together almost 100 songs into one 90 minute performance, and with only a handful of performers. Their stamina was very impressive.

This got us properly into the samba mood and, later that evening, we went to a bar to hear the latest samba music from members of one of the samba schools preparing for Carneval in a few weeks. The drumming is highly addictive. There is very little melody and it seems that just about any lyrics will work. The samba school people we saw were from the Santa Teresa area, and we were able to appreciate all the references to the cable car, since we'd been using it every day.

Friday was our day for hang gliding. We went with instructors up a hill behind one of the ocean beaches and, almost before they gave us a chance to get nervous about how high it was, we were running off the lanch pad and into flight. We each flew tandem with an instructor (who really did all the work). It was very peaceful circling down over the beach - not an adrenalin rush at all -and the views were excellent. One of us landed perfectly, and the other less perfectly. But no injuries and our only regret was that it was all over too quickly. We spent the rest of the day visiting Ipanema and Copacabana beaches. Crowded with beautiful and not-so-beautiful people. However, the sun was brutal and we couldn't sit on the beaches for long. Eventually, we retreated to the air-conditioning of a movie theatre to watch a new release from Argentina.

Saturday began with a long drive up the hills to Tijuca, a national park which is essentially in the middle of Rio. From the end of the road we hiked steadily upwards through semi-tropical forest for about an hour. It was sweltering and the trail got tougher and tougher until we were climbing hand over hand using metal loops bolted into the rocks. Our reward was a fantastic view of the surrounding area including beaches. The only shortcoming was that we didn't know quite what we were looking at. But we enjoyed the panaroma anyway. Back to Ipanema for street samba party - this was no glitzy show but the authentic samba/ Carneval experience which is probably replicated in every neighbourhood. A band leading crowds of dancing, drinking locals through the streets. Everyone seemed to be having a good time.

But we wanted more. So in the evening, we went to the sambadrome to see a couple of samba schools practise their full routine for Carneval. Although the Carneval takes place in the streets, the sambadrome has been purpose-built around the main street to improve access and visibility. Basically, there are permanent grandstands, lots of stadium lighting, and even corporate boxes, on both sides of the street. We had a great vantage point to see the practise sessions. Very colourful, very noisy, thousands of participants of every age and ethnicity. Carneval is obviously very inclusive!

Simon

Rio de Janeiro - Cidade Maravilhosa

We have had 3 busy days in Rio and like the city very much. We arrived on Sunday night and found our way to our hotel in St Teresa, a hill suburb behind Rio's downtown area and inner bay. We had an immediate encounter with Carneval activity, even though Carneval is several weeks away - our route was blocked by a traffic jam around one of the many practice sessions which each of the participating bands puts on.

St Teresa is a quaint area with loads of character. Old buildings, grand and not so grand, cling to the side of the hill. Almost all of them seem to have fantastic views. Access is up a series of steep, narrow, cobble-stoned streets (which taxi drivers seem to use to test their Formula 1 skills) or by cable car (bondinho). It is some distance from the tourist beach hot spots of Ipanema and Copacabana and a perfect location for exploring the city.

On our first full day, we walked around the downtown area, a fascinating mix of modern architecture - such as the dramatic metropolitan cathedral - and heritage buildings from colonial times - such as the old Santo Antonio Convent, the amazing Real Gabinete Portugues de Leitura reading room with bookshelves of very old and valuable leather-bound books towering maybe 10 metres high, and the huge Confeitaria Colombo coffee shop with furnishings which represented the height of opulence 100 years ago (and still looks pretty good today). Then we crossed Rio's inner bay by ferry to Niteroi. We had thought that this was an island because it is connected by an extremely long road bridge - in fact, however, we found that Niteroi is really part of the mainland and the road bridge is just a short-cut. It has its own relatively quiet beaches and many, many apartment buildings. A much more populated area than we had expected. One of the Niteroi highlights was to be a visit to a contemporary art collection housed in a flying-saucer shaped building on a prominent cliffside. Unfortunately, the collection was closed, but the trip was worth it just to admire the building from the outside.

The next day we took advantage of what we thought was clear weather to go up to the top of Corcovado (Hunchback) where the famous statue of Christ the Reeemer stands. The journey up is by electric cog railway and offered great views of Rio and the beaches in several directions. It is a very impressive piece of engineering. When we reached the top, the clouds were not fully cooperating. We had to be content with partial views of the panaroma below, but we were not disappointed. And the Christ statue itself was a captivating work. The panorama gave us a better understanding of how the city has developed into every little pocket of space between the hills, while the hills themselves remain green and largely free of any buildings. We came back down the mountain and went around to Rio's botannical garden, a nice collection of trees and plants representative of the area. It was very hot, with temperatures consistently 32C or more. Finally we walked, via a beautiful lagoon (Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas), to Ipanema, arguably Rio's prime beach. It was early evening and we thought we might catch one of those famous sunsets. Well, not this time, but we really enjoyed the beach anyway. The surf seemed huge and the beach was wide and white. There were a lot of people there, many of them playing or training for beach volleyball, which seems to be taken very seriously indeed. There were several other net and ball games as well, and long stretches of the beach resembled a sports arena with back-to-back playing fields. We spent the rest of the evening checking out some of Ipanema's night life. It is a very lively place, maybe the liveliest part of Rio.

Wednesday was our lucky day for views. First a visit to Museu Chacara do Ceu, the mansion-turned-museum of a wealthy art collector. Not only was the art collection impressive (mostly Brazilian and contemporary) but the location of the museum was also striking. It occupies a hilltop site with commanding views in all directions. On to Pao de Acucar (Sugarloaf) where we took the cable car to the summit. It is not as high as Corcovado but the views were spectacular, and it was a very clear day, so we could enjoy the panorama at its best. From downtown to the ocean beaches, we could see everything, and we marvelled at how the city has scattered itself all around the hills. It seems as if just about everyone has a view or a beachfront or both. Rio is one of those cities with a tremendous scenic location - and one of the few which has used the location to full advantage. We came back down from the peak and did a little walking around a coastal trail before retreating to the air-conditioning of a nearby movie theater to see the latest Woody Allen movie - we have been chasing it around the world for months.

We rounded out the day with a trip to the Maracana football stadium to watch an evening match featuring one of Rio's big clubs, Flamengo. Although there wasn't a huge crowd (it was mid-week), and fan behaviour was better than we had been warned, there was still plenty of atmosphere, both on and off the field of play. Lots of colour and noise. The stadium, which is the largest in South America, was only around 20% full. We could imagine what it would be like with a full house. The game result was a convincing win to Flamengo, the team with by far the most support there.

Simon

Floripa - Mercedes' b-day

After our last asado in BA we went straight to the airport to take a 4am flight to Florianopolis, Brazil. We were leaving behind my country, but not my family. My mom, aunts, and uncle were waiting for us in Brazil. Like every summer, they were staying in a holiday house 100m from a beach called Jurere... After all, our Thai suntans were wearing off and a touch-up was needed.

Saturday was my birthday, so we spent it in a family environment. Can't complain: after breakfast we headed to the beach, hot and sunny day, for lunch we went to a beach restaurant where we ate boiled oysters fresh from the sea (when I say fresh, I mean that we ordered, saw the boat leave and come back, and subsequently the oysters arrived to our table), siesta, for dinner we were spoiled with calamari and salmon, oh, and the most amazing chocolate-dulce de leche-strawberries cake. Except for Simon, I was surrounded by people double my age... just making sure I feel young even on my birthday. In the picture I'm joined by mom, Jorge, Elvira, Maria Teresa, and Maria Martha.

On Sunday we took a short flight to Rio, and arrived at our lovely hotel Pousada Castelinho 38 in a super cool neighborhood called Santa Teresa.

Mercedes