A lovely end to Carnaval...

I spent most of my day at Caripi Beach yesterday located in Barcarena, Pará. It was the first freshwater river beach I had ever been to, and it was absolutely beautiful!!

I was invited by my other wonderful host professor, Larissa and her family. We went by car and boarded a boat that got us to the city in about 45 minutes.










The city of Belém looked really cool as we we drifted away from it.









The ride there was simply stunning. We were surrounded by the rainforest, and from afar, we could see small homes along the river banks. It's amazing to think that people live out there!












Before driving into town towards the beach, we stopped to buy Bacuri, a popular fruit from the Amazon region. A young boy approached our car as we drove off the boat and Larissa couldn't resist!













Our time there was pretty relaxed at first. We brought out the futebol and snacked on fried fish and mandioca frita, or fried Yuca (Spanish).













More people arrived shortly thereafter and so did the music! It was a party on the beach!!











Larissa took us exploring and we took some pictures of the famous tree house at Hotel Sumaúma. There are only a few suites in the tree hotel, and it's usually reserved for couples on their honeymoon. According to Larissa, the walls are very thin and probably inconvenient for the honeymooners!






We were greeted by an iguana, a snake, and I was welcomed with a love bite from a fuzzy caterpillar.

I am not having the best luck with insects. The mosquitos are binging on my blood, which is a bit worrisome because billboards throughout Belém are warning of Dengue, an infectious and sometimes fatal disease, that they carry. I'll try and post all the different signs--some are really creepy!

On our way back from Caripi, we drove by an intense game of futebol! These kids were pretty awesome--they need recruiters out here asap!