We woke up and decided to take a bout tour that came highly recommended by Charles. We ate our breakfast, including fruit juice, breads, fruit, a potato pancake and marmalade.
We went to meet someone who we thought was our guide for the day named Gio - he didn't speak English but fortunately understood our Spanish. He walked us over to the boat and we met some of the other passengers. One was a couple from Sweden - the wife, Rosa, was Brazilian. They both spoke French but Dennis, the husband, spoke some English so he served as our translator.
We headed on to the boat where we realized that our guide was actually a different dude - Silvinho - so we said our goodbyes to Gio and we headed off. The other people on the boat were very nice - mostly Brazilian. We sat next to a friendly couple from Recife who had been to the US and liked it a lot.
Our first stop was a snorkeling pool or "piscina" off of Moreré beach. It had a floating caipirinha and oyster bar! The water was nice and warm and there were some pretty fish along the shallow reef -- little nemos, irridescent fish, blue and yellow colorblocked fish, and clear fish with a neon green stripe.
After about 40 minutes we headed out again. Silvinho did not speak a lick of English so fortunately we had our translating assembly line where Dennis would explain our question to Rosa in French, Rosa would ask Silvinho in Portuguese and then translate his answer back to French so that Dennis could then translate it back to us in English. Comedy.
The next stop was a beautiful beach - Praia Bainema - it was gorgeous with clear waters, beautiful palm trees and mangroves. We walked along the beach and saw where sea turtles hatch their eggs before wandering back to the boat.
We then stopped at another snorkeling spot similar to the last. Along the way they pointed out where a ship had wrecked. More beautiful fish and clear waters.
Our next stop was an incredible caipifrutas bar in the middle of nowhere. Just a small island with a dude who laid out all kinds of fruit - mango, passionfruit, pineapple, and then amazonian fruits like birbiri and others I didn't even recognize or know the name of. We picked out what fruits we wanted and told him whether we wanted cachaca or vodka and he would make it, shake it up, and hand it to you for $10 reai. DELICIOUS. We hung around that small beach for a while feeling pleased with ourselves.
Finally we went to lunch at a coastal town off the island - the restaurant was called Toca de Onca. They had raw seafood options laid out and you chose what went in your lunch. Swaps elected some options with some negotiation and language assistance from the couple from Recife. We ended up with a starter of lobster claws along with a plate of small fried fish (like large sardines). They were both delish. Then for the main we had a moqueca made with fresh fish, lobster, shrimp, and octopus. Sides included beans, rice, and hot sauce along with the usual tapioca/butter mix. It was SO MUCH FOOD but SO GOOD. The Recife couple had us try a "cocada" dessert which consisted of coconut chunks in a sugary circle.
We rolled ourselves back on the boat and they took us to a floating oyster bar. We didn't get much out of it since we were stuffed but we tasted a couple oysters and they were pretty good.
After that we returned to Boipeba. Gio met us by the boat and convinced us to have drinks at some outdoor tables while we watched the sunset. He helped us with a few words of Portuguese but once he got a little sketchy we headed back to wash up, relax and digest.
Later we decided to go into town. We played Blokus and ate a light dinner, after which we came home and slept.
We went to meet someone who we thought was our guide for the day named Gio - he didn't speak English but fortunately understood our Spanish. He walked us over to the boat and we met some of the other passengers. One was a couple from Sweden - the wife, Rosa, was Brazilian. They both spoke French but Dennis, the husband, spoke some English so he served as our translator.
Our first stop was a snorkeling pool or "piscina" off of Moreré beach. It had a floating caipirinha and oyster bar! The water was nice and warm and there were some pretty fish along the shallow reef -- little nemos, irridescent fish, blue and yellow colorblocked fish, and clear fish with a neon green stripe.After about 40 minutes we headed out again. Silvinho did not speak a lick of English so fortunately we had our translating assembly line where Dennis would explain our question to Rosa in French, Rosa would ask Silvinho in Portuguese and then translate his answer back to French so that Dennis could then translate it back to us in English. Comedy.The next stop was a beautiful beach - Praia Bainema - it was gorgeous with clear waters, beautiful palm trees and mangroves. We walked along the beach and saw where sea turtles hatch their eggs before wandering back to the boat.
Our next stop was an incredible caipifrutas bar in the middle of nowhere. Just a small island with a dude who laid out all kinds of fruit - mango, passionfruit, pineapple, and then amazonian fruits like birbiri and others I didn't even recognize or know the name of. We picked out what fruits we wanted and told him whether we wanted cachaca or vodka and he would make it, shake it up, and hand it to you for $10 reai. DELICIOUS. We hung around that small beach for a while feeling pleased with ourselves.
Finally we went to lunch at a coastal town off the island - the restaurant was called Toca de Onca. They had raw seafood options laid out and you chose what went in your lunch. Swaps elected some options with some negotiation and language assistance from the couple from Recife. We ended up with a starter of lobster claws along with a plate of small fried fish (like large sardines). They were both delish. Then for the main we had a moqueca made with fresh fish, lobster, shrimp, and octopus. Sides included beans, rice, and hot sauce along with the usual tapioca/butter mix. It was SO MUCH FOOD but SO GOOD. The Recife couple had us try a "cocada" dessert which consisted of coconut chunks in a sugary circle.
We rolled ourselves back on the boat and they took us to a floating oyster bar. We didn't get much out of it since we were stuffed but we tasted a couple oysters and they were pretty good.
Later we decided to go into town. We played Blokus and ate a light dinner, after which we came home and slept.
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