Coconut water, anyone?

Jonathan and I haven't been doing much over the last couple of days. The weather has been rainy, and Jonathan has been doing a good bit of computer work. However, we were able to steal a small piece of sunshine when Mariana and her husband, Daniel, took us to the Praia Clube (a.k.a. Beach Club) here in Uberlandia.

Recently, Mariana asked us if we planned on joining a gym while we were here. We nodded our heads in agreement, SWEARING that we are going to get back into shape and go home looking fabulous. We'll see. Mariana suggested we become members of the Praia Club where she and her family are members. Membership is invitation only, so sweet Mariana wanted us to come as her guests to see if we wanted to get memberships of our own.

Let me tell you, this place has everything. It's not your average gym. It's more like a country club/water park/summer camp/work out area/restaurant/night life/separate day spas for men and women (one hour massages for around $30)... seriously, it has every single one of those things. Here is the layout:

The club has an area for kids (it's much bigger than this with small water slides and pools as well):

Here's the gym (which is behind one of the multiple soccer fields surrounded by a walking track):

Don't let me forget the different bands that play every weekend:

After you walk past the band/dancing area, you cross a bridge with a river running through it (no pun intended) and a viewing area:

Next, we went down a walking path with an incredible view:

The path led us to one of our favorite parts, the Brazilian squirrels! Well, monkeys actually, but Mariana said they don't have squirrels here. Instead, they have these small monkeys (the pictures aren't that great, I only had my small digital camera with me):


Monkey see...



Monkey do! (Eating his mango)

The first monkey is the dominant male. At first, he was jumping around the trees making a lot of noise, so our attention was focused on him. Then, we saw the little guy in the second picture :). Mariana and Daniel explained that the male monkey was "acting a fool" on purpose to distract us from focusing on the little one while he eats! I thought that was pretty cool. Mariana said, "The male is protecting the family -- as ALL males should (not just monkeys)!"

Of the five pools I saw at Praia Clube, this is probably the one where I will spend the most time:


That view is spectacular in person

The part that I found to be amazing was the price. In U.S. dollars, it is around $85 per month for your first two years; then, you are practically a lifetime member, and the price drops to around $55 per month. For everything this place has, there is no WAY you could find that in the U.S.!

As we ended our first visit at Praia Clube, we were all thirsty, so Mariana ordered four coconut waters (a.k.a. coconut milk in U.S.) on our way out. Before I go any further, let me just say that I am a "logical" thinker, I usually try to use logic to find out why things are the way they are. When I received my coconut, I saw the hole that is cut into it with a straw sticking out:

And I asked the simple question, "So, how do they do this? They just drill the hole in the coconut and pour the water in it?" Apparently, that was not the thing to say, because Mariana and Jonathan burst out laughing (Daniel wasn't in earshot, thank goodness)! They both clarified that the water comes in the coconut already. Oopsy.


Me, Jonathan, Mariana and Daniel

For the record, after the above incident -- I no longer believe that I could survive alone like Tom Hanks in Cast Away.