Memorable Hikes – Brazil 2004

Hiking is a favorite hobby of mine and my husband. We have gone on hundreds of hikes over the years…it is what we like to do, at home and on vacation, so I thought it would be fun to write a series about some memorable hikes. It’s tough to rate them as favorites so I’ll stick with “memorable” and not rank them in any kind of order. I keep a vacation journal so I have notes on most of our hikes (some more detailed than others I’ve discovered). Here is the first in my series of memorable hikes that I will post weekly, for awhile anyway.

Several years ago our son was a Rotary exchange student in Florianopolis, an island off the southern coast of Brazil. It is a gorgeous island and known for it’s beautiful beaches along the Atlantic Ocean. He lived there one year and had a great experience. His host families were wonderful and genuinely cared for him. It was a delight to meet them when our family went to visit after he had been living in Brazil for seven months.

His first host family (mom, dad and one son – their other son was on Rotary exchange in the US) took our family on a hike along Lagoa da Conceição, a large lagoon on the island of Florianopolis. The island itself is beautiful…and to hike along the inland lake was a special treat.

It was a hot day. The trail was semi-rough and we hiked for about an hour and a half. I saw many butterflies along the trail, including a black and purple one. I had already spotted several butterflies on this trip to Brazil, including the beautiful, iridescence blue ones and a lime-green one.

What I remember most about this hike was the destination… as we neared the end we walked down toward the lake and there on the beach were some shade trees, a swing set, a few chickens running around and children playing in the sand. There was a quaint open-air café on the sandy shores of Lagoa da Conceição. It was a great spot to stop, rest, cool off, swing and get something cold to drink, and food to eat. We were the only customers at the café. It was family- owned and run. We found a wonderful place to sit at a table under the trees near the water.

We ordered a beer; it tasted so good because the beer was so cold and the air was so hot, and so were we from hiking in the heat. Next the appetizers started coming – shrimp, squid, and other kinds of fish – all delicious. Then we ordered main dishes for everyone to share family-style. We spent over two hours eating and enjoying our time together in this lovely setting.

And then, to our surprise and delight, they had ordered a boat taxi to bring us back to the trail-head. Instead of hiking back we had a pleasant, relaxing boat ride on the beautiful lake, Lagoa da Conceição.

It was a lovely day and memorable hike with wonderful friends.