The recently opened Brasukas Bar in Ponta do Ouro sells light meals and drinks; but more importantly, it doubles as the home of the Lwandi Surf club.
Brasuka is the name for Brazilian emigrants living outside of Brazil. A colourful sign nailed to a tree nearby says Surf é Vida (‘Surf is Life’). Founders Rômulo de Lima and Gabriel Carrião opened the bar a few months ago, as a revenue stream to support the work of the surf club.
“We have a place to store surfboards, and people can shower and use the toilets; we also offer surf lessons and board rentals. It’s our own place, and the club members feel free here,” says Rômulo.
He and Gabriel met as teenagers in the north of Brazil, in an area bordering Venezuela. Then they both moved to Santa Maria, a municipality in Rio Grande do Sul, for secondary school and college.
“When I got to college Gabriel was already there, studying civil engineering like myself. I was like, ‘We keep following each other the whole time, isn’t it?’” says Rômulo.
He is soft-spoken, while Gabriel is the energetic one, prone to responding to jokes by cracking his own jokes. But I sense a chemistry between them that comes from many years of friendship. Gabriel says his connection to
