Day 587 27th February 2018
26 miles (Ubartumirim to Itagua) Average speed 9.1.mph Top speed 33 mph
I was up at 6 with the sun. Then it rained some more while I had 4 sausages in rolls with black tea. It had barely stopped raining as I left at 8.40. I went to pay the governor but he said no charge. I think he felt bad about charging me ten each for the beers! But what a nice man.
I headed along the beach but turned off too early and came to a dead end. I went across a footbridge and followed the path hoping it would take me back to the main road, but it only took me to some houses. I went back and further along the beach found the right road, but it was flooded and it was tough in the wet sand and puddles. As I tried to find a way through it started raining again and then the road turned into a river so I took the footpath which was very wet too and nearly came a cropper in a deep muddy puddle. I made it through and arrived at the main road where I had to push the bike up the embankment and needed a rest at the handy bus stop out of the rain.
Then I took on the hills and it stopped raining and the cloud cover brought a welcome coolness especially in the downhills. After a while the spray from the buses and trucks subsided as the road dried out and I didn’t mind the climbing.
At the top of a hill I made use of a police road block to get some cold water, use their toilet and hose down the filthy bike. Then I found a supermarket for some fresh water, as the tap water didn’t taste too good, and a Coke before taking on the next of the ascents. My left knee was giving me a bit of gip, but nothing too bad. I rested again at Felix beach and met a guy and his wife and daughter who took photos and exchanged facebook details and a couple who were interested in my travels.
Then it was another climb with wonderful scenery and then a good run all the way down to Ubatuba.
I found a hostel, but they wanted 59 reais to sleep in one of their tents. It was a much more reasonable price of 30 for a mixed dorm bed. I decided to go and look at the other camping option, but it was not in a very nice place and looked closed, so I went back to the first one, now in the rain. I checked in and went for lunch at a restaurant next to the football pitch.
I had a walk along the beach and then went back to the hostel and chatted to Alissandra from São Paulo who had been made redundant from her call centre job and was touring around Brazil and Chile.
Hostel Tropic of Capricorn 30 reais for a bed in a 6 bed mixed dorm.