Since I last posted Rebecca and I have made out way from Pipa to Fortaleza, where we spent two nights, and we are now in Manaus out in the Amazon. Internet cafes in this part of the country do not let you load anything onto them, (a.k.a. photos off of CDs or cameras) so I can nto share any new photos with you. But, I promise that we have been taking lots of photos and that I will post them as soon as I get the chance.
Tomorrow Rebecca and I get onto the boat that is going to carry us to Tabatinga from Manaus. It is a 7 day journey and we are a little nervous. We went down and looked at the boat that we are supposed to taking and there were guys loading so much cargo onto it that is looks like there will be almost no room for any passengers. We also do not know how many people have been booked on the boat because everyone sleeps in hammocks... As a result we are going to be going down to the boat about 8 hours early to try and stake out some space.
This leg of the adventure will definitly produce the most outrageous stories.... So stay tuned.
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Monday, April 24, 2006
Finally left the Beach
We arrived in Pipa intending to spend a couple of nights there. We left a week later... I sort of figured that it was going to happen. It is a great beach town with enough sand to absorb even the large crowds of local weekend tourists, a good night life and enough interesting characters to make people watching a blast. We also found a great spot to surf long boards on nicemellow waves without any crowds. Other than the dolphins of course!
Alas, I do have that flight home from Iquitos Peru on the 12th of May and so we had to move on. We caught a bus from Pipa to Natal, sat around for 6 hours, and then caught a night bus from Natal to Fortaleza, which is the capital of the state of Ceara. We are going to be here two nights and are going to be exploring the giant central market.
Because we spent so much time in Pipa we are going to be flying from Fortaleza to Manaus. This means that we will be skipping Belem and the associated boat journey from Belem to Manaus. This also means that we will only be spending a week and a half on boats on the Amazon instead of two and a half. I have the feeling that one and a half will be more than enough anyway...
Alas, I do have that flight home from Iquitos Peru on the 12th of May and so we had to move on. We caught a bus from Pipa to Natal, sat around for 6 hours, and then caught a night bus from Natal to Fortaleza, which is the capital of the state of Ceara. We are going to be here two nights and are going to be exploring the giant central market.
Because we spent so much time in Pipa we are going to be flying from Fortaleza to Manaus. This means that we will be skipping Belem and the associated boat journey from Belem to Manaus. This also means that we will only be spending a week and a half on boats on the Amazon instead of two and a half. I have the feeling that one and a half will be more than enough anyway...
Friday, April 21, 2006
Surfing
Yesterday there was a guy on Praia do Madeira with a nice digital camera and a bif fat lense. He was taking pictures of all of the people out surfing. $5 dollars got me a cd with thirty pictures of me surfing. Here are just a couple.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Pipa
Having been away from a proper beach for a while the next stop on the tour has been Pipa. A small town just south of Natal. It is famous for its good surf (short beach breaks), dolphins (which you can surf with), and casual atmosphere.
Easter weekend has shut most everything down and so I have been on the beach a lot. We did manage to get out on the town for Rebecca´s birthday, where we met a bunch of great people and pushed the caipirinha index up to 7... It was an interesting night.
Monday, April 17, 2006
Olinda
From Lencois, Rebecca and I caught an early morning bus back to Salvador and then that night´s bus up to Recife. It was a six hour ride from Lencois to Salvador, a six hour layover in the mall across from the bus station and then a 14 hour bus trip up the coast. From Recife we caught a taxi to Olinda where we settled into the Auberge do Olinda, which thankfully had a pool and plenty of hammocks. The beach in Olinda is not the best.
Olinda is a small town next to Recife which has fabulous colonial architecture and tons of old churches to explore. There are also some very nice views out over the Atlantic Ocean and back to Recife.
Olinda is a small town next to Recife which has fabulous colonial architecture and tons of old churches to explore. There are also some very nice views out over the Atlantic Ocean and back to Recife.
I also booked myself onto a dive trip and got to go out and do two wreck dives. There are more than 30 ship wrecks off the coast of Recife and Olinda. I got to see eels, giant snails, two nurse sharks, and a ton of different species of fish that I had never seen before because I was no longer diving in the pacific ocean. I also managed to survive a seriously rough boat ride without getting sick. Thankfully the sea sickness pills worked.
We also had some good times out for drinks at the street stalls with the French and German crews. The photo is blurry for a good reason....
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Lencois
Rebecca and I headed off to Lencois after a brief stint in Salvador. It is about 6 hours inland from the coast and we caught the night bus to get there. The land around the town in Chiapada Diamante National Park looks a lot like a younger verison of the American Southwest. Meaning that there hasn´t been as much erosion. It is also VERY green. This of course means that it rains a lot, which is did while we were there. This thwarted our plans a bit, but we did get to see a really cool cave (Torrinha) and make brief day trips from town on foot when there were breaks in the weather.
Unfortunately, due to further camera disasters, I do not have any pictures of the time that we spent there. I think that Rebecca may have gotten a few pics up before we had another camera stolen...
Grumble....
Unfortunately, due to further camera disasters, I do not have any pictures of the time that we spent there. I think that Rebecca may have gotten a few pics up before we had another camera stolen...
Grumble....
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Salvador
Salvador is a city of several million people site along the northern edge of the Baia de Todos os Santos. It was founded in 1549 by the Portugese at great cost. The local Caete Indians killed and ate both the first governor and first bishop. The city traded hands between the Dutch and the Portugese a couple times until it was eventualy heald on to the Portugese. The city also served as the capital of Brazil for a period of time.
The early colonial period has resulted in a historic city center atop a hill known as the Pelourinho, which has cobbled streets and plazas and is lined with resaurants, bars, shops and pousadas/hostels. All of the buildings are painted light pastel colors with white trip. We are nto sure if there is a formal building authorit, but it seems that the colors al work very well together and you wil never find tow buildings next to each other that clash. This section of the city is the tourist center and very much feels it. Despite the large numbers of tourists there are a lot of locals as well who are out to enjoy themselves. The Pelourinho is also one giant party every night of the week with very loud music being played in almost every place imagineable. Rebecca and I were not totally into the loud urban party scene and so we kept our tourist activities to visiting a couple of local markets, the Museum of Afro-Brasilian Culture, and a couple churches.
We also found an excellent locals bar with amazing sunset views that you may be able to convince me to tell you how to find...
On the recommendation of Mitch and Taylor and several other travelers we soon left Salvador and headed off to Lencois...
We have discovered that while the big cities of Brazil are interesting, they are not what we want our tip to be about. We have found that we enjoy the smaller out of the way places much more and are going to try and focus on them and only briefly stop in on the larger cities as we head north.
The early colonial period has resulted in a historic city center atop a hill known as the Pelourinho, which has cobbled streets and plazas and is lined with resaurants, bars, shops and pousadas/hostels. All of the buildings are painted light pastel colors with white trip. We are nto sure if there is a formal building authorit, but it seems that the colors al work very well together and you wil never find tow buildings next to each other that clash. This section of the city is the tourist center and very much feels it. Despite the large numbers of tourists there are a lot of locals as well who are out to enjoy themselves. The Pelourinho is also one giant party every night of the week with very loud music being played in almost every place imagineable. Rebecca and I were not totally into the loud urban party scene and so we kept our tourist activities to visiting a couple of local markets, the Museum of Afro-Brasilian Culture, and a couple churches.
We also found an excellent locals bar with amazing sunset views that you may be able to convince me to tell you how to find...
On the recommendation of Mitch and Taylor and several other travelers we soon left Salvador and headed off to Lencois...
We have discovered that while the big cities of Brazil are interesting, they are not what we want our tip to be about. We have found that we enjoy the smaller out of the way places much more and are going to try and focus on them and only briefly stop in on the larger cities as we head north.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Birthday
April 8th was my 27th (Yikes I am geting old) Birthday. Rebecca and I were still in Itaparica on the night of the 7th and so Mitch and Taylor took us out to dinner at a smal little restaurant that only the locals know about and would NEVER appear in a guidebook. They went way beyond the necessary call of suty and called ahead to tel them that we were coming and that it was my birthday.
The family that runs the restaurant went over the top. There were five huge dishes for the four of us that included chicken stuffed with ham and cheese, rice, salad, a shrimp stew, and a Bahian specialty - stir fried salted beef, which sounds a little odd, but was very good. They even baked a giant birthday cake for me with guava frosting. The entire restaraunt (four tables) sang happy birthday to me and I shared cake with everyone.
From the restaurant we headed off across town - with half of the cake left - to the central square where there is dancing every friday night. We got about half waythere when a torrential downpour of rain opened up and the four of us ended up hising uder the awning of a vendors stall for about 30 minutes by the main pier. Once the rain let up we headed on and ran into a group of young guys who were hanging out "gaurding" the pier. They sang happy birthday to me as well and we gave them the rest of the cake as a thank you.
We did eventualy make it to the central square, but the rain had put a damper on things, so we just had icecream and called it a night.
I want to send out a HUGE thank you to Mitch, Taylor, and the rest of the Sacatar staff for their wonderful hospitality while we were there.
Friday, April 07, 2006
Thursday, April 06, 2006
The sights of Rio
Since my camera was stolen a few days ago picture taking has slowed down a little. I am extremely lucky that Rebecca is carrying two digital caeras with her and that she is nice enough to let me use one of them. This is especially great since a new digital camera is about four times as expensive here as it is in the US.
Rio is an amazing city of giant green tropical forest topped basalt spires rising out of the blue Atlantic Ocean. The people are colorful, friendly, and exceedingly passionate about everything that they do, from family to work to play.
Our time in Rio was spent principally seeing the major sights (Corcovado and Sugar Loaf), photos of which can be seen below. A friend of Rebecca´s was also generous enough to take a day off work and drive out to one of the locals beaches to the south of town called Prainha.
To get to Corcovado you travel on a small train from the neighborhood of Cosme Velho. The train winds its way through grren forest where you can spot small monkeys. Don´t believe the guidebooks about the price! It is 35 reis ($17) for a return ticket.
Corcovado and views therefrom...
Rio is an amazing city of giant green tropical forest topped basalt spires rising out of the blue Atlantic Ocean. The people are colorful, friendly, and exceedingly passionate about everything that they do, from family to work to play.
Our time in Rio was spent principally seeing the major sights (Corcovado and Sugar Loaf), photos of which can be seen below. A friend of Rebecca´s was also generous enough to take a day off work and drive out to one of the locals beaches to the south of town called Prainha.
To get to Corcovado you travel on a small train from the neighborhood of Cosme Velho. The train winds its way through grren forest where you can spot small monkeys. Don´t believe the guidebooks about the price! It is 35 reis ($17) for a return ticket.
Corcovado and views therefrom...
Sugar Loaf guards the southern entrance to Rio harbor and offers even more amazing views of the city than Corcovado in my opinion. As with the Corcovado it is 35 reis to get to the the top and back.
Views of Sugar Loaf and Rio as the lights come on...
Prianha and Rebecca´s friend Anibal...
For safety in Rio... can you figure out what is strange in this photo?
Besides being very beautiful, Rio is VERY expensive. Money just seems to vanish from your wallet and you have no idea where it went. Because of this Rebecca and I have moved on from Rio to a town called Itaparica, which is located on an island across from Salvador. We are currently staying with Mitch and Taylor, two friends of my father, who run an artist residency called Sacatar.
The place is BEAUTIFUL to say the least. we have our own house, cook, and private beach. I promise to taek some photos in the nice afternoon light today and post them soon.
Be sure to also check out Rebecca´s blog (link is to the right ------->) to see more pictures and get a different perspective on our trip.
Caipirinha....
Caipirinha (pronounced: kai-pir-een-nya) is the best alcoholic drink in the world. No contest! It is made by placing a diced up lime (one per drink being made) into a shaker. The limes are then crushed thoroughly. One to one and a half large (vary depending on taste) spoonfulls of sugar then added to the limes. Crush again. Add Cachaca (pronounced: ka-sha-sa), cracked ice, and shake very well. Pour into a glass unstrained and enjoy.
Be careful... mischievious behavior starts after two, trouble after three, and god help you and those around you if you get to five...
Be careful... mischievious behavior starts after two, trouble after three, and god help you and those around you if you get to five...
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Brazil´s Two Major Religions
Today Rebecca and I went and took in a bit of Brazil´s two major religions. We started the day by going up to the Corcovado, which is the famous giant statue of Christ with his arms outstretched. It sits on this hill way above Rio and it can be seen from almost anywhere in the city. It is more than 30 m tall and weighs around 1000 metric tons. It is a total tourist trap where everyone lines up to get their picture taken in just the right spot. On the way down we took a cable car type train and we got to see several monkeys playing in the trees.
The second religious experience was a trip to Maracana Stadium to see a futebol match. The game was between the two best teams in Rio, Botafogo and Madoreira. There were well over 100,000 people there and it would have been more if some of the sections were not being repaired. It is AMAZING to say the least. EVERYONE is wearing their team´s colors and jumping up and down rythmically to the unceasing drums the fans have brought to the game. They also all sing songs in unison to celebrate their teams and even individual players when they score goals.
The passion that they exhibit is unparalleled by anything I have ever witnessed. They clutch at the bars and handrails and yank at them with all their strength when there is a near goal and curse like a drunken sailor when something bad happens. I do not know what they mean, but I am certian that I know every portugese swear word in the book now.
They hurl toilet paper down from the upper deck of the stands to empty sections below. They light fireworks in the middle of the stands. At one point there was a huge explosion and all of the toilet paper in one area caught on fire. The fans had SET OFF A BOMB in the stadium!!! A firetruck had to come and put out the fires. The game carried on like nothing had happened by the way. It didn´t even pause for a minute.
I am sure that you are wondering where the pictures are... Well that is a whole story in and of itself... I foolishly took my camera to the game and at some point in one of the the massive crushes of people was relieved of it. It was taken straight out of a buttoned up pocket...
Fortunately it was only the first day and I did not lose too many pictures. It still sucks because I now have to go out and buy a new camera and memory cards. I know that i can get it replaced through my travel insurance when i get back, but it is stil a pain in the butt right now. So, that and plane tickets are the plan for tomorrow.
Bec and I are headed for Salvador and Scatar on Wed. morning.
I will try to get a few pics up next post.
The second religious experience was a trip to Maracana Stadium to see a futebol match. The game was between the two best teams in Rio, Botafogo and Madoreira. There were well over 100,000 people there and it would have been more if some of the sections were not being repaired. It is AMAZING to say the least. EVERYONE is wearing their team´s colors and jumping up and down rythmically to the unceasing drums the fans have brought to the game. They also all sing songs in unison to celebrate their teams and even individual players when they score goals.
The passion that they exhibit is unparalleled by anything I have ever witnessed. They clutch at the bars and handrails and yank at them with all their strength when there is a near goal and curse like a drunken sailor when something bad happens. I do not know what they mean, but I am certian that I know every portugese swear word in the book now.
They hurl toilet paper down from the upper deck of the stands to empty sections below. They light fireworks in the middle of the stands. At one point there was a huge explosion and all of the toilet paper in one area caught on fire. The fans had SET OFF A BOMB in the stadium!!! A firetruck had to come and put out the fires. The game carried on like nothing had happened by the way. It didn´t even pause for a minute.
I am sure that you are wondering where the pictures are... Well that is a whole story in and of itself... I foolishly took my camera to the game and at some point in one of the the massive crushes of people was relieved of it. It was taken straight out of a buttoned up pocket...
Fortunately it was only the first day and I did not lose too many pictures. It still sucks because I now have to go out and buy a new camera and memory cards. I know that i can get it replaced through my travel insurance when i get back, but it is stil a pain in the butt right now. So, that and plane tickets are the plan for tomorrow.
Bec and I are headed for Salvador and Scatar on Wed. morning.
I will try to get a few pics up next post.
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