Tabuleiro part II

The sun hit my tent at 8am and it started to roast inside. I could not sleep anymore. I got up and had breakfast. At 10am, my new friends and I headed to the Tabuleiro waterfall, the main reason I came here. We drove 7km to the falls on a steep and rutted dirt road. If I was alone I would have walked this road, it would have taken me a while. Plus I would have to still walk to the falls and then back again. Would have been a really long and tiring day. I'm glad to have met them and have the company. From the parking lot we had a 2km hike down to the river. The park has a lot of endemic vegetation and I found it very interesting. I'm fortunate in the fact that I like and appreciate plants just as much as I do animals. When there aren't many animals around I can get into the plants and be just as happy.
     Once the trail reached the river, we had to boulder hop the rest of the way to the base of the falls. This was a lot of fun, finding my way over huge rocks around the river. The girls were pretty slow, so Caio and I went ahead. We all relaxed at the falls for a while. It was windy and the mist from the falls made it hard to get good photos. Some of the guys swam but it was too cold for me! By the time we got back to the hostel it was mid afternoon and we were all starving. The guys had brought their own barbecue and meat. They fed me generously. Though I had to refuse the alcohol until later at night.
    I showered and relaxed in my tent. I could hear more people arriving and the atmosphere getting more rowdy with guitar and group singing. Now I must admit I'm a bit of an introvert when I travel. I don't go out at night to meet people or drink. I usual take in a movie if I can or just read/write/relax/ listen to music on my ipod. I didn't think I was going to feel comfortable with all these drunk strangers but I was wrong. I stayed in my tent until Caio came to get me. They wanted me down there, I didn't have a choice!
Once I got there, Lucas made an annoucement. He made everybody stop what they were doing and announced that I was his friend and I was from Canada. So much for a low profile. Thankfully there were a few other guys there who spoke english well. Many people were super wasted and it was only 9pm! I drank but stayed within my limits. It was really fun. A few people I met said I was crazy/brave for traveling around Brazil alone. Weird, I seem to be hearing that a lot on this trip! The night went late but many people were in bed by 11 or should I say passed out by 11. I had a lot more fun than I expected, I guess I was a bit of a novelty because I was the only non Brazilian there.
       By spending time with locals I'm getting to know the insides of Brazilian culture but there is one thing I learned on my own and that is Brazil is a cleavage-lovers paradise! It's true, women of most ages and all colors and shapes show off their cleavage. Sure, it's warm here but it's also warm in Africa and Southeast Asia but I have never seen so much cleavage before. If you got it flaunt it, seems to be the motto here and I must say I don't disagree! Some of the boobs are fake though and they can be easily spotted. Apparently there are a lot of fake asses here too, literrally. I'm not sure if I could spot a fake ass but dammit, I'm going to have fun trying (discreetly, of course)! I must admit Brazil has some of the best people watching I've seen anywhere due to the racially mixed society. There's all combinations here and I really appreciate the diversity.