My first Island experience

Now before I start to tell you of my time on the Island of Morro Sao Paulo I would like to note that I am not doing it to make you terribly jealous I am merely telling you like it is or was, forget where I am at times!

Before I arrived in Morro everyone I had spoken to said it was brilliant and ended up staying for there for weeks more, so I knew that I was going to have a spectacular time.

my English modesty will not easily allow me to purchase a bikini that has really been made for 2 year old

We arrived at 11pm on the Friday and after Felipe and I checked into our Pousada we hit the beach and felt that wonderful feeling of swimming in the sea for the first time in ages and drying by the heat of the sun.

The island was exactly as I thought four beautiful beaches with white sand, clear blue water and beautiful hot weather.  Of course you get the hassle of people trying to get you to stay at their pousada or sell you information whether you want it or not, but that is with anywhere you go in Brazil.  But what makes Morro the island that it is is their relaxed attitude to life; the wheel barrows that they use for taxis; the countless stools selling cocktails lined up right next to each other (god knows how they make money when they all sell the same drinks at the same price) and the del boys of Brazil, orange and wearing a gold cross round their neck, drinking Coco (Coconut, where they cut of the top, put a straw in it and you drink the milk inside, really lovely but you look like a prized idiot drinking it).

That evening I got a chance to see the island at night, watching the sun go down over the ocean and having the feeling of being on desert island disks, with my prized possessions; pictures of home and a good book (Memoir of a Geisha, really good dad I think you should read if you haven't already). 

The next morning I had the odious task of finding myself a bikini, my one was too big, sad to say because the elastic had gone not because I have lost weight.  Now you may wonder why I say that it was an odious task seen as some may think that shopping for a bikini could be quite fun, but not in Brazil because my English modesty will not easily allow me to purchase a bikini that has really been made for 2 year olds.  I am not kidding, they are one size and one size only and that is small, and I am not saying really small I mean, am I going to get arrested wearing this small.  Luckily for me we went to the fourth beach that day which was practically deserted so my dignity was still in tack.  We hired out some snorkels and swam over the coral checking out the weird and wonderful fish.  I have never seen so many different fish in my life, it was like I was in Finding Nemo, there were big ones, little ones, blue ones, purple ones, clear ones, stripy ones and ones that just looked like your average cod that you get from the fish and chip shop (poor sods I bet they get teased for that).  It truly was a wonderful day, another moment when I had to pinch myself to make sure that I was still alive.

We made our way back to get ready for the nights events, there was a full moon party on Monkey beach which everyone was going to.  It was my first beach party and it was surreal dancing on the sand with flip flops in the air drinking Skol (beer).  I was a little disappointed in the music, I expected a little of bob Marley but was confronted by hard house, I almost made a request for Whitney Houston, I want to dance with somebody but I didn't think that they would have it.  I therefore had to force myself to dance till the early hours of the morning.  A really good night, the only downer was the fact that mine and Felipe’s flip flops were stolen, can you believe it.  I desperately tried to check everyone’s feet on the boat back hoping that I would be reunited with my havanahas but with no avail.  I think my problem lied with the fact that every person, without fail has havanahs in at least three different colours. Fortunately every shop on the beach also sells havanahs so it wasn't like I was going to be stuck without shoes.

Feeling a little worse for wear the next day we decide to spend the day sleeping on the beach, but on doing nothing all day we decided to jump off a cliff into the water below, fully harnessed of course and tied to a cable but still it got my heart racing.  My first experience of the trapeze, it was really fun and not nearly as scary as it sounds.  I can say that now because I have done it, at the time I was shaking in my bikini, letting everyone go first just so I didn't have to look down over that ridge at the 50foot drop.  When you take your first footsteps of the ridge and you can’t yet feel the support of your harness your heart stops, but as soon as you feel your weight being held you feel on top of the world, then you hit the water a couple of times in the process of pulling my bikini bottoms off with the impact, despite them being far too tight.

Monday, the day of our departure came all too quickly but we had just enough time to go to Monkey beach to rub the mud from the mountains over yourself which contains many nutrients for your skin.  Feeling totally replenished without the help of Clarins we made our way back to Salvador where Felipe prepared to go home and back to work (a little later than planned) and I was saying hello Rio!!!!!!!