Itajaí - Beto Carrero World

Itajaí

We were brought to the bus station by our Brazilian friends in the middle of the night. I was hoping for a good bus... and then a brand new double-decker bus arrived. We said goodbye and got on. A great bus, really, I was happy. In the morning at 7 o'clock we arrived in Itajaí and went directly to the hotel by taxi. There the receptionist organized a transfer to the amusement park for us. A retiree who had nothing better to do and liked to tell us everything that came to her mind, even if we couldn't speak Portuguese, it didn't matter. Maybe because her car didn't have a radio. She dropped us off in front of the park and our excitement grew.

Entrance cost 49 francs, quite expensive for South America. It was cloudy, Friday. Therefore, not many people. Muriel gave me a choice. Either breakfast first and then go on the rides or go on the rides first and... and I already sent her on the roller coaster, holding her hand tightly.

We went on a few rides and around noon we went to a show. For 20 CHF, you got a 1-hour show and lunch. The show was called Excalibur and was really action-packed and Muriel was also thrilled when she saw the horses.

Yeah, I watched others fight and struggle a little bit, it was good. Afterwards, we visited the park's internal zoo, it was really good. It had almost every animal that belongs in a zoo.

By then it was around 4 pm and stupidly I told the driver to pick us up at 6:30 pm. There were fewer rides, but more shows and the zoo. Well, thanks to the wait, I was able to convince Muriel to overcome her fear of heights and join me on the 93-meter high free fall.

It eventually became time and Grandpa came to pick us up. Conclusion of the park: You can really do a lot for the money. Zoo, shows, rides, shooting booths, things to see, etc. But roller coaster fans may be a bit disappointed because it doesn't have half as many rides as Europa-Park. Still, it was a great day.

On the second day, we decided to stay another night and had a lazy TV day. Just doing nothing, lying in bed, watching movies, and booking a few things. The weather wasn't great anyway. In the evening, we had to go outside for a bit, to post a few things and grab a late-night snack. We also quickly looked at the city, although we only stopped in Itajaí because of the amusement park. There was a stunning church there.

Afterwards, we played a short card game, I went crazy (side note from Muriel: yes, he lost) and then we went to bed. Now we are on our way to Florianópolis. We are traveling by bus for 2 hours. From there, we have to take a 70-minute public bus to get to our hostel. With good weather, we want to try our first surfing attempts. Probably the last ones in Brazil and this stupid, incomprehensible, complicated, weird, and dumb Portuguese language. Afterwards, we will go to Uruguay, where we can finally try speaking Spanish.

Next Stop: Florianópolis