Downtime Then Downtown (Feb 23rd- March 4th)

The exhaustion hit hard following the apocalyptic week of carnival, so Bee and I decided to head south to a very relaxed beach town called Itacare. (We are slowly realising here that everybody does the same route around Brazil or in reverse, so the friends we made in Salvador had been there before carnival, and the people we met in Itacare had been in Salvador previously. It sometimes feels like there is no such thing as originality or individuality!) We spent three days on the most beautiful beaches- the description ´picture postcard´ doesn´t even come close- which are all laid out next to the other like perfectly manicured fingernails on a hand, each one favoured for different reasons- surfing, bar/food, beach sports. We were lucky enough on our last night to see a capoeira show. Capoeira is a kind of fusion of martial arts and dance which was (we were told) developed by African slaves in Brazil who wanted to maintain a standard of strength and agility for fighting without making it obvious. The fighters/dancers all wear white and spin about at ridiculous speeds, launching high kicks which look terrifying at such close proximity! The show was performed by a school, so it was also very cute to see little children trying in their own way to mimic the movements. 

It was hard to leave such a beautiful and charmingly relaxed town, but our two friends were flying into Rio in two days and time was of the essence! Onwards south. 

Our first long-distance bus journey was horrific, putting it mildly. We had half-reclining seats right at the back by the toilets, so quite smelly after a while, we were right over the engine, so the tainted air and heat were awful and the windows wouldn't open. We were slowly cooked alive for  24 hours. But after all that complaining, we had reached Rio! Coming out of the bus station we could see a tiny pin-sized statue of Christ the Redeemer in the far distance which was just a little underwhelming but regardless, photos were taken like the tourists we are.   Found a hostel in Ipanema (IPANEMA!) three blocks from that little-known beach, in an off-street called Hostel Row, where there are about ten hostels packed side by side in this one little alley, so a great atmosphere and lots of lovely people from all over the world. Finally Lily and Elle arrived! There was a moment of sheer blinding excitement to have them here with us at long last, but also very strange to have such a large group of four after only being a twosome for four weeks. Girls being girls there was much giggling and shrieking but we did eventually manage to calm down....

Ipanema Beach is a stretch of sand for strutting and exercising, of epic proportions. There is a very shallow bank at the edge of the water, meaning the waves crash high and thunder downwards, making it very hard to swim- Elle bravely attempted and lost her bikini bottoms in the process. Just a note for fans of skinny dipping- it is very strongly frowned upon here and most beaches in Brazil and we even heard a story of a group of Brits being beaten with sticks by locals after being discovered! It seems very strange that complete nudity is forbidden whilst the tiniest thread-like bikinis and speedos are paraded with such pride everywhere. 

We decided to grab the bull by the horns, so to speak, and did a tour of all of Rio´s most famous sights in one day. Needless to say, we were exhausted by the end! 

The tour started at the Christ the Redeemer statue, where we took lots of airplane-pose photos and also the stunning landscape all around. The statue itself had been undergoing restoration work a few years before and looked absolutely pristine and gleaming in the sun. Next stop was the neighbourhood of Santa Tereza where we would spend our last night in Rio- very pretty architecture coexisting in surprising harmony with the graffiti (actually like artwork) adorning the streets. Next stop, Sugarloaf, thus named after the Portuguese thought the shape of the hill looked like bread that the locals baked. There we watched the sun set over Rio and it was beautiful, if not slightly marred by the number of people crammed up against the railings trying to take the perfect photo. 

(TO BE CONTINUED)

Still Alive!

Sorry for such a long gap between posts, no excuse really so instead I will try and make up with an incredibly informative and interesting whiste-stop tour of the last few weeks and our activities!

So. Carnival. Salvador. Where to begin?! It was an incredible week that seemed like a lifetime- had the most amazing experiences and met incredible people and if we got the chance to do it again, we would and do it in exactly the same way. Enough gushing! We arrived on a bus with no clue where Pelourinho (the area of Salvador where we were staying) was- we asked a few people but the best we heard was ´´Upstairs!´´. Thinking that something was being lost in translation, we kept asking about until one helpful man literally pointed upwards where we could see a huge elevator and lights that seemed to be floating in the sky! Magical. Found the hostel very easily, just off the main square- nice location but after 6 nights of incessant drumming and mike testing at 5am and music blaring, it was wearing us down. It was also pleasing to discover that our 16 bed mixed dorm really wasn´t that bad- two points of silver lining: making friends required very little when living so close (very important to go out in a big group so no chance of getting lost in the crowds) and no sight of cockroaches! (Since they were hidden so well....)

The first night ended with a bit of downer- Bee fell down some stairs and ended up needing six stitches in her chin and tongue, so maybe not the best start but definitely an experience! There also just so happened to be two Canadian medics in the dorm who were on hand to give lots of helpful advice, so all was fine, especially since the on-site hospital was just around the corner and Bee got said stitches within minutes.
The following days were spent in a whirlwind of drum corps, samba beats, colourful costumes and relentless loud music playing 24 hours a day, so very little sleep was had. On top of that a man in our dorm insisted on playing the guitar in the afternoon which was designated nap time, and it was almost too tempting to cut the wires of his guitar. Or better still throw it off the balcony...Highlights included getting into a ´bloco´ ( a roped off area around a huge truck with speakers and samba dancers which drove along the main street in Barra by the beach) for free, spending hours dancing alongside people who had payed hundreds), meat on a stick- chicken, beef, sausage, all juicy and sizzling and perfect for the meat munchies, plentiful hamburgers everyday and night, engaging in a water fight of epic proportions with a parade of transvestites dressed as Cleopatra, all of them shouting ´GRINGOOOO´at us and drenching us with their huge water guns...there was also of course the fact that we were not once pickpocketed, mugged or molested which was the icing on the cake!

Will continue as soon as possible (internet session timing out) but stay tuned!

xxxxxxxJen

Penedo was absolutely stunning- like Olinda except with more brightly coloured houses and colonial architecture without a ridiculously big hill to climb to get to it! We had a lazy few days, more hammocks and sunshine and sunbathing and ice cold beer. Socialising is a very important part of life- whole families go out in the evening to enjoy the atmosphere- even babies sleeping while parents whip out the samba moves! There is also lots and lots of very loud music playing everywhere, which seems strange in such a small sleepy place, but in everywhere we have been so far people drive about or cycle around with huge speakers attached and music BOOMING. Maybe a gentle taste of what´s in store for carnival?

Continuing the theme of small more remote places we headed to Mangue Seco for the 13th and 14th (how romantic!) Getting there involved a boat across to Neapolis, a bus to Aracaju, another bus to Indiaroba, a taxi to Pontal and finally another boat across to Mangue Seco. This place really was tiny tiny- sand roads/streets and no cars only sand dune type buggies. There were only a few streets but it was infuriatingly easy to get lost (maybe our brains our slowly melting in the heat) and very hard work walking on the sand- a mini work-out for the calves every time we walked out of our room. The beach is across a sand dune which we naively thought we would cross at 10am, and when the sun is scorching by 8am you can see where the problem might be...without flip flops (too hard to walk in the sand) it was p-AIN-ful on the burning white sand, we were walking gingerly afterwards! The beach when we got there really was beautiful; the most deserted and secluded we have been to so far and the possibility of walking for an hour without seeing anybody. Unfortunately we wanted to make the most of this gem and maybe spent a little bit too long in the sun...we left crispy but satisfied. We probably did the most exercise in one day when we went to that beach and with all the sun we were exhausted and called it a night a 7.20pm (not after a decent helping of portuguese Paddington Bear- one part he performed SInging in the Rain- brilliant! Although have you ever noticed how strange his head looks without his hat?) And thankfully, despite the picturesque location and stunning stars, hallmark holidays don´t come this far so it was a lovely peaceful Valentine´s day. Awww.

We stopped off at Praia de Forte for one night, very much a touristy spot which was quite a shock to the system- but now on to Salvador for CARNIVAL!!!!!!!


Benny and Jee xxxxxx

Canoa and Beyondddd

So last time we posted we were heading to Canoa Quebrada, a small-ish beachtown. It seemed surreal arriving at about 9pm with the street relatively quiet, when three hours later everyone was out socialising and dancing! We had planned on a quick beer and then head to bed after the many buses/coaches we took to get there....we ended up at a beach party at the ´Freedom Bar´ (essentially a beach hut on stilts) dancing in the waves under the stars- which are insanely beautiful here. It must have been easy to spot we were new in town- nobody else seemed to want to frolick in the waves with us. Shocking. The next day we took a boat far out from the beach, beautiful swimming in such warm water and seeing turtles! That night we had our fill of reggae (and trying and failing miserably to dance as well as the locals), and ended up on the beach again, this time watching the sun rise.

The next stop (or so we thought) was Ponta Negra, going through Natal. Arriving at the bus station in the evening we found that both the 11pm and 1am coaches were fully booked! Luckily we managed to get a bus further south to Joao Pessoa, which cost a fortune, only then to go back up north to Praia de Pipa, a very small surfer village. Getting a coach here is like entering a different world- air conditioned, soft reclining seats, and on the longer distance ones there is champagne! Local buses are a different matter. Twice now we have made the mistake of travelling at rush hour with our huge packs and ended up soaked in sweat and both squashing and being squashed- horrific! Having said that though, for girls on a budget, the fare of  2 to 3 reias makes up for the trauma. We do everything on a budget- we take rolls from the breakfast in the hostel to avoid having to buy lunch, and take overnight coaches to avoid paying for a hostel.

Back to Pipa: plenty of hammocks, surfer duuudes and cocunuts. We met some great people from Germany, France, Portugal and many Israelis who seem to all visit South America after their three years in the army is finished. Since it was a certain special someone´s birthday on the 7th (Dicken´s 200th. Oh and Bee´s 19th) it was bound to be a great day- and probably our best yet. Starting swimming with dolphins- reducing everyone to childlike excitement- on the main beach, we climbed around to another more secluded beach, separated by a rocky pass, to have a surfing session! One of our friends from the hostel negotiated a good price for the board for an hour- a quarter of the cost for others- and then we did our best to ´catch a wave´. It wasn´t exactly succesful (neither of us can surf and spent most of the time paddling or sitting on the board) but was so much fun! Back at the Sugar Cane hostel we decided to mark the occasion and actually look nice before going out. Wearing makeup is a thing of the very distant past- we spend most of the day covered in a slick of shiny grimy sweat, looking awful- so it seemed strangely exciting to look nice for once! Bee wore an incredible sequinned dress, catching lots of admiring and envious looks at the bar- especially since the fashion staple here seems to be mid-length tight jean shorts with a stretchy jersey top of some kind...

Next stop was Olinda via Recife! We wanted a change from the perpetual coating of sand at the beach towns so Olinda seemed like the perfect place- beautiful colonial architecture with a view from the old town centre over Recife across the water below. Getting there however was the most horrific and traumatic experience! Having got off the coach at Recife, nobody seemed able to tell us how to get to the metro or even a bus that would take us there. Recife was the largest place we´ve been through so far and all the people jostling in the dark was quite intimidating. Eventually we decided to get a taxi to the centre where we could get a bus to Olinda, but even showing the taxi drivers a map and street name etc of where we wanted to go, it was half an hour before we got anywhere! At the centre it was worse- buses in all directions from all directions. Luckily someone- maybe the only English speaker in Recife?!- tookus to the right stop and at long last we arrived in Olinda, exhausted, stressed and hungry.

Olinda was as beautiful as expected- very very relaxed and quiet- completely different to the beachside places we´d been before- lots of art shops and displays and open rooms with antiques. It was also exciting to see bands of drummers practicing for carnival in the streets at night and colourful decorations hung up all over town- apparently Olinda has one of the best carnivals in South America.

WE´ve decided to go to Penedo next, and in an effort to be proactive, left the lovely Olinda at 9.30am, only to find on arriving at the Recife bus station that the overnight coach is at 10pm....it´s a twelve hour wait, and we have been here for six hours already......only six more to go!


Bee and Jenny xxxxx

We've spent the past few days acclimatising slowly to the 30 degree heat in Fortaleza- it's ridiculously easy to burn! We are staying in the Backpackers Ceara hostel which is a very friendly colourful place and sociable, so perfect to pick up tips for our later stops in terms of food and hostels. The drink of choice here is the caipirinha, a cocktail with cachaca, sugar, and plenty of lime. There are also plenty of coconuts sold along the beach and the ice-cool coconut milk is the perfect remedy for the midday heat..

This afternoon we are heading further south to a place called Canoa Quebrada. Finding the right buses to take is difficult with our extremely limited Portuguese but worth it since they are so cheap- like everything here! We found this out the hard way when we arrived at the airport- the bus stop consisted of a few seats either side of a road and a dark blue sign which was completely blank. People are helpful here and are always willing to point you in the direction..on our connecting flight from Sao Paolo we discovered that plane we were on was actually heading deep inland to Manaus! That could have been interesting...

Off to relax in a hammock for a little while longer, speak to you soon!

Love Bee and Jenny xxx

Good bye London!

Two days before the adventure begins...