Day 45: A Whirlwind of a Day

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Wow, what a CrAzY, long, exciting, bittersweet day! Once again, it began shortly after 4am with the crowing of the rooster and lots of prayer until the sun came up. I walked around on the beach for awhile, looking around and enjoying the island. It was really cloudy all morning, so the sunrise wasn’t anything too spectacular. It was barely even noticeable aside from the fact that my surroundings got lighter as the morning progressed. Read Full Post

Day 44: The Full Experience

Woke up this morning to a rooster crowing somewhere on the island…shortly after 4am. The one thing about roosters functioning as alarm clocks is that you can’t hit the snooze on them…especially when they are not within reach and don’t belong to you. So I had no choice but to just lie there in my hammock for awhile. I didn’t even need William’s alarm to wake me up, but I still waited until it sounded before I got up. Read Full Post

Day 43: Eureka! Treasure Island!

Noe II

Today’s a day I have been anticipating for a long time…Treasure Island! I ate a quick breakfast of egg casserole and coconut bread and packed everything I would need for three days on the island. With the exception of my hammock, I managed to get it all in a small suitcase.


We left Petrolina in late morning and drove back to Sobradinho. Uncle Doug took me, D
Right after passing over the Sobradinho Dam, we turned off the road. There, tucked back in a tiny little canal is Noe II, the boat that would take us across the lake to Treasure Island. Uncle Doug dropped us off there with all our stuff and then drove into Sobradinho to start picking up the campers.anae, Joy Baxter, and Neto, the latter two having been picked up in Petrolina. Aunt Renate took Destiny and picked up Tatiane and Chelsea, a couple other girls who were going to be counselors with us. Read Full Post

Day 42: Desert Adventure

Sobradinho Dam

This morning we went to meet the rest of Uncle Byron and William’s family at their home and to have some fun with William. We ate a breakfast of French toast with mamo (papaya) smoothies and at about 9:30 we jumped in the car to drive to Sobradinho, Bahia, another city in another state about an hour away. Read Full Post

Day 41: The Sao Francisco River Valley

Passion Fruit

Breakfast this morning was SO good! French rolls, cheese, and some sweet bread with coconut that reminded me of the pan de coco that my family loves to get at China Town in Seattle. Mmmm…it was one of the many highlights of my day.

We left the house around 9:00 to meet up with a friend of the Reiner’s who would take us to a grape plantation. The man’s name is Marceu and we picked him up at the place where he works. He took us to a plantation, and the owner of the plantation, Renato, gave us a personal tour of the vineyards! Read Full Post