At the very tip of Florianopolis are two beaches, Lagoinha, facing due north and Ponta das Canas just around the corner facing west. They are both popular beaches, dotted with umbrellas and busy with the sound of bat and ball being hit by the edge of the sea. But like so many of the beaches in Florianopolis, you can step 10 minutes away from the crowds and find yourself in the thick Atlantic Forest, amongst bromeliads and butterflies (and the occasional snake or spider's web), or climbing a rocky hillside looking out over the ocean.
The trek between the two beaches is a 45 minute walk each way. Still full of energy on our return leg we decided to take a detour down a little track to a small rocky peninsula. The peninsula looks directly out to sea and is a popular spot with fishermen. We had it to ourselves though - just us and the open ocean. The waves were crashing quite strongly against the rocks, and while we were looking into the water deciding whether it was safe to swim, we spotted a beautiful turtle moving gracefully under the water, and a minute later coming up for breath. He went back down and did a backward somersault, before popping back up again and nodding his head while taking a gulp of air. We managed to find a safe route into the water from the rocks and swam free in the cool open sea, surrounded by shoals of tiny silver fish. Sitting in the sun to dry off afterwards, the rocks below us appeared to shimmer and move - looking closer, we saw that there were dozens of tiny crabs scurrying around on the rocks.
In a bar on Lagoinha afterwards, we learnt a new phrase from our Brazilian friends: 'O, a vidinha, mais ou menos' ('Oh, a little life, more or less' or as we would say 'It's a tough life!')
