Synchro Buggy in Brazil

This afternoon before we took Noah to the dog park, I set an intention: to hear about or experience a synchronicity. Since it’s been raining off and on this afternoon, we went later than usual.  The first person I saw entering the park was Marcio, a Brazilian married to Estis, who is Spanish.  Both are professional performance pianists who also teach music at schools in our county. I knew they’d been in Brazil for the last few weeks, performing at different venues around the country ,and wondered when they’d gotten back.

As soon as we got into the park, I told Marcio that the photos he and Estis had posted on Facebook of an island they had visited were just stunning. The island, Fernando de Noronha,  lies some 500 kilometers off the coast of Brazil.  In 2001, UNESCO designated it as a World Heritage Site because of the importance of its environment.  Marcio said it’s about an hour’s flight from Recife, and that the number of daily visitors are restricted.

Here’s a photo taken of a lagoon adjacent to a beach that Estis and Marcio posted on Facebook:

Marcio, Estis, and their two daughters were staying at one of the few houses on the beach. One day they decided they wanted to see the dolphins that congregated at a cove on the other side of the island. Since the roads were built in the 1800s and haven’t been updated, it meant they would have to rent a buggy, a rugged vehicle that can withstand the terrible condition of the roads.  The owner of the house told Marcio there were two kinds of buggies for rent on the island – the old ones and the new ones.

“What’s the difference between them?” Marcio asked.

“The new ones are twice as expensive to rent.”

Marcio decided they would take their chances with one of the older vehicles. So the owner arranged the rental of an older buggy and the next morning, Marcio and his family left for the 45 minute drive to the other side of the island. “We left at 6 a.m.,” he said. “And at 6:05, just as we were starting up a steep hill, the buggy broke down. There were no other buggies on the road, no one anywhere.” The area was so remote that Marcio undoubtedly felt a sinking in his gut.  “We didn’t have our cell phones with us. This area was so remote that Estis just looked at me and said, ‘What now?’”

“We push the buggy to the side of the road and walk up that hill and find someone who will call a taxi. Or something,” Marcio replied.

Just as they got the buggy to the side of the road, Marcio glanced back and saw an older man wearing headphones walking toward them, swinging his arms in time to the music  he was listening to. He came right over to them.

“What’re you doing out here?” Marcio asked.

“This is where I walk every morning. Are you out of gas?”

“No,” Marcio replied. “The buggy just broke down.”

“Oh, it’s probably the gas pedal.” He pulled on the pedal and the buggy was fine.

“How’s you know what to do?” Marcio asked.

The man laughed. “I own the buggy and rented it to the man with whom you’re staying.”

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“Wow, Marcio,” I said. “What a great synchronicity!”

“I know. It was the best moment on that island – spooky, but in a good way.”

Before Rob and I had left the dog park, Estis texted me the photo that appears at the top of the post. And I came home and wrote this. My intention worked! And so did synchronicity. Travel synchros are often powerful. We are out of our normal routines, our expectations are open, flexible. The miraculous happens. We are blown away.