Over the weekend, we finally tried driving away from our tiny but lovely home beach to explore the rest of the peninsula. We started by driving all they way (1km) down to the next beach, called Bombas to eat at a lunch buffet there. For 39 Reais, we had an even MORE amazing buffet than our home buffet. Yes, much of our enjoyment here really lies around the great cheap food. Endless grilled meats, fried fish, salads, and even dessert and so much more for $8. After four weeks here in Brazil, we are still amazed each time.


The we ventured 20 minutes to go see the “Eco 360 Mirante (viewpoint)”. I wasn’t expecting much, but it was worth every penny (I think it was like $3 a person). The view from the top of the short hike is truly amazing. You can gaze off into the distance in every direction. The most striking view is of the thin part of the isle where you can see the town with a beach on each side, separated by only 100 meters. One side has the ocean waves, the other calm and sheltered.
We sat up there for over an hour. Mama Bear got a head massage. I just loved the strong breeze and the endless views. Baby Bear discovered leaf cutter ants and followed their efforts, diligently tracking their movements. She even gave them small flower petals, transforming their trail into a crimson road.




From the viewpoint, we saw with our binoculars, a bar/restaurant that was floating on a square barge a couple hundred meters from shore. We drove down there and found a free boat that shuttled us to the restaurant. The whole establishment is floating on dozens of empty barrels. We enjoyed a lovely sunset dinner with music to dance to. Baby Bear loved jumping on the floating bridge between the two parts of the bar. Such an amazing find!


On Sunday we said our goodbyes to the lovely town of Bombinhas. Our next week will be spent in the inland non-touristy historical city of Curitiba. On our way there, we stopped by Joinville, a small town where European immigrants settled. We visited the immigrant museum which showed a traditional timber house (very German looking).


We also ate lunch at a really busy and festively decorated German Biergarten (which served a lunch buffet of course). We ordered the pork hock which was amazing! We’ve learned that Brazil is incredibly welcoming to immigrants, so eating great Italian, Japanese, and German food is part of the experience!


Next week, Curitiba!