Crossing the Capricorn: Brazil: Huge Country, tiny bathing suits

Due to the encouraging and subtle urgings from various friends and family members to update my blog I´m finally sitting down to update you on all our Brazilian adventures.

BONITO
After Santa Cuz Bolivia we headed towards Bonito Brazil. A Brazilian recommended Bonito to us while we were in La Paz and so we decided to include it on our route. We never got the dudes name or saw him again in La Paz. Three weeks later on our train from Santa Cruz to the border he sat in the seat behind us-weird-its a very small traveling world. To get to Bonito it took a short 19 hour train ride, 2 city bus rides, a 10 hour bus ride and a 30 min walk uphill before we made it to our hostel in Bonito. The 10 hour bus ride was supposed to take 6 hours but our bus got stuck in the mud (its still rainy season) and so I had to push the bus out of the mud. See below.

No but a really a tractor came and pulled us out of the mud not one but 2 times and we had to take an alternate route. When you´re not in a hurry it doesn´t matter too much if you got in at 8 or 12, we were pretty amused by the bus swirling around in the mud.
We finally made it to our hostel and took the next day to relax at the pool. After that we rented bikes and biked to banheario del sol. The people at the bike rental place laughed at us and told us usually people don´t bike there because it´s so far. We didn´t listen to them and decided to do it anyways thinking it would be a fun and cheap way to see the countryside. After an hour and a half of biking up hills in the blazing sun and we still werent there yet I figured out why they laughed at us and told us not to do it. But we made it anyways and really felt like we deserved to relax once we got there. It was so beautiful, there was a swimming hole full of big fish, small waterfalls, a zipline and parrots. Very Garden of Eden-esque. We had a great day there swimming, eating lunch and ziplining into the water. We got our first exposure to the Brazilian bathing suit. For the women, no matter your size or age it´s a small bikini top with even smaller bottoms-covering your buttcrack is optional. But you know what these people can pull it off here-partly because there are an unusual amount of attractive people here and partly because even the not so typically attractive people wear that small swimsuit with confidence. Men wear speedos or really small and tight boy shorts. You go Brazilians, we need more of that confidence about showing off our bodies no matter how big or old they are in the US.
We were not too excited about biking back but we made it. On the way back we passed a group of cows that started running alongside of our bikes-it was hilarious and made me wish I had my boots and cowboy hat on. Bonito was beautiful (hence the name bonito) and I would love to come back when I had more time and money to do some of the pricier snorkeling, caving, waterfall repelling tour. After a few days in Bonito we were off to Rio for some beach time. Rio post coming soon. (will update in the next day or so-so check back, it will not be another 6 weeks I promise)