Morro do Santo Antonio

Yet again, another late start. I woke up this morning at around 1:15, which was a nice long rest for me. I don't know what I'm going to do when I have to get up earlier than I am now. As expected, I didn't have breakfast because soon after I woke up, lunch was ready. Bruce and Maria joined us for lunch yet again before they trekked back to São Jose dos Campos. We had some delicious pineapple, some of the sweetest you could ever imagine. Perfectly complimenting it was some turkey and rice. I don't think that I have run into anything yet in Brazil that I have not enjoyed!

We got in the car and headed off to what I expected was the beach, but instead we turned towards the mountains that are very close to Caragua. The drive up to Morro do Santo Antonio could probably be categorized as off-roading, even though there was a road. It was nothing short of crazy! It was worth it, though. The view from the top of that mountain was amazing. You could see every single building in Caragua. The statue was breathtaking too, but nothing like the view. We also got a show, we got to watch somebody jump off of the top of the mountain to go paragliding. Apparently it is the main place where people jump from. There is even a ramp-like thing that jets off the top. There is a large cement area and then a cement ramp that jets off of the side of the mountain. It was very fun and interesting to watch them jump!

We trekked back down the mountain and began the hunt for some Açaí. So many people enjoy it so much, a lot of the places that we went to were sold out! Finally we found a nice little place on the beach to enjoy some. We drove back to the apartment and then jumped into the pool. It was a little bit too cool to go to the beach, but it's never too cold to jump into a pool! We swam for a couple of hours and then came back to the apartment. Soon after, we had dinner. We hung out after dinner for a little while and then hopped back into the far to go get some ice cream.

Getting ice cream here is very different than in the United States. There are just as many flavors, but it is all self-serve. You get your own scoops of ice cream, and you can mix and match as much as you want. You can put on as much or as little toppings as you want, it is amazing! We enjoyed some ice cream and then took a walk through downtown Caraguataguba. There were some nice lights on the trees, and it was a very enjoyable walk.

Now we are back at the apartment and packing to get ready to go. We are all just staying up until about 4 am and then leaving then. There is so much traffic here, apparently that is the only time of day where we will be able to go without adding 2 hours to our trip because of traffic. Well, that's all for now, but more to come soon...