Week 2: Aruba, Suriname, Brazil

Day 8 (January 10, 2016): 

Woke early and walked to the beach for the sunrise. Ate some bread, cheese and watermelon for breakfast. Returned to our room and did some yoga. Walked back to the beach for awhile. Found a random food shack with some great Pastechi for lunch. Took a nap, walked around the beaches and downtown before eating all you can eat burgers for dinner. Watched finding nemo and went to bed. 

   
 Day 9: 
Packed sandwiches and went to the beach. Took some pictures and ate our sandwiches with some beers. Ate at west deck tapas bar for an early dinner. Took a taxi to eagle beach for the sunset. Stopped by a grocery store for snacks before our red eye. Headed to the airport. 

 

   


Day 10: 

Arrived in Suriname at 3 am. Slept. Woke up and had breakfast with some Dutch visitors. Went on a canoe trip with Jos, our super cool Belgian host. Then we went with the Dutch guests on a jungle expedition. This was Sarahi’s favorite day. After walking through the jungle and almost getting lost we found our way back and stopped at the swimming hole to cool down and had some lunch and drinks. Then we returned to Bana Beki B&B for a shower before flying out. We enjoyed Suriname much more than expected. 

 

    
   
Day 11:

After spending the night on planes and in airports we arrived in Brazil at 5 am. We dropped our packs at the casa Blanca hotel and headed to the beach to catch the sunrise. Then we wandered the streets of Fortaleza looking for breakfast. We found some coffee and bread and headed toward the shopping district. We found a six floor market that sells everything imaginable and didn’t make it past the second floor. We bought two awesome pairs of sandals for $25 (Sarahi is still learning the art of bargaining) a backpack for $10 and a pair of shorts for $2.50. We continued on and visited the cathedral, finding the shopping stretches on for blocks around the market. Then we continued to the art museum dragao do mar and loved the murals and some cool displays. Next we headed to the cultural center and attempted to read children’s books in Portuguese. We escaped the sun and grabbed some lunch. By noon we were quite excited to check into our hotel, shower, and take a nap. We went back down to the beach for a walk before eating some great meat, rice and beans at a nearby restaurant. We stopped by a convenience store and bought a liter bottle of cachaca (the Brazilian liquor similar to rum) for $2.25. We were very happy to go to sleep in a hotel rather than an airport. 

   
    
 
    
 Day 12: 

We woke up and ate an awesome hotel breakfast before heading to the beach. We played in the waves and did some exercises on the beach. Then we headed to a beachfront restaurant for some fried fish and crab claws. We returned back to the hotel and broke into the bottle of cachaca. The rest of the night was a blurry disaster but we walked around town and made some new friends at a local bar where we made the mistake of drinking even more. Somehow we made it back to our room and into bed.

   
 Day 13: 

Woke up feeling like we’d been hit by a train. A lot of sickness and moaning followed and we realized we’re not 21 anymore. We spent most of the day sleeping off our hangover and made it to lunch by the afternoon. It wasn’t until this point that we realized we hadn’t eaten in over 24 hours… So we returned to our room and watched some movies, ate some leftovers for dinner, went for a walk down Beira mar avenue, ate a gyros, and headed to bed, swearing to never drink again. 

  
Day 14: 

Hung out in the morning, packed our bags, and took a taxi to our next hotel. Checked in, put on swimsuits, and headed to arapoe beach restaurant where we ordered calamari and whole crabs. We walked several miles on the pristine Praia do futuro beach which stretches for 5 miles and is scattered with families and surfers. We returned to our hotel for a bit and headed back to the beach after dark and found it was completely deserted with no restaurants open. We walked two miles and found the one bar/club that was open and ordered some delicious crepes. We headed back down the desolate beach and went to bed.