Monday, February 4, 2013

A Piece of Paradise-Camping Paraiso

Monday Morning, January 14, 2013-headed out on our camping adventure!  This was the first few, peaceful moments of our SEVEN HOUR car ride just to get to the boat.  

She still had a smile here!  It was a rough 7 hours for those of us in my car.  Chloe did not travel real well and I had to do all the driving to a place I had never been.  
 Here is my promised story of our first camping trip in a foreign country.  My first camping trip in a foreign country, that is.  It was Chloe's first EVER and this is technically NOT a foreign country to her.  So, here we go!
Chloe was terrifed the first few moments on the little boat that took us the nearly THREE HOUR trip to the far side of the Island they call Ilha Grande (translated, Big Island!).  She was exhausted and sick to death of sitting.  She soon fell into an exhausted sleep in Avo Rosa's lap.  


The rest of the group, braving the ugly, cold storm we "enjoyed" (NOT!) heading out to the Island.  It was the worst rain and wind storm ever and I spent the entire 2 + hours praying I would not vomit.  Now, we know why!:)

My lovely sister-in-law, Tati.

Oh, look at our lovely travel weather!  Excuse the sarcasm seeping out!

Heading into our little piece of paradise.  Our captain said he could not get the boat any closer due to the unreasonable weather conditions (I could have used a stronger word!) and so we sat there bobbing for awhile, waiting for the smaller boat belonging to Camping Paraiso to come rescue us!  

I will admit, by the time we had traveled 7 hours by car, almost 3 in an ugly  storm by boat, set up our camping gear and "homes" for the next four days in the pouring RAIN, I was seriously repenting that I had come.  But after a good nights rest, sleeping to the sounds of the crashing waves on the shore, Chloe woke me up by quietly patting my arm.  "Mommy, mommy.  Vamos pra beach!" A 30 second walk brought us to these tables under an awning and we just sat for several moments in the blissful quiet of the early morning hours.  It wasn't raining but it was overcast and wet and we just soaked in the natural, raw beauty of a little beach hidden away on the far side of a huge island, accessible only by boat.


Chloe, making herself right at home by dancing on this rock  placed smack in the middle of the eating area of the campsite.


Tia Tati loves!

The majority of our group spent hours fishing and the rest of us spent hours eating everything they caught!



This was the size of our little piece of paradise.  Wasn't big but it was sufficient for us to RELAX, literally, for 4 straight days.  No cell phones, no computers, no cars, no where to go but there.  I cannot remember the last time i spent four straight days simply sitting and enjoying God's creation.  My only responsibility was making sure my daughter did not kill herself, get bitten by a snake or spider or worse case scenerio, drown!  However, Chloe has a healthy dose of fear of the ocean, so literally spent HOURS just playing in the sand at my side.

We ate Cuscuz (a corse, cornmeal like product that is cooked over steam and eaten with butter, sugar and/or milk, depending on your preference) every blessed morning for breakfast and was it ever delicious!  Why is it that when you are camping and have no fridge, the simplest of simple foods just taste like they came straight from heaven?


I think she is enjoying it based on how she is also wearing it on her little brown face!






This is how Chloe spent her week!





This experience deserved some blog space!  When you have nothing to do,  any little event is quite an event!  Our second morning on the island, fresh tanks full of gas arrived.  Our showers were wonderfully hot due to these blue tanks.  The "gas boat" just threw the tanks overboard and allowed them to bob around until they carried them one by one up to the storage area.  I thought it was awesome!

The empty ones were tied together with a rope and...

dragged out into the bay to....

be loaded once again, one by one!  It was probably a process that took less than 15 minutes!

Chloe and her friend, Kewyn.



P.A.R.A.D.I.S.E.


Wednesday afternoon, our group of 11 was joined by one of our pastors and his family, sending our numbers to 16.   Nicole and Chloe spent hours playing together in the sand.





Little Lucas was pleased as punch with his personal little pool!

Our campsite:  our tents were all situated right next to our neighbor's tent.   Definitely a bit of a different experience than Sunset Beach in California!  Once Chloe woke up in the morning, everyone was awake!

Leaving:  there was no smaller boat this time to taxi our stuff back and forth, so our ride back to the coast  came in as close as possible and all our stuff was thrown from hand to hand to be loaded.



Our ride back in was absolutely perfect.  Calm, hot, clear day.  I remember as we waved goodbye to the friends we made at the campsite, that our captain told us that that particular beach is completely unpredictable and people have lost boats there.  Good thing we did not know that until we were leaving!  Yi, yi, yi, as we say in Portuguese.  

My little brown Indian and I!


A passing boat I thought too cute to not capture in photo!

Singing...

We were all carried to safety...all 16 of us!

and my little girl seconds after her bath!


The joys and rest completely outweighed the challenges and moments of near insanity.  I am so glad I went and took Chloe girl.  We missed her daddy terribly (single parenting is always tough) and were so glad to be home after 6 days away, but it was so worth it!  Almost everyday since our return, Chloe has asked me when we are going back to the beach. 

I say that everything in Brazil is one big adventure:  this one will do down in history as one of the BEST ever!

Until next time,
JAMA

2 comments:

  1. You're brave -- I think more than two hours to a camping spot is too long and I am positive I would NOT travel 10 hours for a four day camping trip no matter if it was in paradise.
    :-) I'm glad I could experience it through your camera and not in person.
    Susan

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  2. Loved getting to see these and hear your stories personally!! You are mighty brave!! Love Chloes lil Nautical swim suit n curls. This will be one trip you all won't forget!! :)

    Love you 4!!! :)

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