We had a buffet breakfast this morning in the restaurant next to the hotel and then went to explore the beaches of Maceio.
We walked south along the beachfront. The sand was packed full of people, with lots of stalls where you could rent umbrellas and deck chairs, people selling drinks and snacks and other items. We visited a large craft market next to the beach and browsed all the
handbags, clothes and general beachy souvenirs and tit-tat.
Afterwards we spotted a little hut where you could rent bikes. They showed us on the map that they had two other locations up the coast where you could drop the bikes off and we thought this might be a fun way to get around. They had all sorts of bikes; single, tandem and sort of tricycles that had a low seat with a back on it, like you're sat in a chair, with the pedals in front of you. We decided on two of the tricycles bolted together like a train. We cycled along the bike path up the coast passing joggers, rollerbladers, sunbathers, people lunching, boys playing football and it was a very leisurely way to travel. We went north as far as the bike path extended and then turned around. We took turns at who was on the front bike steering... I'm not sure it was completely mechanically stable as the front wheel seemed to have an odd slant to it, but it lasted till it was time to drop them back.
After all that exertion it was lunchtime and we found a nice restaurant with outside tables overlooking the beach. They even ha a shower where you could wash off if you were coming straight off the sand. We ordered a mixed grill, a beer for Andrew and a fresh green coconut juice for me. This was also where we got our first proper introduction to the brazilian bikini, or dental floss as its called. The bottoms really are just a string at the back and the top is just two tiny triangles connected by string... it doesnt leave much to the imagination...
After lunch we ran some errands - found a bank and a chemist and then went back to the hotel. When we got there there was a football match showing on the tv in the lobby - Brazil vs. England and England won!
We were catching a night bus that night to Salvador so we popped out for a quick dinner at the food stalls by the beach again before heading to the bus station.
There was another English girl on the same bus as us called Puja - turned out she was also staying in the same hostel as us in Salvador! The night bus was hard to sleep on. It would have been alright but everytime we picked up new passengers on the way the driver turned the lights on and woke us all up. He also stopped in the middle of the night and woke us to inform us there was coffee available for us to drink at the back of the bus. Coffee? At this time of night? No thanks champ. Our new friend Puja had the worst luck though. Everytime she fell asleep the lady sitting next to her hit her on the head... like properly hit her. Weird. It was almost as if, if the lady couldn't sleep then Puja shouldn't either!
We arrived in Salvador sleepy but ready for the craziness of carnaval to begin.