{maique}

Busy week, long week. We had adventures. It was a very good one. Felt like two weeks.

🏝️ Friday took us to Praia das Burras, again. Also to Belo Monte, and Picão, but that’s not the important bit. We needed to get drone footage from a fishing village, and Burras is the nicest one around.

The guys have been dealing with issues when it comes to flying the drone. The island is so small, most of it falls under the “No Fly” zone, as the airport is somewhat centrally located, on the north side.

Kinda silly this forbids drones from flying all day, as the airport gets 2/3 flights a day. Anyway…

We did manage in the end, using my phone, but I was stuck with a dead missQ. Batteries were not charged the night before, as I’d fallen asleep from tiredness. Almost no photos as a result!

We came back to town a few hours later, had an omelette with fries (yes, Mira-Rio got some fries, for now!), and spent the rest of the day with the girls.

We were back at Mira-Rio soon, for an impromptu dinner party, with some colleagues. Everyone is so busy with their daily life, sometimes it’s hard to meet them. We hadn’t seen our next door neighbor for over a week, as she leaves too early in the morning, and gets back when we’re already asleep.

Dinner was great, and fun. The team is multi-national, and we had a Zimbabwean, a South African, an Indian, and four Portuguese at the table. We’ve known everyone for years, so it’s always a pleasure when we meet them.

We went back home, and slept. Unaware of the incredible day that was coming next.

Film crew on their last day in town. They were doing city shots, drone and regular (non airborne) stuff, in the morning.

There’s a barber right next to Mira-Rio, and he wasn’t too busy. Took advantage, and took care of my hair while they were setting up the drone, and getting some footage near by.

We then moved to Picão, a very nice hamlet. On the way to the place where the movieStars were. We were meeting them, so the guys could enjoy a last dip in the ocean. They were here for a week, and this would be their second time in the water! We spend a lot of time at the beach, and not nearly enough in the water.

Anyway, the girls were were going to the beach with a friend, and their car broke down. They took refuge at a nearby hotel (the only one besides the ones movieStar works for), and spent their time at the pool, while mechanical help was on the way.

We kept shooting. Soon it was raining again. We finished doing our stuff, and joined them at Belo Monte for lunch. The rain kept falling.

And so did two tourists, on a rental motorcycle, just pulling out of the parking. The roads here are mostly mud, some clay. Very VERY tricky.

The beach we were going to, after getting some food, is called Banana beach. It has an extremely steep slope to get there. If it’s too wet, you can’t go. It was. We risked going down anyway.

Had a wonderful time at the beach, even with the rain. By now it was just us guys (video crew and myself), the awesome Joel driving the Land Cruiser, and both girls (my tinyMovieStar and her buddy Raquel). movieStar back at work.

Sunset was getting close and Joel said we should go, he didn’t want to navigate that hill climb in the dark. We got dressed, and climbed aboard the Toyota.

Off we went. And back down. The jeep couldn’t make it. Second try. Same result. We stepped out, grabbed our gear, and started on foot. Joel would try again, this time faster, and we would get back in at the top of the slope. Nothing changed.

We were about to climb the whole messy hill on foot, and call in for help, when a man shows up and said there’s another path, connecting that beach to another one, Praia Burra. Sandy road, but doable, he told us.

He joined us in the car, and we left. It was almost dark by then.

It didn’t take us long to be stuck.

We couldn’t get the car free, so I just said we should go on foot to Burra (the fishermen village), and call for help there. Cell coverage is pretty bad in that area, and I hate to hike in the night. Huge land crabs come out, and having the two girls with us would make that a very hard walk.

Off we went. All gear with us. Walking through the palm tree forest, and then on the beach.

We had spent the previous two days at that particular fishing community, and we love it. It is one of the places we like best. People know us pretty well by now, but were still surprised to see us show up at that time, from the beach, not from the road.

A group of ten was quickly gathered, and sent back to the car, they’d try to help Joel get unstuck.

We sat down, got a beer, some cookies for the girls, and I made the call. The car needed to be towed, and we needed another one to pick us up. tinyMovieStar was already speaking to the fishermen, and some village girls braiding the extremely long hair Chris has.

In no time our drive had arrived, and we were transported to the hotel where movieStar waited for us.

Sunday came next.. No activity, just babysitting my daughter and her inseparable friend. Then beer and caipirinhas at her parent’s, late in the evening.

Monday saw the arrival of two new journalists. We (father and daughter) stayed home in the morning, and joined them for lunch. In the afternoon we went to Bom Bom, and shot a few photos for them, before jumping in the pool with tinyMovieStar. And back to the city.

We were lucky, and got a beautiful sunset. Not that common here.

Dinner in town. We had an omelette (yes, another one!) at Mira-Rio, and then ran into Francisco on the way home. He is an old friend as well, Portuguese architect working over here, and was looking for some fish. He found it. Flying fish, with rice, and banana fries.

First time we stopped at this particular place for food. tinyMovieStar said something about sausages, and the nice lady owner said she’d make some for her the following day.

The next day, a Tuesday, felt like a Thursday. We’re tired, very much so, by now. It has been too long, with no day off. We’re pushing it.

Lunch at Juditinha, the usual delicious fish. I was with the little one at home all day long. Left the house to do some grocery shopping, try to find ice-cream, pay for the visa extension, and top up my local number. Those took 15 mins, as everything is so close.

We went back to Maria for the promised sausages, they were delicious. Will go again.

Wednesday arrived. Already thinking about Monday, it’s a national holiday, everyone will have to rest. Probably even movieStar.

Day at home with awesome daughter, with a little time walking around. There are two places on the island where you can get an ice-cream. Soft serve. We went to both of them, waiting for them to open, four times. They never did.

We bought some fabric, and walked to a tailor. Ordered a dress and a skirt for the little princess.

And then a surprise. A rainbow. Something not usual here. And it was one of the best rainbows we have ever seen. It ended in the bay, in front of the forest. The sky was magical. This place is incredible, despite everything. We are very privileged to be able to call this island home, from time to time.

We went to bed with a smile in our faces.

Woke up the next morning, and spent most of the morning at home. movieStar had to say goodbye to the two journalists, so we headed to Bom Bom. I shot a bit more, and then we swam in the ocean, in the pool, and had lunch. I waited for the low tide, and waded my way to the islet, where the restaurant used to be. It is now empty.

Some fishermen were doing their thing on a rock.

tinyMovieStar is swimming much better too. She couldn’t do it when we got here, and she does now. She learned how to swim at Bom Bom. Where her father (that would be me) proposed to her mom. This hotel takes up a lot of space in our lives.

We got back to the city, and had our double dinner again. I head to Mira-Rio, where I’ll find Mitch (the engineer responsible for everything mechanical on the team), and talk to him through an omelette with fries. He’s retiring this year, and you can imagine the stories he has to share. Them I’ll join the girls at Maria, where they’ll be having delicious fish.

It’s getting harder to find the local beer. That’s not fun. Hopefully they’ll fix the factory soon, as we’re not fans of drinking Portuguese and Spanish beer here.

☕️ Hell of a week for coffee! I’m so grateful for all the support, and this week was a good one. Individual coffee offers, and even a new One a Month Club membership! Thank you all, you are too kind.

📺 Bad Monkey, Slow Horses. Almost done with the first one, and would have finished the other one if the episodes were all available already.

📚 Finished Spook Street, and got the next one: London Rules.

✍🏼 Of course I couldn’t avoid it. I got a subscription to Pika. I have absolutely no idea what it will be for, but I’ve done it anyway. There’s not much there, but there is a guestbook. The guys at Good Enough have a few cool services, and I’ve been using Letterbird for free. This felt like a good way to support them.