Wednesday Day 6
Today began with an hour long transfer from Paraty to a
port where the team boarded a boat that brought us to our private island, Illa
Grande. On the way there, we learned that this island used to be a prison
similar to Alcatraz. Soon after arriving we enjoyed a freshly prepared buffet
of traditional Brazilian food; it was delicious! After refueling, we hopped
back on the boat which took us to a different part of the island to enjoy a
quick swim and a 50 minute rigorous hike through the jungle back to our resort.
Unfortunately, after a beautiful morning of sun, our hike ended with an afternoon storm.
However, this weather didn't stop us from kayaking and swimming in the ocean to
cool off. Soon, after some down time to
freshen up, we enjoyed another meal including rice, vegetables, breaded beef,
and fish. Kito, a friendly staff member
and hike tour guide, taught the team many different styles of classic and
modern dances which we really enjoyed !! After a few hours of lessons, the
night wound down with a last dip in the ocean and the perfect company of
teammates and our new Brazilian hotel hosts.
Thursday Day 7
We started the day at 8am with a delicious breakfast that included scrambled
eggs, meat, and bread. The weather was a little cloudy but there was no rain
which put us all in great moods because with no rain we got to go on the boat
and visit beaches and snorkel in the ocean. During the boat ride to the first
beach we soaked up the bright sun peeking through the clouds. When we got to
the beach we were happy to see the sun was out to stay! We really enjoyed
laying out, taking pictures, and snorkling in the shallow water. The view of
the surrounding islands and ocean was indescribable. The water was pretty clear but still a little
cloudy because of the rain from the previous couple days. The few of us that
went snorkeling saw some fish and got cool seashells. We took a ton of pictures
of everyone as we knew it was our last full day in Brazil together. After we
were satisfied with our tans (or burns) we decided to skip lunch in favor
of a snorkeling excursion and visiting
another beach. We traveled on the boat close to two small islands and anchored
near them. With Kito as our leader, in two parties we snorkeled around the
island coasts and in between the small islands. Kito went first to check if
everything was safe. Once he gave us the clear we went and snorkeled around and
in between the islands. The water was pretty shallow near the islands so it was
easy to see the colorful fish and reefs despite the water not being as clear as
it could be. The snorkeling excursion was agreed to be one of the best things we
did while on the island. While one party went snorkeling the other enjoyed
being in the water and relaxing on the boat. When we were finished we boated to
the next beach. We anchored close to the beach and were able to walk to the
beach in only waist deep water. The beach was smaller than the other but the
view was still amazing. The locals' friendly dogs kept us company as we walked
along the beach looking at the hundreds of shells washed up on shore. Dani and
Cassi found huge whole sand dollars. Dani also managed to find a starfish among
the seashells. After some relaxing and pictures we walked back to the boat and
headed to the resort. It started raining as we got close to the resort but it
didn't put any of us down since we had the whole afternoon in the sun. When we
got back we showered and got ready for our goodbye BBQ dinner. We started with
some potatoes with a delicious butter/cheese topping that we all enjoyed. That
was followed by grilled fish, sausage, ribs, squid, and bread. It was easily
our favorite meal of the trip! After multiple helpings of everything we all
still managed to find room for the chocolate pudding cake for desert. After
dinner Patrick and Fernando joined the team for a game called Catch Phrase that
Robin brought. The game is very similar to Taboo. We all had a lot of fun as we
played 3 rounds of the game. After we were done Fernando sang a song he wrote
when he was younger as he played the guitar. It was a beautiful song and by the
end we were singing along. Kito took the guitar next and played Hey Soul Sister
by Train and let us sing it. He sang a few more songs in Portuguese as we
hummed along. Afterwards we cleared the floor to dance to our favorite songs we
learned over the trip one last time. We danced and had fun well into the night
ending with a small bonfire on the resort's beach. It was surely a great way to
end our time on the island and our last full day of this unforgettable
trip."
Final Day
As we finished up our
AMAZING trip to Brazil, our last stop was in Rio de Janeiro. We left the
beautiful island of Ilha Grande and made our way to Rio. Once in Rio, we drove
past Sugar Loaf Mountain, where cable cars took groups of people up to the top
of the mountain to over look the city. We were unfortunately unable to visit
Sugar Loaf due to time constraints. As we drove through the city, Fernando
pointed out a couple hotels where famous actors and actresses such as Beyonce,
Vin Diesel, and Justin Bieber stayed. After awhile, we decided to take a walk
through the city to get to two of the most famous beaches in Rio, Copacabana
and Ipanema Beach. As we were walking through the city, the sidewalks had
amazing black and white swirling designs to it. When we arrived to Copacabana
Beach, there were many sights that we, as Americans, were not used to seeing at
a beach. All the men were walking around in Speedos while the women were
wearing the infamous Brazilian bikinis. Once again, that was a culture shock to
many of us but as with everything else, we just accepted it and continued on
with our sightseeing. There were vendors everywhere we turned trying to sell us
one thing or another. A few of us bought some bracelets, necklaces, and
sunglasses from them. There were also very intricate but huge sand castles that
were put on display for people to look at and take pictures. After we had a
nice walk by the beach, we were all starving and ready for lunch. Little did we
know what type of lunch was awaiting us! We went to a Brazilian steakhouse,
which had a buffet. We thought that the buffet had a vast amount of different food,
but little did we know that there were going to be many servers walking around
cutting unlimited slices of steak, beef, chicken, and fish. Needless to say, it
was a great meal! After lunch we continued to drive through the city on our way
to the Christ statue. Once we got there, we shopped around a little bit buying
souvenirs for our families and friends. We did not have enough time to walk up
the mountain to the statue, so we took a trolley car to the top. The Christ
statue was an absolutely amazing and breathtaking experience and sight to see.
The view of the city from up there was also unbelievable. We could see the
soccer stadium where the world cup is going to be held in 2014. We only had
about 45 minutes at the Christ statue, and after that it was back to the bus to
head to the airport. We said our tearful good-byes to Fernando, and boarded our
flight back to the United States. Overall, we all had the time of our lives,
and could not have asked for a better trip. It truly was a once in a lifetime opportunity,
with new memories and friendships made, that none of us will ever forget. And
the graduating seniors could not have asked for a better way to end there four
years at Penn State Behrend!
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