Back to Rio and Saquarema

After leaving Valparasio we spent our last day in Santiago.  Having done most of the city before, we saw the modern district where they have just completed Latin America's tallest building.  Underneath there is also a huge shopping centre called the Costanera Centre.  We passed an afternoon here, before heading back to the Peruvian restaurant for dinner.  We found that in general the best food in Chile was actually Peruvian.  Although Chile doesn't have good beers.  I also bumped into a guy a had been surfing with in England a few times which was quite strange.  He agreed that the surf around Valparasio was quite s*** and was telling me about Pichelemu.  Maybe next time.

We had one last morning in Chile before our flight back which was taken up by visiting the National Zoo.  As expected it was not quite like a zoo in the UK.  Although not cruel, I would not say conditions where great, especially for the elephants who looked pretty sad.  The highlight were meercats who were pretty cheerful and friendly.

We had a smooth flight back on TAM again with decent emergency exit seats.

Back in Rio the following day- it started off with heavy rain.  However once the weather improved I was able to persuade Maria to come down to Arpoador while I surfed.  For one it was not crowded, although there were still plenty of drop ins.

We had pretty interesting sunset with the clouds and the light water giving special effects as below.

Saquarema:

The next day I got up pretty early (just before 5:00) and headed to the bus station in Rio to get a bus to Saquarema exactly as I did in December 2013.  Also stayed in the same hostel which lets say is pretty basic but a least it was cheap and near the beach.

The main reason to come here is waves.  And they have been really good.  A massive difference in power compared to Rio.  Although it is a bit s*** scary when they slam down on the sand.  The surf is very much like Hossegor.  Contrary to what the locals say I found the water to be pretty warm and was too hot in wetsuit so switched to boardies.

The night was pretty boring as the town is absolutely dead- couldnt even find a place to get a proper dinner.  Nevertheless a fun little trip was good to surf some waves in a different class to the city breaks.  I won't miss the mosquitos here which have eaten me despite repellent.