Imbituba ᛫ May 13 – July 8, 2018
Originally, Imbituba was not on our list of places to visit in Brazil. But we are glad we went and ended up spending almost two months there. It was the first time we had our own apartment and spend that much time together.
The reason for coming to this little town was a recommendation and contact we got from a nice couple we met in Florianópolis. They had stayed at the same place a couple of weeks before us. From Floripa, the bus ride towards the south took only a 1:40 hours and cost $R 28.20 (5.99 €/US$ 6.95). Next, we called an Uber taxi at the bus terminal in Imbituba and were lucky to find a very nice driver who later became our friend.
Cute House in a Cute Town
The apartment was a cute little house with an interior balcony. Downstairs, there were a kitchenette, table and chairs, small bathroom and upstairs, the bed. Even though it was not big, it was perfect for our needs. Also, we had a TV that we actually used a lot of times (before we never watched TV). Since the owner of the place showed us a cool channel called Off!, which shows surfing and other outdoor sports documentaries, the TV was turned on most of the times without sound. Besides that, we also watched the football world cup, of course. As it was not high season, we only paid R$ 775 (175 €/US$ 205) per month.
However, the best part of the apartment was its proximity to the beach. It was only a 5-minute walk and we could even see a part of the ocean from our garden. The beach was called Praia da Ribanceira and was pretty long. In addition, there was a nice trail that led through nature to another smaller beach called Praia dos Amores. Especially, we enjoyed working out there surrounded by lots of green and blue.
In total, Imbituba has a population of 39,000. The part of town where we stayed is called Vila Esperanca and 5 km/ 3.1 mi away from the city center. It was really quiet, had three small grocery stores and a couple of other shops. Many of the houses were empty or getting fixed. Of course, during the summer season from November to February, it’s busier.
Cool Nature
Thankfully, we could use the bikes of the owner. Usually, we went to the center once a week to go shopping in the big supermarket and sometimes went to the beach Praia da Vila. Riding the bike there was beautiful because we had many great views of nature and the ocean. That was because we had to cross a mountain, which made the ride also more challenging and turned it into a small workout. 😉
Above all, the nature in and around the city was stunning. Besides beaches and green mountains, there were also sand dunes in Imbituba. From there, you have a fantastic view over the town and beach.
The only disadvantage of Imbituba was its location pretty far in the South of Brazil. Therefore, May and June were fall season and in July, the winter started. Even if the temperatures were nothing compared to the same seasons in Germany, we still got cold. In June, it was often rainy with temperatures around 15° C/ 59° F, dropping to below 10° C/ 50° F at night. Furthermore, the house had little isolation and no heating. So we drank lots of hot tea and wore many layers of clothes. 😀
Working and Studying
The reason why we stayed in one place for so long was that we had some stuff to figure out and take care of. After working on this blog for several months, I was finally able to finish the remaining parts and publish it on May 21st. Amongst many things I learned while creating this website is that you shouldn’t let imperfection stop you. My goal had been to bring it up-to-date and create more pages about more topics. But I realized that it will never be perfect and completely finished. In the end, it’s better to publish it with imperfections than not at all.
I also finally got closer to my goal to become a digital nomad and earn a living online. In order to do so, I created a page of my professional profile, applied to various jobs and joined different Facebook groups. By the end of June, I had a couple of awesome clients from Germany that I really like working for.
Tarik started learning a lot about Online Marketing and blogging. And we both studied Portuguese, with Duolingo and YouTube Videos. Even though we didn’t do it as often as we maybe should have, we still improved our skills. At the end of our stay, we were able to have small conversations and understand much more than before.
Ramadan in Brazil
Our stay in Imbituba was during the time of Ramadan. In fact, it was Tarik’s first time doing it outside of Morocco. Since it was a small town, there weren’t any mosques there nor in the area. Yet, one advantage of Ramadan during the fall in Southern Brazil was the sunlight during the day. The sun rose around 5:10 am and set at 5:30 pm. Therefore, the time of fasting was shorter than in Morocco.
Getting Lost on an Empty Stomach
The first day of Ramadan on May 16 didn’t go as planned. After we finished studying for the day, Tarik wanted to discover the town by bike and return home before the sunset to eat his first meal. Since he was still new to the area, he took a wrong turn on the way back. Additionally, asking for the direction didn’t work out because his Portuguese wasn’t that good and he had forgotten the address. Moreover, he had left his phone at home. And it was getting later and later.
At some point, he passed a big lake while the sun was setting. The incredible sunset sky and nature lifted his mood a bit, but it also meant that it was time to break his first fast. He had been riding the bike for a long time at this point without eating or drinking anything the whole day!
When he finally found a someone who spoke English, they told him that he was 14 km / 8.7 mi away from our place. Thankfully, they could point him in the right direction. The most part of the way turned out to be very dark. Due to the sun being completely gone, the road didn’t have any lights and there was also no moon at that time. He tried to stop some cars to make sure he was still going the right way, but it took a long time until someone pulled over.
Everything Is Gonna Be All Right
When he approached the car, he was surprised to find that a woman had stopped. Fortunately, she was a surfer, knew the way to our place and even spoke English. In order to make the trip safer, she drove slowly next to him, illuminating the road and giving him surfing tips for Imbituba. Then finally, about 20 minutes later, he started to recognize the place and knew he was close to home. Of course, he was extremely grateful for her help.
At last, when he came home more than two hours after the sunset, I was very relieved. Naturally, I got a little worried and had kind of hoped that he might have met some new friends and ate with them. However, he could eventually eat and drink at home after riding almost 40 km / 24.85 mi!
Better Times
Apart from the first day, fasting during Ramadan in Imbituba was perfect. Our house was in the small town with few people and surrounded by amazing nature. The views and atmosphere helped to mediate throughout that holy month. Besides this, videos on YouTube helped him to hear the Holy Qur’an during his (tarawih) prayer. Tarik also to prepared some delicious Morrocan meals that made him feel closer to home. Some of them were Harcha (a type of pancake), Harira (a hearty soup), and Morrocan bread. Whereas, I liked making sweet food like cakes, cookies, pancakes and Açaí bowls.
Overall, his experience of Ramadan in Imbituba was amazing. Despite not meeting other Muslims, he enjoyed it thanks to good mediations surrounded by many new and different lovely things. Of course, I had met Muslims who did Ramadan in Germany, but experiencing it this directly was new. It was very interesting to learn more about Tarik’s culture and to have a different daily routine.
The two months went by pretty fast. All in all, we had a great time in Imbituba. We learned a lot about each other, Brazilian culture, working online and met lovely people. So needless to say, we were sad to leave the first place that started feeling like our home and say goodbye the hospitable owner and his family. But at the same time, we were very excited to see more of Brazil and to have warmer weather again. At first, we went to Peruíbe again and spent another week with our Couchsurfing friend.
Originally, Imbituba was not on our list of places to visit in Brazil. But we are glad we went and ended up spending almost two months there. It was the first time we had our own apartment and spend that much time together.
The reason for coming to this little town was a recommendation and contact we got from a nice couple we met in Florianópolis. They had stayed at the same place a couple of weeks before us. From Floripa, the bus ride towards the south took only a 1:40 hours and cost $R 28.20 (5.99 €/US$ 6.95). Next, we called an Uber taxi at the bus terminal in Imbituba and were lucky to find a very nice driver who later became our friend.
Cute House in a Cute Town
The apartment was a cute little house with an interior balcony. Downstairs, there were a kitchenette, table and chairs, small bathroom and upstairs, the bed. Even though it was not big, it was perfect for our needs. Also, we had a TV that we actually used a lot of times (before we never watched TV). Since the owner of the place showed us a cool channel called Off!, which shows surfing and other outdoor sports documentaries, the TV was turned on most of the times without sound. Besides that, we also watched the football world cup, of course. As it was not high season, we only paid R$ 775 (175 €/US$ 205) per month.
However, the best part of the apartment was its proximity to the beach. It was only a 5-minute walk and we could even see a part of the ocean from our garden. The beach was called Praia da Ribanceira and was pretty long. In addition, there was a nice trail that led through nature to another smaller beach called Praia dos Amores. Especially, we enjoyed working out there surrounded by lots of green and blue.
In total, Imbituba has a population of 39,000. The part of town where we stayed is called Vila Esperanca and 5 km/ 3.1 mi away from the city center. It was really quiet, had three small grocery stores and a couple of other shops. Many of the houses were empty or getting fixed. Of course, during the summer season from November to February, it’s busier.
Cool Nature
Thankfully, we could use the bikes of the owner. Usually, we went to the center once a week to go shopping in the big supermarket and sometimes went to the beach Praia da Vila. Riding the bike there was beautiful because we had many great views of nature and the ocean. That was because we had to cross a mountain, which made the ride also more challenging and turned it into a small workout. 😉
Above all, the nature in and around the city was stunning. Besides beaches and green mountains, there were also sand dunes in Imbituba. From there, you have a fantastic view over the town and beach.
The only disadvantage of Imbituba was its location pretty far in the South of Brazil. Therefore, May and June were fall season and in July, the winter started. Even if the temperatures were nothing compared to the same seasons in Germany, we still got cold. In June, it was often rainy with temperatures around 15° C/ 59° F, dropping to below 10° C/ 50° F at night. Furthermore, the house had little isolation and no heating. So we drank lots of hot tea and wore many layers of clothes. 😀
Working and Studying
The reason why we stayed in one place for so long was that we had some stuff to figure out and take care of. After working on this blog for several months, I was finally able to finish the remaining parts and publish it on May 21st. Amongst many things I learned while creating this website is that you shouldn’t let imperfection stop you. My goal had been to bring it up-to-date and create more pages about more topics. But I realized that it will never be perfect and completely finished. In the end, it’s better to publish it with imperfections than not at all.
I also finally got closer to my goal to become a digital nomad and earn a living online. In order to do so, I created a page of my professional profile, applied to various jobs and joined different Facebook groups. By the end of June, I had a couple of awesome clients from Germany that I really like working for.
Tarik started learning a lot about Online Marketing and blogging. And we both studied Portuguese, with Duolingo and YouTube Videos. Even though we didn’t do it as often as we maybe should have, we still improved our skills. At the end of our stay, we were able to have small conversations and understand much more than before.
Ramadan in Brazil
Our stay in Imbituba was during the time of Ramadan. In fact, it was Tarik’s first time doing it outside of Morocco. Since it was a small town, there weren’t any mosques there nor in the area. Yet, one advantage of Ramadan during the fall in Southern Brazil was the sunlight during the day. The sun rose around 5:10 am and set at 5:30 pm. Therefore, the time of fasting was shorter than in Morocco.
Getting Lost on an Empty Stomach
The first day of Ramadan on May 16 didn’t go as planned. After we finished studying for the day, Tarik wanted to discover the town by bike and return home before the sunset to eat his first meal. Since he was still new to the area, he took a wrong turn on the way back. Additionally, asking for the direction didn’t work out because his Portuguese wasn’t that good and he had forgotten the address. Moreover, he had left his phone at home. And it was getting later and later.
At some point, he passed a big lake while the sun was setting. The incredible sunset sky and nature lifted his mood a bit, but it also meant that it was time to break his first fast. He had been riding the bike for a long time at this point without eating or drinking anything the whole day!
When he finally found a someone who spoke English, they told him that he was 14 km / 8.7 mi away from our place. Thankfully, they could point him in the right direction. The most part of the way turned out to be very dark. Due to the sun being completely gone, the road didn’t have any lights and there was also no moon at that time. He tried to stop some cars to make sure he was still going the right way, but it took a long time until someone pulled over.
Everything Is Gonna Be All Right
When he approached the car, he was surprised to find that a woman had stopped. Fortunately, she was a surfer, knew the way to our place and even spoke English. In order to make the trip safer, she drove slowly next to him, illuminating the road and giving him surfing tips for Imbituba. Then finally, about 20 minutes later, he started to recognize the place and knew he was close to home. Of course, he was extremely grateful for her help.
At last, when he came home more than two hours after the sunset, I was very relieved. Naturally, I got a little worried and had kind of hoped that he might have met some new friends and ate with them. However, he could eventually eat and drink at home after riding almost 40 km / 24.85 mi!
Better Times
Apart from the first day, fasting during Ramadan in Imbituba was perfect. Our house was in the small town with few people and surrounded by amazing nature. The views and atmosphere helped to mediate throughout that holy month. Besides this, videos on YouTube helped him to hear the Holy Qur’an during his (tarawih) prayer. Tarik also to prepared some delicious Morrocan meals that made him feel closer to home. Some of them were Harcha (a type of pancake), Harira (a hearty soup), and Morrocan bread. Whereas, I liked making sweet food like cakes, cookies, pancakes and Açaí bowls.
Overall, his experience of Ramadan in Imbituba was amazing. Despite not meeting other Muslims, he enjoyed it thanks to good mediations surrounded by many new and different lovely things. Of course, I had met Muslims who did Ramadan in Germany, but experiencing it this directly was new. It was very interesting to learn more about Tarik’s culture and to have a different daily routine.
The two months went by pretty fast. All in all, we had a great time in Imbituba. We learned a lot about each other, Brazilian culture, working online and met lovely people. So needless to say, we were sad to leave the first place that started feeling like our home and say goodbye the hospitable owner and his family. But at the same time, we were very excited to see more of Brazil and to have warmer weather again. At first, we went to Peruíbe again and spent another week with our Couchsurfing friend.
See More Pictures of Our Time in Imbituba
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