Stifling Heat

I have read of the heat wave sweeping the western United States and feel some empathy. This is supposed to be the cooler rainy season in Brazil and we are sweltering in unbearable heat in much the same way.

It seemed a good moment to cut back the shrubbery surrounding my head and close by the parking lot where we spent the night in Timbó there was a barber with a beard I could envy. Among other things it’s black. His landlady Odette brought us lemonade and pets for Rusty thus we all left in a buoyant mood. Brazilians are like that. 

The plan was to drive to Blumenau and give it the once over while boosting our batteries. We’ve been living well ofc the solar panels but we have been using the air conditioning at night in the heat and we like to make sure we will have plenty of juice even if we get to park in the shade. Blumenau is famous for its German themed festivals but we saw nothing of that, just a big city with hints of a German past.

We seemed to drive for miles winding through hills and valleys and getting nowhere. 

And then of course I had my moment of panic when I turned left and found myself on the wrong side of the road, driving in the “English manner.”

I cannot stand these single blocks of driving on the left and they drive me crazy. But I am not the city engineer do I suffer not very silently and try not to screw up. Easter is April 5th but it looks like bunny rabbit festival already. 

We drive back to Pomerode unimpressed by Blumenau and sought refuge in the campground remembering fondly the bearable days and cool nights on our first visit. The city welcomed us in its own inimitable Teutonic way. 

We went to lunch in the Pomerhof across the street where Brazilian and German food are all in the same buffet.

It seemed like a good idea and the food was good but our memories of cool mountainous Pomerode betrayed us. 

Sunshine, heat and indefatigable annoying children running around are a clear indicator we’ve outstayed our welcome. Time to find a beach.

Rusty evading the heat. 

Timbó

Timbó is not an abbreviation for Timbuktu though you are free to imagine that if it helps in any way. Timbó (with the accent on the “o”), is a town thirty minutes from Pomerode and we drove there yesterday afternoon.

Layne had discovered an unusual restaurant open only for dinner so we decided, as it’s closed on weekends to go check it out Friday. It so happens yesterday was blazing hot in Pomerode and a drive with air conditioning sounded just the ticket. Before we left the campground a rental motorhome came in and in a blistering display of Latin insouciance parked right next to us.

One of the cultural barriers that North Americans including myself cannot handle well is intrusions into one’s personal space. Luckily GANNET2 is well insulated and I have learned over the years not to flip out over loud music or midnight parties or other displays of what we would call lack of consideration. But look below and see how empty the campground is! 

We were leaving anyway so we got on with it and went to look for refreshment on a 95 degree afternoon. We had slept with air conditioning and Starlink on all night and our batteries had gone from 70% after cooking dinner to 28% by morning. As much as the batteries could use a charge I could use some chocolate ice cream:

And so we got on the road to Timbó and quite pretty it was too.

“Homestyle lunch.”

Germany in Brazil is everywhere here. 

Timbó looked sturdily bland and modern. 

There was also the little matter of one more weird “English style” street where we drove on the left for one block.

Personally I think they are insane and dangerous but we survived. These English style streets tend to connect one way streets going in opposite directions so it’s more like making a u-turn but still…

The best place to camp according to iOverlander is a parking lot overlooking the river. When we got there it looked good.

With a seven o’clock reservation for dinner three minutes away we were set to rest and admire the view. We drove to dinner five minutes away and left Rusty to cool his heels aboard.

Shrimp and octopus and pasta for Layne. 

Cod poached in olive oil for me. 

Molten chocolate for Layne…

… and lemon lava cake for me with sage vanilla ice cream. 

A bottle of Brazilian Pinot Blanche was $42 and the risk for dinner was $114. It seemed to us like value for money. The chef who takes your order for your protein and creates dinner based on your preferences. We said no beets or carrots, Laynes least favorite vegetables. 

And so home to bed. 

A free parking lot.