Brazil Journey Phase 2: Sao Paulo de Morro!

After landing in Salvador, we hopped the ferry boat to Sao Paulo de Morro (St. Paul’s Hill) a super touristy little island that is for people-only, no cars!

Way out in the tidal flats

Well that was the plan, except it is winter and the Atlantic was so rough we had to cut sideways to a closer island, hop into vans and drive for two hours, to get into another boat to get to the island. It took closer to 3.5 hours than 2 on the open ocean! Argh!

Boat ride #2

Once we were on the island, everything was so close. We walked to our hotel, and it was super nice, a boutique hotel. Things on the island are NOT cheap- quite pricey compared with Salvador. It was much quieter than we anticipated, apparently the island as  reputation for being quite wild, a real party town in tourist months. We had our pick of restaurants- there are like a zillion, and they seem to offer a lot of Italian food for some reason hahah. We had lobster two days in a row! Can’t complain about that!

View from our hotel…Amazing.

The draw there is the beach- it is enormous, there are three of them and we had the beach right outside our room. There is also a big zipline, which I didn’t do because I am quite frankly afraid of heights!

Swimming was fun- because it is winter, the rainy season also happened and it was hot and sunny, then pouring rain, then hot and sunny, then pouring rain. Made for an interesting day!

The town square.

We ate acai (yum!!) frozen gelato, chips and bought beers and generally just had a fabulous time. It’s very easy to like the island Sao Paulo de Morro, I can say that! We even waded out to a tide pool that has a ton of very friendly fish- it’s like snorkeling except you don’t even have to snorkel, haha.

I loved the breakfast our hotel had- it was AMAZING. Best spread of the stay I think! I would definitely recommend visiting the island- the trip out can be a bit of a pain in the butt, but you it’s worth it.

Tranquil.

An Island getaway- Quadra Island!

We did something a bit unique this year for Easter. You may recall that in past Easter’s, we went to Ucluelet or Tofino for a getaway (and it always RAINED!).

This year, we booked a ‘fancy camping’ cabin on Quadra Island. The island is across from Campbell River, a 10-minute ferry ride and voila! You’re there! Although, it was HAMMERING down rain the entire drive from Victoria (3+ hours) and literally lashing the car on the ferry, it slowly calmed down to a drizzle and then cleared up. It was still cold though, as we’ve had an unusually cold and unpleasant spring so far.

A view from the cabin

The cabin itself was super quaint and rustic. A woodstove, a huge bunk bed, table, chairs and propane stove. There was an outhouse (yeah I know what you’re thinking! That’s why it is still considered camping) no shower, and you washed the dishes outside in buckets. The fridge was also outside. This is rustic, people!

Bunkbeds!

We ate at the Herriot Bay Pub and had the hilarious fortune to encounter the WORST people I have seen in a long time. They took up two tables so they could plug in their laptops separately (rolls eyes here…) and it was busy there! They had two annoying children who pestered the already fairly harried server endlessly about the stupidest things. “What’s in the hamburgers?” The server: “Well, meat?”

GAH

I know where they got it from though. The parents were just as bad. They were complaining about ethically-sourced palm oil, asked the server if she was SURE they didn’t serve any salmon? And if there was no salmon, could she not take the cod, of the fish and chips meal, and grill it and serve it as a burger instead? (newsflash: no.).

They banged on about cooking bacon in olive oil on the Greek islands for some disgusting reason, and then ordered a Cesar salad with no croutons and no dressing (so, lettuce and ??).

We left after we finished our meal, but not before these lovely people were up to the front desk complaining about not being able to access the WiFi….

Some people DESERVE to live on an island, because nobody else wants them! These people were from Cortez, which is even further than Quadra. Anyways, the weather cleared up, though was windy as hell, and we walked out to Rebecca Spit, which was quite beautiful and very relaxing.

The next day the weather continued to hold steady, so we hiked up the Chinese Mountains, only doing the North peak. It was rated as ‘moderate’ but we did find it quite strenuous, lots of scrambling over what appeared to be a creek bed that still had water running through it, and lots of loose rocks. I was tired by the end!

Chinese Mtns

We had lunch that we packed, and ate it and had a drink or two on the beach later. A great time to unwind after the hike, and Gidget decided to run around like a psycho and get overtired, haha.

A chilly beach

We heated up the cabin a bit too hot later in the evening, and boy 1-rooms can really swelter! We left the doors open for a bit so we didn’t cook! The next morning, I set out on a jog by myself, which was actually quite invigorating. We packed up and left for the main island, and now I’m back at work and kind of feeling bummed that I’m back in the hurry-scurry of normal life…