Our flight to Fortaleza departed pretty late in the night so we had tons of time in the morning to pack. It was a good thing as we tried to cut down on what we were taking to keep things as minimal as possible. The rain jackets we packed in Vancouver didn't make the cut...neither did the jeans and hoodies. We really left all cold weather cloths back in Canada, fingers crossed it doesn't rain and that there are no freak storms that come through.
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| What Pete packed...in the end the towel and hat didn't make the cut either |
Strangely, the snorkel and mask made it into Pete's backpack. He promised to use it to catch fish for dinner...I'm still waiting :)
We had a two hour layover in Toronto...just enough time to get to the lounge, eat some food quickly and get to our gate. The flight to Fortaleza felt really long! It didn't help that neither Pete nor I had any idea as to just how long the flight was supposed to be...normally I know this information before I depart, but for some reason neither one of us had checked. Based on the number of movies we watched it was at least 10-12hrs.
We arrived in Sao Paulo and had a 6 hour delay before our flight to Fortaleza. We spent the time enjoying the warm weather, converting money and trying to order lattes. Yes you read that correctly...we tried to order lattes. The first attempt produced a cup of steamed milk with no espresso, we didn't realize this until we started drinking and even then it was after the first few sips. I believe I commented to Pete that this was the milkiest latte I had ever had, upon closer examination it sure was! We were too embarrassed to go back to that coffee shop, so went to another one and tried again. This time we got the espresso but no milk...we consoled ourselves with the thought that at least in our bellies the two liquids had mixed to become a latte. Still unsatisfied we tried one last time and were successful!!! Ahhhh Cafe com Leite, you never tasted so good! I'm not sure if I mentioned it before but English is not widely spoken...in fact it's not at all spoken or understood.
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| Cafe com Leite |
Our flight to Fortaleza was fairly uneventful, except for the boarding bit. I believe there were about 5 flights leaving from the same gate around the same time...it was an epic disaster! We did make our way onto the plane and settled in for another 4 hour flight.
We arrived in Fortaleza with all but one piece of luggage, which was to arrive two hours later on the next flight. As we were arriving fairly late in Fortaleza, Pete had arranged ahead of time for a driver to take us to our Pousada, so the three of us patiently waited for our luggage to arrive. Needless to say we tipped him very well, not just for waiting but also for being so patient with us. He only spoke Portuguese and dealt very well with two weary travelers. I'm so happy that Pete's been learning Portuguese, it really has saved our butts on this trip! We arrived at our Pousada around midnight or 1am and immediately fell asleep.
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| Pete doesn't even have to pump up his kite, a hose does it for him... luxury |
The next morning we awoke to a beautiful blue sky and tons of wind. Pete was able to get out on the water and throughly enjoy himself. This was the first time he'd been kitesufing in a few months, due to his finger injury. He kited with the splint on and it surprising held up well against the elements.
We've been ending our days with walks on the beach to go into town for dinner. It's really quite beautiful.
We spent Monday (today) at the lagoon, Pete will fill you in more on the next post. The picture below is of all the kiter's in the lagoon. All that I'll say now, is that this place really is a kiter's paradise!
