5 February

And so our first day in the Lençois started off with a hostel breakfast - coconut cake and fruits. After sussing the hostel crowd we decided to head up to another hostel hoping for a livelier scene and a average age group of younger than 40. Upon arriving at the other place we not only discovered a better scene but various tempting activities. Somehow the idea of a two-day horse trek stuck with us and confirmed and thrilled we headed to the centre of the town to familiarise ourselves with the 'once-was' mining settlement. Surprised by the number of places offering bizarrely exotic dishes ranging from ethnic recipes in Thailand to Morocco we settled for an açai. Beanie went for one with passionfrit- OUR BEST YET- WINNING COMBINATION!!!!!!!! And for good measure I team challenged her to a Jenipapo(BR fruit) juice. At first we thought the snotlike appearance was a matter of judging a book by its cover- however the tasting soon confirmed it was every bit as disgusting as it looked. My drink of avocado, vanilla and lime was pure bliss! So we decided it was time to look into the market. Between the mammoth walk there, the overcast weather and the brown meat due to lack of refrigeration it would be fair to say we where somewhat disappointed. The fruit and vegetable section offered few new things however the variety of spice and pods was surprising and a mysterious pickle with a tail and spikes did grab our attention. We organized bus tickets and very much overdue postcard stamps and headed for lunch. Curry- dressed in long sleeves for the first time in months with an outside temp of 26 we felt somewhat cold and ill. Hostelled all afternoon in front of the tele with a variety of comforts in the shape of chocolate and lime biscuits. An early night ensued and an new day ready for our trek!