Our last visit on the beaches of the Santa Catarina island (still around Florianopolis) was Lagoinha do Leste - hidden from the roads and settlements some walking is required to access this wonderful stretch of sand. We started in the morning from the lovely village of Armaçao, but the day was already growing hot so we took a dip in the sea in a small natural pool that was guarded from the ocean waves too cool down before the walking started. The hike was not too tough and soon we reached Lagoinha bay where a fresh-water lagoon is captured behind the sandy beach just meters away from the sea. The hills around the beach are steep and the forests pristine which results in plenty of pure and fresh potable streams flowing onto the beach out of the bushes. For the famous picture on a overhanging rock, we had to climb a hill on the other side and so finished our stay in Florianopolis with one of the best views of the region.
20 Comments
With our backpacks weighing us down and the sudden lack of mobility, we decided to take it easy in our last month of traveling and limit the amount of places we want to visit. But it is not only mobility that comes into question... For the first time in months, we had to start figuring out where to stay for the night and the carefree wandering about had to come to an end. On the other hand, staying longer at one place makes you experience it in a completely different way than just passing by and so we turned our minds around pretty quickly to start enjoying the positive sides of backpacking. Our first stop was Montevideo. Just across the bay from Buenos Aires, the Uruguayan capital is like it's smaller laid-back sibling. The architecture and culture are similar with a touch of extra friendliness and tranquility. We spent a weekend in the city and apart from an artesanal market in one of the parks everything was pretty much closed. It seemed as if every single citizen went down to the waterfront with their family and friends to enjoy the "mate ceremony" - sitting around and talking in good company while constantly sipping tea through the metal straw. Oh and since the Uruguay legalised marijuana in 2017 it's practically impossible to avoid the smell of it everywhere in the streets around you. It might even have an effect in the (too) loosen-up attitude of the people. Buenos Aires is a wonderfully diverse city. The European influence can be felt on every corner, which makes it far more charming than other South American metropolis, that are built in a more american style. Fancy and modern neighbourhoods are intertwined with colonial areas and some less developed barrios and there is plenty of sights to see and things to do for everyone. The food is magnificent and probably the best ice-creams in the world can be found in the city. If you are bored in Buenos Aires it's probably your own fault :) If you look at our travel map, you will see that we've been zigzagging across Argentina a lot! Well, we had finally come to our last "zag". What would have been an uneventful drive across the country was interrupted by the new year's eve. We didn't plan to be anywhere in particular and so we found ourselves in the middle of Argentina camping in a municipal campsite at the Rio Negro river. We had a simple yet delicious dinner, popped a champagne at midnight and for the first time in years enjoyed a more or less silent new year's. Argentinians are apparently not very much into the fireworks. |
Timeline
February 2019
Categories
All
|