Praia do Forte

Sometimes everything you touch turns to gold and certainly it was like that this morning and afternoon, if only my luck had held on for a full 24 hours.

Waking up early, I checked out and left my luggage in my friends apartment while we went to have breakfast and then take a bus to Praia do Forte and our timing could not be better as we caught a first and then a second bus without delay or even having to wait for a connecting bus as they were right there and for BR $2 and BR $7 respectively we took two bus journeys that landed us at our destination early and ready to face the day.

In fact we had arrived so early that not even the staff had arrived, so that meant that we were able to take the side entrance and walk in without paying and had free reign of the place to explore. At first I thought that we were there at the wrong time of year, as it was about 8am and the place was still deserted, but by 10am the place had livened up.

While we were strolling around and taking snaps of the turtles we came across three young chaps, mid to late 20's, who were doing pretty much the same thing as us and they asked us if we wanted to see the sharks.

We said that we did and from that moment on we were a five some for the rest of the morning and afternoon. Our new friends were on holidays from south a city more south towards the South of Brazil and with my Spanish friend acting as partial translator and me doing my best in Spanish we pretty much firmed a bond that I hope will last long after I return to the UK.

We shared a second breakfast and a couple of bottles of beer, and when I mean shared a couple I mean exactly that as in Brazil they put a single bottle in a cooler and pour out a glass each rather than what I was expecting and dreading which was a full bottle or pint each. I don't usually drink as a rule, and especially not before the early evening, but I didn't think that a small glass or two would hurt and in the heat a chilled drink went down so very well.

We chatted about football, women, holidays, work and got on so famously that If I had already completed my book I bet they would have bought one each just to be friendly and sociable. Being in a jovial mood they decided that they were going to have a swim my the nearest beach and in order to get there had rented out a pair of pedallo's, which they insisted that I sit up at the front and took photos while they sat at the back and pedalled like maniacs all the way there.

At the beach we all took turns sunbathing and showing off our swimming skills and although I had not brought a towel or change of clothes I thought that the heat would probably dry them out in no time so I did not really hesitate to strip down to not much and dive in after the others.

Despite being very careful with allowing myself only 15 minutes front and back to catch some rays, as I had only sun protected my forearms and legs before coming out I had managed to go a nice rosey pink colour both front and back, which I would later regret having to carry my rucksack around at the airport.

Possibly the three young chaps were exceptionally nice and kind or perhaps the stereotype of Brazil and its people in the UK needs a serious reality check, but despite my inability to speak either Portuguese or Spanish fluently nothing stopped us all from having a great time together, I felt a bit like a special guest as they refused to let me pay for anything or to take a turn cycling and by the end of the afternoon it was all back slaps and exchanging of email addressed before we had to leave the beach and return to Itapua.

Just as we reached the bus stop it began to rain, but thankfully it was empty inside and so I was able to strip off and change from my wet boxers back into my dry shorts in the back of the bus before anyone else got onboard.

Our timing and connections were just as smooth on the way back as on the way there and we were back in Itapua before we knew it. Before I left my Spanish friend insisted that I try a local delicassy which is shredded chicken rolled in mash potatoe and then with a light crispy crumb coating fried, and then it was time to go off to the airport.

Sadly this is where my luck ran out, as despite only having to wait a few minutes time to catch a bus to the airport at a cost of another BR $2 compared to the BR$ 35 for the taxi into town, my flight was no on the board when I arrived and I was soon to find out that it had been cancelled.

I did not panic, but it was not easy being unable to speak the local lingo and find out why it had been cancelled, what they planned to do about it and the fact that I had an additional four hour delay before they could fit me on another flight with a different airline. What was worse was that I was still in my shorts and it gets cold in air conditioned airports at night and certainly the flight over which arrived at midnight was enough to give me a chill again after the sunburning of the afternoon.

The final kick was that as I had now arrived in Rio after midnight I had missed the last bus of the night going into town and had to take a taxi at a cost of BR $80, which again is about ten times the cost of a bus going the same route and will mean yet another trip to the bank early tomorrow morning.

Arriving at the hostel I was partly pleased that my I did not have to share my 4 bed dorm room with anyone else, but this was diminished by seeing a baby cockroach walk along the floor and then killed off by being bitten by a bedbug or flea within the first five minutes of sitting on my bed.

Hopefully the rest of Rio will have more luck for me than the arrival.