One last desert island! and lobster on the beach!
Trip Start
Jul 22, 2008
1
52
Trip End
Dec 10, 2008
Boipeba Island, State of Bahia, Brazil
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Boipeba Island was perfect! We stayed with these incredibly lovely Brits called Tony and Susana who have just opened up a new pousada about a year ago called Pousada a Mangueira. It had come highly recommended to us so off we went. There is really not very much on the island. There are no cars, 20 tractors with wagons are the only motorized way to get around the island. Its a bit of a pain to get to their little village as it is on the opposite side of the island from the port village, but we paid a couple of little kids a few cents, and they helped us find the tractor stop and got us on our way. The pousada itself is really lovely. Only 3 little cabanas, each surrounded by banana trees, coconut trees, etc. Each has its own veranda with 2 hammocks, throw deck chairs, and a small dining set. In the mornings either Tony or Susana brought our breakfast of fresh fruit, yogurt, scrambled eggs, coffee, and juice right to our veranda.
There are beaches within about 50 metres of the pousada, but the very beast beaches are a short walk away in either direction. Honestly, they are some of the most beautiful beaches that I have ever seen. Miles long with hundreds of coconut trees leaning out over the sand. There are a few little restaurants along the way, often you have to wake up the staff when you arrive as they are snoozing in the shade somewhere, and then they cook you up fresh seafood that the local fishermen caught that morning. We had two amazing days where we did a 15 minute walk to the very best beach, and at the end of the beach is a little tiny hut (with snoozing staff) whose specialty is LOBSTER! We ordered it (obviously) and for about $10 each, they brought a plate with 7 grilled lobsters! It was the most decadent afternoon to sit at a sunny table on the sand, looking at one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, while drinking cold beer and eating fresh lobster. So...two days later we did it all again, because why on Earth wouldn't we, but this time we ordered it house-style and it came de-shelled and sauteed in butter. Even better than the grilled one!
Once it gets dark there is really not much to do in the town, so we sat on our veranda playing dominoes and talking about the trip and everything we had seen and how lucky we are to have been able to do this together. We chose our top 5 cities, top 5 beaches, top 5 meals, top 5 most annoying people we met, etc. We talked about what we would change if we could do it all again (not much) and what we think we need to come back to. It was one of the only places where we could sit on the beach at night...its near impossible not to be a bit reflective while watching the moon over crashing waves.
So...that pretty much wraps it all up. We have a couple more days in Salvador and then we head back to snowy Calgary and try to get ourselves ready for realy life.
What an amazing trip. We are very lucky.
