Friday 13 March 2015

Adios Mango Tree. Adios Ipenema

Today is the day we leave The Mango Tree Hostel, and therefore the Ipenema side of town. Tonight, we move to a hotel on the Copacabana side of Rio for one night, where we will meet up with our group who will be joining us on our tour for the next 6 weeks. We're really excited!!

Overall, our time at The Mango Tree has been a perfect introduction into the world of backpackers, rather than holidayers. The breakfast served every morning has been really tasty, and had lots of choice such as freshly made juices and fruit, typical Brazilian cake (we're not sure what it's called but it's a traditional Brazilian breakfast choice and we call it Sugarloaf as that seems apt), and coconut yogurts, which Steph has fallen madly in love with, and is looking into importing when she's home. There is also the option for cheese and ham rolls, but we've had to cut down on cheese, as they put it in everything here, and we realised we were eating cheese at least twice a day, everyday.


sooooooo tasty!!!

 The staff have been really helpful, suggesting places to go and things to do, and there is always an English Speaking person at the front desk throughout the day. There is always a cleaner in sight, cleaning rooms and the communal bathrooms, which has made the shared bathroom experience totally fine, and eased us in to what may be not so pleasant in the future.


Panoramic of the communal lounge area. Our room was upstairs, but down the left corridor are more rooms and bathrooms.

 As for Ipenema, we have grown quite fond of it here, especially the peaceful, beautiful beach. The vibe on this beach is a bit more family orientated, with kids playing football at the top in the evenings. The waves are really big here too, so perfect for surfers.


Last night, we decided to go for a late afternoon stroll on the beach, and it was a lovely time of day to go. It was still warm but the sun was setting, and we sat on the sand and watched some surfers go on the particularly large waves that evening.



 It was one of the nicest moments we have had here, and we're going to miss seeing the iconic twin peaks at the end of the beach.



We also got talking to another student, and remembered to take a picture this time! This guy is studying civil engineering at the uni, and again, spoke great English. He made a better effort with his body paint too. Smart Casual



Tomorrow we move onto the remote island (we hope we can still post from there!) of Illha Grande, which is meant to be paradise, with luxury beaches and great snorkeling opportunities. Let's hope the lovely weather stays for us!)




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