Pico Paraná

   Pico Parana, the tallest mountain in Southern Brazil stands at an elevation of 1,877m (6,158ft) above sea level.  When Luiz's friends, Arion and Lobo, asked if I wanted to make a summit attempt of course I took the opportunity for the challenge.

   This would be quite a trek so we had to sleep the night before at the base of the mountain.  Although, I didn't have any camping gear (that night Luiz and I shared a blanket) we managed to find a spare tent and made it work.  Also, for water there is nothing more pure then mountain water so we stuck our bottles in the river and drank away.

The campground

Our first site attempt.

Our second attempt after the ants attacked.

And no camping trip is complete without a campfire.

   So we didn't have time for much of an adventure the first day, but we did go for a quick excursion to the water fall up stream.  The water was soooo cold, but of course I got in.  (Yes, this would be the same water I would drink out of later.)

   The next morning we got an early start and began the trip up to the top!  Here are the views after we got on top of the first of 3 plateaus.  Notice the clouds below us!

   At this point we were already tired, but kept on pushing.  The path became increasingly difficult, but we reached the second plateau.  At this point we got a view of the peak would go on to climb.

   Now it was time for the summit attempt.  It took us about 2 hours (we had already been hiking for 4 hours) to go from the point where the last picture was taken to the top and I wasn't sure if we were going to make it!

   But we finally made it! And it was worth all the effort!

   Going back was rough, but we made it just before dark!  A total of 10 hours of hiking!

The Torch and Team come to Curitiba

   With the Olympics coming upon us soon it was time for the Olympic Torch to come through!  One of the coaches at the Brazilian National Gymnastics Training Center, Carol Molinari (2004 Olympian) was selected to run with the torch and was gracious enough to stop for some pictures!

Yea this guy behind us is photo bombing us just a bit haha.

   And with the approaching games the Brazilian National Team had there final training camp before heading off to Rio.  Of course I took the opportunity to take some photos.  Training with them and watching there own progress was eye opening and learned a lot!

São Francisco do Sul

   My next trip would be with a new set of friends!  I got my internship with the help of Intern Brazil (a third party connection company... no I am not getting paid to say this haha) and this group would include Marcio along with two others who were part of Intern Brazil's program, Natasha (far right) and John (far left).  We took a trip to Natasha's beach house and it was an awesome experience!

A view from the front window!

   In the morning on Saturday we went surfing and played on the beach.  It was my first time surfing and the waves were a bit small but I got up for a few short rides.

   In the afternoon we took on the town in this sweet ride and visited a few other beaches on the peninsula.

   After a night of playing a Brazilian card game, truco, we got up Sunday morning and I got to experience another first, stand up paddle boarding!  The ocean was calm and the sun felt good so I just kept on going.  Must have spent at least an hour out on the water and made it about half way to the island over my right shoulder! 

Maringá

   With an open weekend I took a short trip to Maringá, the third largest city in Paraná and where Filipe (my lifeline in some situations haha) is originally from.  Overall it was a relaxing weekend, with the touristic highlight being Catedral Basilica Menor Nossa Senhora da Gloria.  You can get to the top of it, however when we went it wasn't open.

Yea this cone is hollow...

How we took the last pic haha.

The other cool thing about Maringá is the public parks.  Basically a jungle in the middle of a city, the park hosted a number of monkeys who you could get quite close to!

Ilha do Mel

   Ilha do Mel or Honey Island in English is located almost directly east from Curitiba.  Being 4 km at its closest from the mainland, the only way to get to this island is by boat.  The island is a true paradise with no cars and only three small villages.  So when my Canadian coworker invited me to join his group of foreign exchange interns I couldn't resist!  The weekend was spent exploring this exotic island and it couldn't have gone any better.

Our first few moments on the island...

Our hostel... which was nice except for no hot water or heat.  Wouldn't really have been an issue except for that at night the temperature must have dipped below freezing.

The first destination, Farol das Conchas on the far east of the island.

A top view of part of the crew.  Yes Kurt (far left) is also taking a pic.

About half way to the light house.

The final push!

Probably my favorite view of the trip.

On our second day there we explored the other two major points on the island, Grutas das Encantadas and Fortaleza de NS dos Prazeres...

A view of the cave from above.

And from the inside looking out.

Praia de Fortaleza (Fortaleza Beach) It was cold but I made it into the water! 

The group in front of the fort.

   And just a random pic that I wanted to share...