We spent three days at Pousada Picinguaba as the second part of our honeymoon after spending five days at Fazenda Catuçaba. We had a great driver who took us from the Fazenda right to the Pousada. The Pousada is located at the end of the road out of Ubatuba. This quaint little fishing village wasn’t bustling with tourists and traffic and had just one street in and out. The road ended at a place where the fishermen bring their daily catch and there was a little elevated walkway that took us to our house. We had a very private 3 bedroom and 3 bathroom house nestled on the winding pathway under the trees above the beach. The views were amazing and the hammock on the porch was luring especially thanks to the sound of the waves and the birds nearby. The house was filled with lots of books to read and a nice music collection. The refrigerator was filled with various drinks that we enjoyed. Some have complained that the cost of activities or meals was expensive, but by going through Jacada everything was included, therefore we didn’t have to worry about cutting back on certain things or not doing certain things. If we wanted a snack, we got a snack. If we wanted to go on an extra excursion, we did so. On a few afternoons we would order off the menu and the staff would bring us snacks of shrimp, rice, refried beans, grilled vegetables, pasta, bread, and various desserts of fruit and chocolate (so a snack was actually a full-fledged meal).
On our first afternoon we took a kayak out on the water and watched the fishermen pull in their days catch in their nets, as well as see some sea turtles come up and greet us. We weren’t as pleased by the meals at the Pousada as we were at the Fazenda, but they were still good. Some of the more exotic seafood wasn’t our thing (baby octopus and fish soup for instance), but it was buffet style next to the pool so you did get all you could eat. We didn’t care as much for the fish that we had each night, but again it was still nice dinners and the desserts were always A+ (loved the key lime and chocolate tarts). I presume that the lighting was only by small candles on each table to keep from having issues with mosquitos, but it did require us to use the flashlights on our phones to see what we were eating. That being said we never had any issues with the mosquitos. We have read where they were a big issue with others, but maybe the time was just right for us (April 12-15). We even told the staff they didn’t need to turn down the mosquito nets on our bed each night because they were no issue. It was really nice coming in from dinner each evening and having our beds prepared, shutters closed, and the air conditioning nice and cool. The master bedroom having its own air conditioning system with a remote control thermostat was a huge plus for us. They also were quick to remedy any problems we had. We were billed for two drinks that we had received one evening, but after explaining to them that they were not what we thought they would be and were not made to our liking, they didn’t charge us for them. That was very kind of them because it really was a “lost in translation” sort of thing where we asked for what we called a Strawberry daiquiri, only to find out after making one they don’t have strawberries and the drink they made us had salt along the rim and more of a tequila like taste.
The biggest highlight of staying at the Pousada was the half day excursion on their large schooner. We were taken for a wonderful trip by our captain to various beaches and islands. The young waiter that accompanied us made sure that we were completely taken care of and had all we wanted to drink. He was even able to point out certain things about various places we passed by. We absolutely loved the first island we stopped at. We were given the option to swim to shore or be taken by a small motor boat, which we did. We were able to lie out and tan on the sand and also go snorkeling. The snorkeling was really good because we saw lots of neat fish and some corral. The water was so clear you could always see the bottom. On this island there were probably no more than 7 other people there when we were, but beyond that we were by ourselves. We were taken to another island where we got to walk around on the sand and play in the water completely alone, until the captain called us back to the ship for lunch. We had wonderful sandwiches and salad. The only thing we didn’t like was the cold fish, but that was just us. They had by far the best watermelon I’ve ever eaten. We did feel slightly rushed on the cruise, but we were able to get the captain to stop at one last beach where we collected sand dollars.
The Pousada arranged for Rosa to take us to Paraty for a half day excursion with a great English speaking guide that had been reserved with Paraty tours. It was a neat town preserved in its original form. We had Italian for lunch at a nice little restaurant that our guide took us to. The Pousada also provided us with a wonderful massage the last evening we were there. We had to leave around 4:00 in the morning to get to an event near Sao Paulo and the staff made sure they took our luggage to the car and even prepared us some sandwiches to eat along the way. Our driver to our next location drove us the five hour drive safely and after dropping off my wife took me to pick up my rental car and then proceeded to work with the rental car agency to make sure that I was taken care of and had the right car. Throughout our journey we were given messages from our travel specialist at Jacada, Emily Opie, asking if we were doing well, and if there was anything we needed. Even though we went elsewhere on our trip for an event that lasted five days, Emily made sure that we had a car pick us up to take us to the airport to get home. We arrived at the pickup spot an hour late, but our driver was there waiting for us patiently and knew that we were pressed for time, so he drove extra swiftly to ensure we got on our flight. He even was very helpful in ensuring that we got our rental car returned and that they car agency we used for the few days we were independently travelling didn’t take advantage of us.