Alive and tanned.

I´m still here on Ilha do Mel, recuperating and quickly healing from my staph infection. Yesterday I dared to venture on a long walk to the other end of the island, but it turned perilous quite quickly -- I had to cross a bunch of rocks to get past one beach, but it was like crossing through a war zone, where the ocean was the ammunition and the rocks mini hills. Christ. I got stuck in one part on a boulder, with nowhere to go, but luckily two couples came up right behind me and we all continued the trek together. Doing all of this in Havianas, too. I was rescued a few times by one of the husbands of the couple, which was easy for him since all he had to do was pick me up by the arms like a baby. Halfway through we had to wade through chest-high water to get to another rock and just as I was about to climb up, a wave crashed into me and knocked me over like a leaf, so I slipped and was pushed right into the rock. I think that was when I cut my index toe open, not too bad, but not too fun either.
When we finally made it we cheered and I hung out for the rest of the day with one of the Brazilian couples. It was quite nice actually. I got my toe cleaned and bandaged up and now Im off to the beach... paradise comes at a cost sometimes!