December 18, 2010

For the weekend Dauro and Laura had organized a stay at a poussada up in a mountain area west of Florianopolis.  They know the owners and told us this place is a real paradise.

We got up early and met some friend of theirs, a couple (Eloisa and Rogerio) with their 6 year old boy (Theo), at the outskirts of the city at 9am. After a bit of highway we took a road that gradually made us gain altitude. The landscape was hilly and covered with pine forest. It reminded us a lot of the Telemark region in Norway:

Then we took a gravel road, which seemed to never end. Later Dauro explained to us that rains had been so heavy here over a long period, that road workers were not able to fill all the holes dug out by the rain as fast as new ones were created. To say it was a bumpy ride would be a gross understatement.

The houses here were magnificent. Large and with enormous and very elaborate gardens, small ponds with bridges, flowers everywhere. Unfortunately none of my attempts to photograph them from the car were successful.

The occasional palm tree now broke the illusion of being in Telemark:

At last we arrived in the small town of Anitapolis, where we stopped to find an internet cafe. I know what you are thinking now, but it was not me, it was Dauro who needed to be able to reach his work colleagues. Anitapolis is a nice little town with buildings in many bright colors

and was decorated for Christmas:

The last few kilometers were really off the beaten path

and as we aproached the landscape started to look more and more like the paradise our friends had described to us

We could soon see the poussada:

We were warmly welcomed and the Cashaca (sugarcane alcohol) was put on the table:

Fernando and Regina settled down here 7 years ago and have turned a worn down place into a true paradise.

This is where we stayed:

and this is where the two other families stayed:

The kids loved the place:

What a difference it makes to change your surroundings. The atmosphere was very relaxed and we all forgot about the world around us during the day.

We tried out the sauna, a small work of art:

and then ran down to the stream, which was very close:

There was a natural swimming pool:

After a while Dauro arrived with some wine:

Iseline found a round rock. Her theory was that it was a fossilized dinosaur egg:

Everyone just chilled out:

The owners´s two daughters were with us all the time. They seemed to roam about freely. This is the youngest one, Anna Clara:

After a great late lunch I wanted to try out fishing in the river. Fernando told us there were two types of fish in the river, one small type and one large type. He showed me where to dig for worms and with the help of Iseline and his oldest daughter, Mariana, I soon had enough bait. We tried for quite a while, but the small fish here kept stealing the bait, no matter where we tried:

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Mariana then suggested that we could fish in the fish ponds Fernando and Regina have made. They have set out fry of many different edible species in them. Fernando told us we could fish there “for the photos.”

You can see the two ponds on the left here.

The girls took turns trying and on her second attempt Mariana got something very big on the line. I was afraid she would lose it, but the excellent braided line I had bought for the voyage was no match for a fish without sharp teeth. After a short fight (Mariana did all the work), with both girls screaming with joy, I got the fish into my net:

We fetched Fernando, who was genuinely surprised that Mariana had caught such a large fish. He wasn´t sure about the species, it could be a tilapia. He suggested we should eat it for lunch the next day. I then proceeded to extinguish the fish´s consciousness and we could take another photo:

For dinner our hosts prepared our food in an oven placed directly in the dining room:

On the menu was mini-pizzas:

It was my parents´s wedding anniversary day today, but I could not congratulate them since there is no cell phone coverage here. We are completely isolated.

After dinner we all fell asleep like babies.

Eirik

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