Moving on up…

We started the new year with the intent of a long driving day. But, apparently a lot of other folks also decided that Jan 1 was a good day for a drive. The traffic was so bad that we only made it about 30 km when we pulled off south of Balnearo Camboriu. After passing on a campsite that wanted $100 USD per night, we found a campsite near the base of the cable cars that seemed fine (Praia de Laranjeiras), but that ended up being unbearably crappy.

We immediately hit the beach along with several thousand others and walked down a bit in awe of the masses. We’d missed lunch and we were hoping to enjoy a lunner of fried shrimp on the beach. But, each beach restaurant looked more unappealing than the next. And, the prices! Holy crap! And, coupled with the general bad smell and the amount of people in the water, I was sure this was where the Brazilians come to get dysentery. The camp area was basically just parking at the back of a restaurant when they throw the trash in huge piles and with open sewers. Careful with these beach restaurants.

We opted for sandwiches in the bus and made it an early night. Jason swapped the carbs back to the Kadrons for our evening’s entertainment. The next day, we were up and out of there early, leaving Bode to sleep for several more hours in the back. By mid-afternoon we had finally made it to the previous day’s intended destination – Sao Francisco do Sul – a marginally interesting historical colonial city, but near a grungy beach town that worked out fine for us.

Our main issues now still include the carburetor, and laundry. The rain and cramped campsites have made washing clothes nearly impossible, and the dampness has really brought that not-so-fresh smell into the van along with sand everywhere. We were hoping to alleviate at least one of those problems here, but another thunderstorm has made more car repairs and laundry wait until another day.

We did manage to walk down the town and beach before the we waited out more rain in a beach bar. And we noticed something strange about the beach volleyball here–they play it with no hands!

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3 thoughts on “Moving on up…

  • January 9, 2013 at 11:34 AM
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    love the TAT. sollyball?

  • January 10, 2013 at 9:11 AM
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    Hello Angela!

    It was a great pleasure to meet you at the beach on Tuesday. I just wish we could have had more time to invite you and your family for a traditional Brazilian barbecue… Hope we can meet again when you are back to Houston, so we can invite you all for a barbecue and learn a little bit more about your trip.
    I have added you to my Facebook, so we can keep in touch!
    Just a suggestion, Trindade is a nice beach place you may enjoy to visit, and I know they have lot of camping there. Let me know if you need any other
    Have a safe trip and hope we can meet again in Houston!!
    Juliana Kenj

  • February 7, 2013 at 10:59 AM
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    That’s no beach volleyball! The name is footvolley!

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