If Sãu Paulo is the New York of Brazil and Rio de Janeiro the Miami of Brazil, then Florianopolis must be the Hawaii of Brazil. Since moving to LA from Oahu, HI, I haven't felt any place that feels so much like Hawaii. Florianapolois sits on the Southeast coast of Brazil and is a relatively small island with a large surfer community, gorgeous beaches, and a bustling downtown. If I hadn't known better, I would've thought I was back on Oahu.
In this blog post I will be providing a photo journal of my time in Florianopolis.
We started our journey by travelling 12 hours by bus from Sãu Paulo to Florianopolis. While the trip was long, the busses here are surprisingly comfortable, and we took the trip over night so we could sleep most of the way.
My travel companions (two fellow MBAs from Pepperdine) and I headed to Joaquina Beach. There we found a huge, gorgeous beach with surfers and plenty of beach goers.
On the North side of the beach we found waves crashing against very impressive rocks.
As the day went on the beach filled with beachgoers that came in the busses.
The following day we decided to go on a hike to a waterfall that we'd heard about. We went with our roommate in the hostel, Tomas, from Argentina, who was staying in the same room as us at the hostel we were staying at. Florianopolis has a large lake in the middle of it and we had to take boat to get there.
One things that was very cool was that there were houses built along the lake that you could only get to by boat.
We finally landed at our dock and headed for the waterfall.
After a brief hike, we found the waterfall we'd heard about, and while it was pretty, we were honestly expecting a longer journey.
There was not question we were in the jungle and we even saw some frienly creatures on our hike.
This big guy was crossing a road and sadly was run over by a car shortly after taking this picture. It was easily the size of my hand.
This is the lake in the middle of the island, Lagoa de Conceicão
The next day I headed to Mole Beach, a local surf spot, adjacent to a 'clothing optional' beach.
You know it's a surfing town when there's a statue of a surfer in the middle of the town
That afternoon I headed to Iglesas beach on the North side of the island with a few friends I made at the hostel.
The next day we travelled to downtown Florianopolis.
From here you can see Favelas in the hills behind the city.
Even the city center has evidence that we're still in a tropical region of the world.
Follow the yellow brick road?
We found a large market where it looked like you could find almost any kind fresh food, fish, souveneirs, fruits and vegetables, and more?
