Days 28 & 29: Arraial do Cabo

After another 5-star breakfast, Barbara kindly saves me a trip to the rodoviaria and drives me to the stop for local buses and for a princely US$7 I get a ride to the town of Cabo Frio, 70 km. eastwards. Once again I'm grateful for travelling only with a small backpack, making it easy to jump off wherever required. From Cabo Frio it's a shorter hop south to the resort town of Arraial do Cabo, passing along a causeway.

Arraial is a superior beach town to Saquarema, so it's more Bournemouth than Blackpool. However the weather is unseasonably grey so maybe it's more Blackpool after all. Apart from the 10-foot cacti, which flourish in this usually dry microclimate. Having missed out on these in the interior, I am delighted to find here this classic vegetation normally associated with deserts.

Nationally, Bolsonaro is slowly recovering from his assault but Lula, the man who might have been his most formidable opponent, is serving a 12-year jail sentence. It makes our Brexit neuroses seem like the Vicar's tea party.Read more