*LONG OVERDUE*
A day after my last blog took place, we drove to the town of Paraty. Bart would stay there for a 2 days and then we would meet up with him again. During that time we were renting a small sail boat and we would be sailing along the islands off the coast. We said our so longs to Bart and drove to the port. We were met by a nice middle aged man named Gustavo. He had salt and pepper hair, and freckles dotted across his face. An ever present cup of coffee in his hand and cigarette dangling from his mouth. He had an outgoing personality and very good english skills. We were given a run-through of the rules on board including how the toilet works and the important no shoes one board rule.
We set off at dusk and were greeted by a nice drizzle. Gustavo was a very pleasant conversation mate and evidently a good sailor as well. My brothers fooled about in the living area as I marveled the sights along the way. We arrived at our destination, a small lagoon. It was as calm as a spring day and as the sun went down we prepared a traditional camping meal of pasta. After a few squabbles between me and my brothers about who would sleep on which side of the bed we all sunk into a peaceful sleep.
We woke up early, at about 6 as you do when you are in nature. Birds chirped as I made my way onto the deck. The surrounding islands were all jungle and a low mist hung everywhere. As soon as the captain awoke he untied a small dingy and a canoe from the boat. My brothers got into the dinghy and before we knew it Gustavo had pushed the dingy away from the boat. “We are on our own now!” I heard them shout. Their careless and excited laughter echoing in the lagoon. I saw my mom’s face whiten as the drifted farther from the boat. The waves doing all the work for them. They made their way to the beach and I swiftly followed in my canoe. This is how we spent the morning. All taking a break for a quick breakfast.
We noticed Gustavo didn’t join in our feast sticking with his cup of coffee and when we asked why he said, “I prefer to drink only black coffee for breakfast, my wife hates it,” he chuckled. He showed us a myriad of pictures of his wife older son, 4 year old daughter and his baby son.
The Island my brothers and I arrived at with our boats was of course named by us, after us, Mi(lo)Li(v)Ya(nai), MiLiYa. We sailed a bit to a beach with a small family run restaurant on it of which Gustavo knew the owners. We spent the rest of the day until lunch playing in the waves canoeing and fishing, or at least trying to. Of course we caught nothing. Brazilian fish are farrr too smart for us inexperienced fishers.
My brothers and I had a simple meal of sandwiches and fried bananas, while my parents ate at the restaurant. They had fresh fish with rice and beans, a traditional meal which we came across much more during our trip. While they were eating Gustavo took us to a small cave on the other side of the lagoon. We had to climb up a few boulders, and slide back down through another few to get into the cave. The water was cold and up to my waist and the current was strong. Gustavo whispered to us in a dramatic voice a story about the pirates of Brazil, coming to this very cave and hiding a treasure that got the boys excited and me a bit skeptical. But hey, I wasn’t about to ruin the boys fun. We quickly came out because the tide rose even higher and we could barely stand.
The rest of the day was spent sailing to our next destination. Once we arrived we told Gustavo about our growing appreciation for the delicacy that is Dulche de Leche, a caramel like thing made from condensed milk. Gustavo surprised us by saying he knew how to make it. Not only that, but he had the ingredients on board. Once again I was skeptical that this was a coincidence. We are probably not the first Dulche de Leche fans who Gustavo has had on board. He grabbed a pressured cooker and can of condensed milk and put the whole can into the cooker. He set it on the stove on high heat and it stayed there for the rest of the evening simmering.
We opened it up just after dinner and to our pleasant surprise a rich and creamy Dulche de Leche lay inside. Of course we managed to eat the whole can the next day for breakfast, smothering our sandwiches with it. Gustavo joined us, breaking his only black coffee for breakfast rule at least for a bit. He quickly washed the sandwich down with a long swig from his mug. Turns out everyone has a soft spot for Dulche. We ended the journey with some more canoeing and swimming and me and Yanai named another island, Li(v)(Ya)Nai, LiNai, of which we declared ourselves Gods. No wonder no one has ever declared me as modest….
Once on shore we said goodbye to Gustavo and I thanked him with a pencil portrait of him, which looks only about 60% like he does. After we disembarked, we drove to Sao Paulo airport to meet up with Bart, and my Oma (my grandmother from the Netherlands), who had just landed to visit us and her brother who had moved to brazil over 40 years ago. He would also meet us there with his wife. More on that next blog!
We set off at dusk and were greeted by a nice drizzle. Gustavo was a very pleasant conversation mate and evidently a good sailor as well. My brothers fooled about in the living area as I marveled the sights along the way. We arrived at our destination, a small lagoon. It was as calm as a spring day and as the sun went down we prepared a traditional camping meal of pasta. After a few squabbles between me and my brothers about who would sleep on which side of the bed we all sunk into a peaceful sleep.
We woke up early, at about 6 as you do when you are in nature. Birds chirped as I made my way onto the deck. The surrounding islands were all jungle and a low mist hung everywhere. As soon as the captain awoke he untied a small dingy and a canoe from the boat. My brothers got into the dinghy and before we knew it Gustavo had pushed the dingy away from the boat. “We are on our own now!” I heard them shout. Their careless and excited laughter echoing in the lagoon. I saw my mom’s face whiten as the drifted farther from the boat. The waves doing all the work for them. They made their way to the beach and I swiftly followed in my canoe. This is how we spent the morning. All taking a break for a quick breakfast.
We noticed Gustavo didn’t join in our feast sticking with his cup of coffee and when we asked why he said, “I prefer to drink only black coffee for breakfast, my wife hates it,” he chuckled. He showed us a myriad of pictures of his wife older son, 4 year old daughter and his baby son.
The Island my brothers and I arrived at with our boats was of course named by us, after us, Mi(lo)Li(v)Ya(nai), MiLiYa. We sailed a bit to a beach with a small family run restaurant on it of which Gustavo knew the owners. We spent the rest of the day until lunch playing in the waves canoeing and fishing, or at least trying to. Of course we caught nothing. Brazilian fish are farrr too smart for us inexperienced fishers.
My brothers and I had a simple meal of sandwiches and fried bananas, while my parents ate at the restaurant. They had fresh fish with rice and beans, a traditional meal which we came across much more during our trip. While they were eating Gustavo took us to a small cave on the other side of the lagoon. We had to climb up a few boulders, and slide back down through another few to get into the cave. The water was cold and up to my waist and the current was strong. Gustavo whispered to us in a dramatic voice a story about the pirates of Brazil, coming to this very cave and hiding a treasure that got the boys excited and me a bit skeptical. But hey, I wasn’t about to ruin the boys fun. We quickly came out because the tide rose even higher and we could barely stand.
The rest of the day was spent sailing to our next destination. Once we arrived we told Gustavo about our growing appreciation for the delicacy that is Dulche de Leche, a caramel like thing made from condensed milk. Gustavo surprised us by saying he knew how to make it. Not only that, but he had the ingredients on board. Once again I was skeptical that this was a coincidence. We are probably not the first Dulche de Leche fans who Gustavo has had on board. He grabbed a pressured cooker and can of condensed milk and put the whole can into the cooker. He set it on the stove on high heat and it stayed there for the rest of the evening simmering.
We opened it up just after dinner and to our pleasant surprise a rich and creamy Dulche de Leche lay inside. Of course we managed to eat the whole can the next day for breakfast, smothering our sandwiches with it. Gustavo joined us, breaking his only black coffee for breakfast rule at least for a bit. He quickly washed the sandwich down with a long swig from his mug. Turns out everyone has a soft spot for Dulche. We ended the journey with some more canoeing and swimming and me and Yanai named another island, Li(v)(Ya)Nai, LiNai, of which we declared ourselves Gods. No wonder no one has ever declared me as modest….
Once on shore we said goodbye to Gustavo and I thanked him with a pencil portrait of him, which looks only about 60% like he does. After we disembarked, we drove to Sao Paulo airport to meet up with Bart, and my Oma (my grandmother from the Netherlands), who had just landed to visit us and her brother who had moved to brazil over 40 years ago. He would also meet us there with his wife. More on that next blog!