Today we woke up to sunshine, and the beauty of the island really took over. The first thing you notice is that you are surrounded by huge, lush mountains in all directions. It is really something to see. After a quick breakfast at the pousada and some packing (I, of course, had very little to pack), we were off. Our destination was Praia Lopes Mendes. Our hike to the beach ended up taking almost two hours up and down huge mountains, across incredible serene beaches, and through some seriously dense jungles. This is definitely a perfect place for those who love the outdoors and love to hike. Every beach that we came to shocked me more and more. The water is clear, the beaches are perfect, and there are very, very few people there (some beaches had no one). I couldn´t help but think of the movie The Beach as we were making our journey. I wondered if the people know how lucky they are. People search the world trying to find beaches like this, and here these people are getting it done with almost nothing. Their resourcefulness makes me feel like they deserve everything they have.
We finally arrived at Lopes Mendes. It is a very beautiful and long beach with some incredible surf. My friend Ernesto and I grabbed our boards and headed out. This was the reward for all of our troubles! The sets were around eight feet, and we were only two of the four people out there. It is definitely a special feeling to be in the water with so few people all the while looking around and seeing nothing but some of the most incredible and untouched scenery in the world. The locals say that about 10 times a year the surf at Lopes Mendes is as good as Bali with the water being just as clear, and I had no problem believing it. We scored for about two hours and then decided to head back. After a short hike across one mountain, we took a boat back to Abraao, which is where we are staying. Everyone crashed for awhile and then we headed out for some dinner. We ended up watching the Lakers get killed at a little bar. After meeting some locals, we discovered that there was a party at one of the hostels (who would have thought?). It was really cool. The bar is a little tiki hut on the ocean with lots of cool lights and a small natural pool (basically a enclosed section of the ocean) so it was really fun to see. This seems to be a big travel destination for a lot of backpackers from Europe. They were in full force at the bar having a blast, but I couldn´t help think of how different things are back in Floripa. Anyway, we had a few drinks and called it a night...but not everyone slept alone (I´m not naming names!).
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