Weekends and evenings are your own. The days are long  and you start early (7.30) so you will find yourself getting early nights!

The beach is less than one kilometer from where you live so an evening stroll and swim will be most restful. Purchasing a bike will give you further options.

You can sunbathe, play sport (soccer and volleyball) swim and surf (although you will need to hire a board or borrow one from a friend!). You can also go fishing.

The town is quiet so you will need to be relatively self sufficient and learn to entertain yourselves.

At weekends you can travel to Ilheus (three hours away on a local bus) by road or Porto Segoro. Porto Segoro has excellent beaches and a superb night life with love bands and lots of young people. The bus trip is five hours and it is possible to go on a Friday afternoon and return on Sunday during term time (as long as the centre knows your plans in advance!)

There is a world class surfing beach at Itacare – again some way off but this is very popular with tourists and surfers. Itacare is not somewhere you will get to regularly but well worth the visit for a long weekend.

The centre is keen to let volunteers know that they can be flexible – they appreciate you want to see more of Brazil whilst with them. Be sensible and let them know your plans and it will work out to everyone’s benefit!

Further afield Rio de Janiero is some twenty hours away on the bus. The buses are very good and it is possible to book ahead and travel overnight. Carnival time in Rio comes in early February so it would be possible to fly in to Rio, party and then head out to Canavieiras for the placement.

Flying in Brazil is another option. Rio is less than two hours from Ilhues your local airport some 110 kilometres from Canavieiras.