travel diaries

Floripa Diaries

Its safe to say most of us were today years old when we even heard of Florianapolis aka Floripa existed. For those who don’t know Florianapolis is the capital city of Santa Catarina in the south of Brazil and also where I spent the month of November. Here are a few things I got up to. I have no words and too many word simultaneously so I’m going to share a bunch of pictures with captions instead.

First up we have the Welcome Expirence at Itaguaçu where the beach(Praia de Itaguaçu) has boulders which legend has it were witches who have been turned to stone.

The beach was really pretty even if it was a bit too cloudy to see a proper sunset.

1 Month in Brazil

I have been in a not so great mental space this year, and I needed a change of scenery . I went to the internet in search of an escape for a bit. My default destination is Paris as that is my happy place but Paris in November is freezing and I was already depressed I didn’t need to be cold too.

I came across a YouTube video by Nikki Vontaya and she is on a 12 month trip with a travel group called Remote Year and her trip looked great so I looked them up. I obviously wasn’t going to do a 12 countries in 12 months trip that is pure insanity. But I did look them up and they do have a 1 month and 4 month travel option. Anyway I selected 1 month in Brazil because you know summer and beaches. So I booked a flight to Florianopolis, a town I’d never heard of until October this year.

I went for the Remote Year option because the trip planning was done for me, accommodation was booked for me, activities and attractions were organized and suggested for me, win win. After all of the airport drama I made it to my home for the month a place called Bewiki and I met the people I would be spending the month of November with, my fellow travellers :

From left to right

The Caipirinha Pusher
The Disappearing Man
Me (The Grumpy one)
Our City Manager
The English Patient
The Hopeless Romantic
And The Light Packer

I will break down whole trip in future posts as 1 month is too long for one post. So lets say to be continued…..

*Here is a link to Remote Year’s site so you can check them out https://www.remoteyear.com/ and if you like what you see here is my referral link and you can get $100 giftcard for activities https://www.remoteyear.com/referrals/57711996498

I’m Travelling Again: Part 2

I made it to the airport hotel, which was called the Monaco Hotel (I took this as a good sign as I love Monaco the country). The hotel didn’t live up to its namesake but it was clean and dinner was still being served so I was good.

Here is something about me, for the past couple of months I have been actively looking on the bright side but after missing my flight and not knowing where my luggage was, I allowed myself 30min of woe is me time, then I went downstairs for dessert (there was none, so I just had fruit).

The next morning I woke up early freshened up and booked my taxi to airport even though my flight was at 13h00, I wasn’t taking any chances. Also since my last luggage incident I pack a 2nd outfit in my hand luggage (shoutout to Nomsa). I got to the airport at 10h00 even though the taxi driver was trying to convince me to stay in Sao Paulo longer cause he felt I hadn’t experienced the real Sao Paulo because it was raining 🤷🏾‍♀️

Anyway, I went straight to the the LATM counter but there was no gate info yet coz I was early so I had time for a sit down snack. Closer to the time I went back counter and I ran into a LATAM person on the way there and she gave me my boarding gate number. I still went to their counter and the consultants gave me 2 other gate numbers I thought I was going to explode with anger at the airport 😡. I checked out all three gates turns out the first lady was right. I camped out at the gate for the remainder of the time. All of the announcements were only in Portuguese according to the guy next to me it was because it was a domestic flight (he was my Google translate because I had no network).

A quick hour flight later I landed in Floripa airport where everyone was nice and either attempted to speak English or patiently conversed through Google translate (yep even my network was better here). I got to baggage claim and the only person there worked with another airline but he called someone to help me (A completely different experience to the Sao Paulo airport) . Within 20 minutes I had my luggage . Also the Floripa airport is pretty as far as airports go, its small but airy like I can actually breathe there.

I found my driver easily and I was on my way to my mini sabbatical.

I’m Travelling again

My destination selection this time around was hella random. I saw a video on YouTube about a girl taking a gap year to travel, and she did it through a group called RemoteYear. I looked them up and looked into the countries they covered and I selected the option that didn’t need a visa because it was such short notice. So I choose Brazil.

Once again I had trouble at the airport (I’ve let the universe know that I refuse to be the airport drama girl, so that was the last time.)

Anyway….. I flew from Joburg to Sao Paulo where I was scheduled to have a 2hour layover before heading to my final destination which was Florianapolis aka Floripa. It took me like 40min to get through passport control which I didn’t mind too much because I still had an hour to find my gate right? WRONG!!! Turns out I had to go to baggage claim get my luggage and recheck it in. Navigating that airport was a nightmare plus no one spoke English MODIMO. So the clock is ticking I’m running around like a headless chicken, I finally find people from the airline I’m flying with, the women tells me to check in my luggage downstairs they send me back to her (which is where my luggage is SUPPOSED to be checked in to begin with). The clock is still ticking (and my flight is boarding). I check my luggage and search for my gate at this point they’re flashing final call for my flight 😭. I reach my gate and check with the other passengers that they’re also going to Floripa which they are 😮‍💨, but its a different airline 😭😭😭 my boarding gate had changed and I missed my flight.

*Sidebar Google Translate has been my best friend on this trip so far.

I found an airport worker willing to help me for a tip of course, anyway we get to the LATAM (the airline I flew) information desk. They informed me that there would be no more flights to Floripa that night (it was 11pm). The next available flight would be 13h00 the next day, they gave me a taxi and hotel voucher and sent me on my way. I asked about my luggage, homey’s like ” no your luggage is still here at belt 214″ spoiler alert it wasn’t and the baggage claim lady was not interested in my drama she’s like 🤷🏾‍♀️. A security guard guy helped me by calling someone (I dunno who) and he’s like “Your luggage is in Floripa you’ll get it when you land”. At this point its midnight I’m tired so I leave and everything else is tomorrow’s problem.

Stay tuned for the next episode of Ofentse’s Adventures Abroad.

Where I stayed in Nice

I’ve been backing up my files and photos since I had an incident with my computer last year (spilled tea on my computer it couldn’t be repaired so I lost everything on my machine). I came across a lot of photos that are just sitting on my phone, unshared and unprinted so I figured might as well share them here. So here is a post with pics of the hotels I stayed in last year.

I stayed in 2 hotels in Nice last year as I had extended my stay, another spanner in the works I guess. “Spanner in the works” was the theme for my 2023.

The first half of my holiday I stayed at the Nice Excelsior which was located perfectly in Vieux Nice (Old Nice) so I was within walking distance from everything the beach,Place Massena & a 2 minute walk from the train station. I hit the jackpot with location of this hotel. Location location location. The hotel itself was cute with quirky decor and the staff were super friendly.

The backyard was also cute.

I extended my time in Nice so I needed to find another place to stay enter the Okko hotel which was not as central but it was a newer hotel and was right by the tram station so getting around was easy.

The Okko hotel has a more corporate feel with a huge common area that they refer to as “the club”. It’s really just a lounging/eating / bar area

Birthday Solo Trip pt1

This year my birthday was celebrated solo in the South of France, and I think I may have found one of my favourite holiday destinations. I visited the gorgeous Nice and it felt like walking into a postcard. It was unreal, so picturesque.

No exaggeration, as we were landing you could see the bluest water ever from the aeroplane and I had a window seat. What a beautiful landing.

I don’t really do any planning activity-wise when it comes to holidays I’m more of a go with the flow type of traveler. In my defense there really isn’t any activity planning required when you’re in a beach destination right. Besides lazing around is what being on holiday is about.

My first full day was spent at one of the beach clubs along the Promenade Des Anglais. I opted for the beach club as they supplied beach beds, umbrellas and food because those pebble beaches are uncomfortable to sit or lie on all day (I’m a sand beach type of gal). I mean you obviously pay to get in but its worth it for the comfort and convenience.

A lot of walking was done on this trip, my step counter must’ve thought it had been stolen by a very active person. Listen I walked up to the top of of Castel Hill to check out the panoramic view of Nice. The walk all the way to the top was not planned the elevator was closed when I got there (it closes at 17h00 and I got there after 18h00)

I did book an activity off of AirBnB experiences though, it was a photoshoot for my birthday. Antoine the photographer was very patient with me bless his heart, because I’m hella awkward when someone else is taking my picture (I’m absolutely fine with selfies as you can tell). But yeah the shoot was also like a walking tour of Nice so it was fun. Here are some of the shots he took 😉

Nice is so beautiful and the people were really nice too, I mean the cab driver from the airport to the hotel was a leo for crying out loud, it don’t get no better.

I took this from a moving vehicle (the leo driven taxi). I repeat picture perfect!!!!!

Here are more touristy snaps:

Travel Spotlight: Nyaki Tshabangu

I love social media because you come across really cool people, case in point the person featured in this edition of Travel spotlight Nyaki Tshabangu who appeared on my instagram explore page. I’m a natural hair enthusiast and she’s in the natural hair business. I’ll let her speak for herself .

Tell us who you are and what you do?

I am a founder at Natural Hair Co. A business in the business of making Natural hair Normal by creating spaces for entrepreneurs in the hair space the opportunity to market and retail their brands.

We love your travel content, tell us the places you’ve been around the world

I’ve been all over, I recently completed a trip that meant I’d been to all the continents (except Antarctica) .

What was your favourite destination?

I don’t really have a favorite destination, each destination holds a really special place in my heart because of who I went with, or the occasion of my travel.

Do you use travel agents or are you a DIY traveller using apps?

I’m a diY through and through. I use momondo to book flights, and depending on what apps they use in the country for commuting. I use Pinterest to find as much information as a i can before booking.

When did the travel bug bite?

When I spent 3 weeks in Brazil over Christmas and nye with friends.

Do you have any hints and tips for solo travellers or first time travellers?

Do as much research as you can, and that safety is only a concern in South Africa. If you can survive being alone here, the rest of the world is easy to navigate.

What do you never travel without?

I want to say my husband, but it’s my phone.

Money is no object, where in the world would you go?

Oh wow. I’d go to Ethiopia 🇪🇹

Where can people find you on social media?

Nyakinaturally on Instagram