Travel with Indigo

It’s Saturday and the weather is great. Today we took a taxi and drove about 30 minutes to Cumbargo and to a resort. There we rented two dune buggies and were driven over lots of dunes—they weren’t even right on the beach which shows you how many dunes they have here. We drove over many very high dunes and even I thought is was exhilarating to the go down the other side—quite steeply! It was like being on a snowmobile but on sand.

We stopped at a lake where they had a very interesting operation going on the high dune above the lake. They gave you boards and they waxed the bottoms. You then sat on the board at the top of the dune and slid down as if you were on a sled on a hill of snow. If you went fast enough and far enough, you could sled right into the water. Then you walked up the dune—they had car tires which marked the path up and it was pretty steep going back up. Will crashed and got sand on him everywhere, but no problem—the boys just jumped in the lake and got cleaned off.

As you have probably figured out, this could never happen in the U.S. The dunes were higher than any I have seen in the states and it was great fun. Private vehicles are not allowed on the dunes—just these rented ones where a driver takes you along a particular route. We had a Brazilian girl who spoke English with us the whole day and she told me that there were even bigger dunes on the ocean side but that “politicians” had had them leveled so they could build their houses there. Don’t know if that’s true but there were houses on the ocean and no dunes.

After we finished our dune buggy ride, we returned to the resort and had lunch and believe me, every meal is an adventure when you have no idea what they are describing, even when the menu is in English. After lunch, Phil got an on-the-beach massage and the boys rented four-wheelers, which was a bit of disappointment since the guides rode on the back and told them where to drive. I don’t blame them for not wanting to let people go wherever they want and as fast as they want.

I must tell you that I never saw so many thong bathing suits as at this resort. Women of all sizes—and I do mean all sizes—were wearing them. Of course, there were some cute young girls wearing them too but if I every had to be reminded not to wear a thong, this did it. I saw only two one-piece suits the whole day. The men all wore those speedo-type bathing suits and that was not a pleasant sight either. A couple of the teenage boys had on board shorts but even they were wearing those skimpy suits. It is obviously acceptable here to wear these suits and it doesn’t matter how you look in them but needless to say, I’m not going for it.

We went home and showered and rested a little and then Phil, Grant and Will went back to the Sal e Brassa restaurant to eat meat again. They really love that place. I opted to stay home and get to bed much earlier than if I had been with them. Afterwards, Grant and Will went to the marina hotel and hung out.  I put on a Scopolamine patch because we are scheduled to leave tomorrow and it will be a bit rough. A Great Adventure!