The town is BEAUTIFUL and people are so warm here. Everyone smiles.
And the pace of life is perfect...
We checked in late at night and hungry for dinner, so we wanted to walk into town to look for dinner. As we're about to leave the 'pousada' accomodation, this guy offers to give us a ride since the supermarkets might be closing soon. We thought he worked at the place, but during the drive we found out he just cleans pools for a living. Chur!
Turns out all the shops are closed, so he drops us at this eating place on the side of the road and asks the man behind some grill if he can please pump out some food "for my friends!", then he goes about his way. Off the bat of this generosity I sat there eating something unknown but delicious, a black-and-white TV playing on the side of the road, and the warmth of the night and the people around me, I felt right at home.
And as we stayed the next few days here we saw that this wasn't a one-off act of kindness, it's the culture of this place! Dairy owners who remembered us from one visit to the next, drivers who would patiently wait for us throughout the day, and the locals always gave us a smile and gave each other right of way. It was a community to aspire to.
At night, amazing live music would pour out of bars, and the culture came more and more alive. But best of all, Bonito was safe. You could walk alone down the street with as much possessions as you could carry and you'd still be fine. Coming from Sao Paulo, this was something to behold!
'Bonito' in Portugese means 'beautiful', and that's really what it is. It had the old-town charm, stunning sightseeing and the vibrant colours of Brazil, but what really made it was the people. People who smiled because the knew that everything would be OK. People who lived generously and helped each other out. People who reminded me what community can look like and how beautiful that really is.
It's my favourite little place on earth.
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