I’ve ended up with the best room out of the 3 of us for some strange reason here at the Tran America. Up on the 14th floor at the front of the hotel I have a balcony, large double bed with flat screen tv, small kitchen area with fridge, microwave, sink and coffee machine; couch and writing desk. The only down side with being at the front is that the sun hits it most of the day and heats the walls up that mush that they are almost ‘hot’ to the touch when you get in at night. As the power cuts off when you remove your card to leave, the aircon and bath room fan switch off and the room steadily heats up. I came supplied with tons of insect sprays and creams, and started a nightly ritual of spraying under the doors and round the aircon etc but so far I haven’t seen any bugs of any description so now just leave the patio doors open during the day to try and cool the room down. I have a hose pipe with trigger nozzle in the bathroom next to the toilet….I have no idea what its for! Its too powerful to wash your ‘bits’ with unless you wanted them sandblasted to a pulp and doesn’t quite reach round into the shower in case its for rinsing cloths – I wonder about this as there is a retractable washing line in the shower – so maybe it is. We have laundry service too…well, I suppose all hotels have it but I’ve never used it, or had to use it before for that matter, but with the heat and lots of walking your changing 2 times a day usually. The fridge is well stocked with cans of beer and soft drinks and there is a tray of ‘snack’; all hellish expensive but that’s the way it goes with minibars. The hotel has a small gym and sort of communal ‘bath’ they call a swimming pool down in the basement. I haven’t ventured down there yet (if ever) but Chris has used the facilities at around 6am a few days – don’t you just hate these fit energetic people.
Breakfast is a decent spread with loads of local bread products, fruit cakes, fruit, scrambled egg (which is good for a hotel) and a vast selection of hot and cold meats. Meats a big thing in Brazil
The walk back to the hotel from our local involves a stretch up a fairly steep hill - Brazilian pavements appear to be the responsibility of the person whose house or building is next to the road, so the pavement is constantly changing in type, quality and levelness, and where there is a vacant lot, there is no pavement. This makes for an interesting trek.