Sao Paulo

We arrived in Sao Paulo early after an overnight flight from Lima. We had plans to stay with our friend Patricia who we had met in the Canadian Rockies. From the airport we headed straight to her apartment where we received a warm welcome.

Although we were tired from the flight we had a really good first day. We went out for a lovely lunch at a typical Brazilian churrascaria (steakhouse) where we got our first taste of the amazing beef. After a well needed afternoon nap (life is tough) we went out for some beers and empanadas and got a look at the city by night.

The next day we headed to the beaches surrounding the town of Ubatuba, where we ended up spending two nights. The road trip ensured we saw a number of different beaches, including Almada, Felix, Almada Brava and many other secluded spots. Unfortunately the Brazilian weather let us down, but we still got chance to walk along the beaches and enjoy the views from the great beach bars!

After the first two days on the beach we headed south in search of sun and to meet up with Fabricio and Carlos. We stayed at Carlos' cousins' apartment where Carlos prepared us a fantastic BBQ and taught us the traditional Brazilian card game called Truco. This, combined with a healthy number of beers, saw us roll into bed at 4am.

To our amazement the sun was shining the next day so we headed to Maresias beach for a true Brazilian beach experience. It was a lovely beach with golden sand and clear blue sea. We enjoyed watching the many surfers, and were disappointed that there was nowhere to hire a board. Instead we chilled out and tried some of the exotic drinks from the beach bar.

After the beach we headed back to the apartment and cooked another BBQ and drank more beers. We had a great time at the beach but had to get back to Sao Paulo to catch our onward bus to Foz do Iguaçu. We had a farewell lunch back in the city and then said goodbye and thank you to Patricia and Fabricio for showing us such a good time in Sao Paulo.