Bonito, Brazil

Sept 5-9

'Bonito' in both Spanish and Portugese translates to 'Beautiful'...and this place certainly lives up to its name.

Our first day in Bonito was spent exploring waterfalls. Our guide greeted us and equipped us with super sexy water boots. He led us along a trail, stopping at seven waterfalls along the way. At each one we could swim in the pools and often climb parts of the waterfalls. 

Each one was stunning. I think I've decided that waterfalls are just my favourite 'things' in the world. 

At one of the falls there was a ledge you could jump off...which of course I didn't. But I enjoyed watching everyone else jump! 

A scrumptious buffet afterwards put us into a minor food coma, resulting in a long walk into town to help us digest. 

Early the next morning, our tents cranked the heat up to about a million degrees, begging us to get out and enjoy the day. I went for a run and discovered that though Bonito is surrounded by beauty, the immediate area around the hostel is not. Later on, Bini and I walked into town, drank delicious smoothies, bought new Havianas (Brazil is the home of Havianas..so many colours and patterns, so so many) then hired bikes and rode off to Rio Formosa. There we were taken on an amazing tubing adventure.

Our guides, though they spoke no English, were hilarious and brilliant. They walked us along a path, gave us a safety briefing in Portuguese, and we eventually entered the water with our tubes. We spent the next two hours floating (and paddling) down the river, going down many little waterfalls. 

After successfully making it down the first waterfall we decided to tackle the second waterfall face first. This was a whole lot more fun! When I reached the bottom  the guide dunked me back under the waterfall and into the water. Funny until he did it four times..! So much water up my nose.

At another waterfall, they pushed us down backwards and the waterfall then held you at the bottom until you paddled your way out. I, unfortunately, used this moment to show off my incredibly poor balance. In I went, and began floating down the river. My tube however was stuck at the waterfall until the next person managed to kick it out.

One waterfall we tackled as a whole group, holding onto each other to make a long chain of tubes!

The guides had a lot of fun splashing us as well as spinning and flipping our tubes over. We had a lot of fun too! Excellent way to spend a sunny day.

Afterwards, we were free to use all the facilities of Rio Formosa, including stand up paddle boards and kayaks.

The long trek home had our limbs aching and our eyes struggling to stay open. Early night for me!

The last day of Bonito was filled with rain and laziness. By the time the sun came out in the late afternoon we were all jittery and desperate to do something, resulting in a stroll through the shops. More Havianas! Yesss!