Buzios

A long hedonistic weekend

Tony Annis.

Take "a time out" – step out of the ordinary and into life as lived before political correctness, meet and mingle with exotic women, hunky men not just of Brazil but from the world over.Picture of Buzios Visit Buzios – the town for models, pop stars and anybody else who thinks they’ve made it and wants to play hard after a few weeks at the grindstone or a traveller needing a hedonistic injection after too much time on the road. Buzios need not even be expensive if one picks to stay at one of the many Pousadas which are dotted all over this small town, they are a sort of upmarket B & B and extremely comfortable. A Pousada I can recommend a few hundred metres from the centre is called – ‘Canto do Mar’ about £37-50 per night for two people.

A tropical climate with a winter temperature of 25 degrees Celsius and a summer one 35 Celsius, means hot days and warm nights. Just 180 kilometres from Rio de Janeiro,

Picture of Buzios£6-00 and three and a half hours by a comfortable bus. Buzios was originally a place visited by nomadic tribesman then by French and English pirates, then becoming a whaling village for parts of the year, until finally a fishing community established itself here. The real reason this small town of twenty three beaches became so well known was because Bridgett Bardot came here in 1964 and sunbathed topless, thus starting a trend for people to come to visit from all over the world. The sleepy fishing village awoke from its slumber and has now become one of the most fashionable places to have a weekend cottage for the Brazilian chattering classes.

Of course this would all amount to a big nothing, if it weren’t for the fact that Buzios is really something special. Not just because of the amount of bays and beaches, but how each one is so different from the other. They each have theirPicture of Buzios own characteristics, the ones on the right of the peninsula have cooler waters and more surf than the stiller waters of those on the other side. Pick a beach to match your mood, Geriba for surf, Cariocas and enjoyed by twenty something’s. Praia dos Ossos for catching the schooner for a sail, or chose a quite bay where you seem to be the one and only person around. Every conceivable water sport is practised and taught in this area and the locality is the main centre of yachting in Brazil. Tornado, Soling, and Star are just three of the classes raced in these bays. Big game fishing, snorkelling, canoeing, windsurfing, horse riding and Golf are also easily arranged.

Picture of BuziosA car is unnecessary to explore the surrounding bays and beaches around Buzios. Bikes can be hired by the week or by the day and in fact cars are discouraged from entering the town centre in the evening. A five hour schooner trip is definitely one not to be missed. This sea trip includes free snacks and Caipirinha, a drink, made from Cachaca (a sugar cane spirit), crushed ice, limes and sugar. A drink that slips down the throat with easiness that belies its strength. The schooners visits islands and bays with their golden beaches and there are opportunities to dive and swim off the boat as well as eat wonderful seafood at several of the anchorage’s. As it happens, my brother fell in love on one of these schooner tips and has now been happily married for four years. I confess, that at the time I thought he had drunk a little too much Caipirinhia; he and his wife are just about to go back and relive that magic day.

Picture of BuziosThe town comes alive after 11.30 at night, when everyone starts to flock to the centre. The night life in this town beats any town I’ve been in, for a mixture of bars, restaurants with or without live music and encompassing all types of food from simple local fish dishes, to Japanese, French and many other exotic foods both from Brazil and around the world. I did notice the lack of an English restaurant. So there maybe an opening there for someone! Some of the restaurants are self-service and sell the food by the Kilo and you pay for what you eat. They are very good value and not at all expensive, I paid about £5-50 for a large meal and a cold beer. As we walked along the famous Rua das Pedras, my partner and I decided to pop into the Creperie Chez Michou, well known as the place to spot celebrities both foreign and Brazilian.

Picture of BuziosWe then drifted round the centre checking out the bars, chilling out to live music of all kinds and with a really cold beer in our hands, watched the world go by. So as the night sky began to lighten and signal the arrival of dawn, we started to wind our way back to our Pousada to grab some zzzs before the start of another eventful day. Now I’m back to London’s cold winter and thinking that maybe, if I work hard and make enough money, I can go back for another long hedonistic weekend in Buzios.

© Tony Annis 21st November 1999