Last one

How best to finish this blog than with a picture of a sunset over Rio. Those shots were taken 5h before taking my plane back to Europe. How much would I give to stay longer around here? A lot!


I spent my last day in Brazil chilling out on the beach in the morning, wondering how people here get those bodies: is it their diet, a lot of sport activities and plastic surgery? Anyway Europeans, go back to the gym if you want to show off here. I spent the afternoon on the Pao de Açucar where these pictures were taken.


I have seen very little of Brazil, but how can you cover such a huge country in a month? It is almost the size of the USA. The cities/regions I would need to see before I die are so many: Florianopolis built around blue lagoons, Curitiba apparently a model city, Petropolis near Rio for its crazy architecture, the whole region around Ouro Preto for its colonial architecture and history, Morro de Sau Paulo near Salvador which I missed because of bad weather, Porto Galinas which boasts some wonderful beaches, Olinda (a small version of Salvador), Pipa for its kite surf culture and its relaxed attitude (Pipa means 'kite' in Portuguese), a few nights in Fortaleza where nightlife is apparently phenomenal, the park of Lencois M. East of Sao Luis, the Amazon, the Panatal region....

This requires a few other trips to Brazil, don't you think?

Moments

There are times in life when you take a bit of perspective on the moment you are currently experiencing and think ´I wish this moment never ever ended´.

I am now in the plane flying back to Rio from Fortaleza and thinking about my last 8 days in Jericoacoara. I have had so many of these moments which I wish would never end.

- on the way to Jeri from Fortaleza we changed bus to take a ´buggy bus´, a 4x4 open truck which would take us to our final destination. It was around 1AM. The moon was bright, stars everywhere, the sea to our right and sand dunes to our left, driving fast through a succession of little villages, dunes and beaches avoiding the poor donkeys sleeping all around, the wind slapping our faces...
- lying in long chairs outside our pousada at night, listening to reggae from one ear and crickets from the other, watching the dune 200m ahead and talking about life and travels with Raul and Esteban. What a life you guys have!
- the sunset with the girls obviously, wonderful, relaxing, almost spiritual as I said before; followed by the running/rolling/jumping down the dune.
- the buggy ride on our back to Jeri, just before sunset. The wind, the sea, the beach, the speed... everything was perfect.
- Shirley, my caipirina buddy, opening her lovely sleepy eyes in the morning, just before starting cursing at me for taking the piss. I hope you behave better with your mum than with me young lady, F*** hell! You are gorgeous when you speak French to me.


- Netaya, so full of life and energy (during the day that is) trying to find the craziest way to roll down the dune. I think we found it babe, I still have sand in my mouth. Stay as you are, happy, natural and crazy.... and easy on the beans.

Say Salvador again...?



ANI O´HEV OTAJ´ to you 2 girls. I had such a fantastic time.

Sand dunes...again

I love them so here is another post about them. I am still in Jericoacoara. Seems like I will never leave.

From the top of the dunes people do all sorts of things: jumping, sand boarding, rolling, running down... Some kids go down these very steep dunes doing back flips and saumersaults the whole way down, it is very impressive. As I still consider myself as a kid I had a go at it..pretty appauling because very scary, I am usually better at gymnastics. But so much good fun! I will do better tomorrow, I promise. Check it out on the video below, sorry you´ll have to turn your head.

Buggy

Jericoacoara is built around sand dunes. So it had to happen, we went for a day buggy ride. And wow, what a day! Netaya, Shirley and I sitting in the back of the buggy and Erwin driving like crazy around prohibited sand dunes.


A few stops for refreshment swimming in lakes of fresh water created from rain falls; caipirinas and cocos at 12h to keep going; and the best fish meal I have had in Brazil on the beach (and by beach I mean Brazilian beach, i.e. kms and kms of completely deserted sand).


Driving back to thew pousada at sunset on an empty beach was something not to forget. The pix speak for themsleves.


I LOVE MY LIFE!!

Spirituality

Jericoacoara is a kind of religious place, very spiritual. It is also very hippy and all sorts of animals wander around the sandy streets. The village is built on a beach.


The place is spiritual first for windsurfers and kitesurfers as it is blessed with the best wind all year round. Maybe the best place in Brazil for these sports, let alone on earth.

But the real religious thing happens at 5pm everyday, as the sun goes down. Sunset in Jericoacoara is stunning. At 5pm, a stream of people (tourists and locals) start walking up the dune located to the South of the village. It is like a religious procession.


People go up the dune to witness the wonderful sunset. What happens here is what might have been happening before Christianity when people believed in the gods of nature, the sun, the earth, the wind, the trees...

In Jericoacoara people go witness the sunset from the same dune, everyday, all year round. It is very spiritual, as if an ancient religion re-appeared. When you get to the top of the dune you sit down, relax, stop talking, look West, let the last rays of sun warm your body and witness the end of another day. When the big red circle disappears, everybody claps. This is weird, it is like the end of a show or something... But it is very soothing and relaxing. You can spend 1h up there, waiting for the sunset which will last 2.5mn.


When the ´show´ ends, we all run down the dune and head for the village. There, capoeara is being ´played´ by the beach with everybody moving, clapping and singing to the sound of drums and berimbaus. The spiritual duties have been carried out, the night can start.

Becoming Brazilian

I am now in Jericoacoara, 300km West of Fortaleza. On the way here I met some real nice people with whom I spend my days on the beach. I also met a tourist information officer at Fortaleza airport who started singing ´La Marseillaise´ real loud when I told him I was French. Funny...

Anyway, I was told last night that I was becoming more Brazilian. I have the green and yellow flip flops, I am becoming really tanned, I wear yellow T-shirts.... and last night, walking barefoot as usual I stepped on a big donkey poo. The Brazilian guy walking with me pissed himself and told me I was on my way to becoming Brazilian...

Yeah great!

Chapada Diamantina

A cocktail for a good time in the Chapada Diamantina national park. Mix the following in a big bowl:
- huge waterfalls (among which the larger in Brazil)
- the best caves you have ever seen with very intriguing calcium formations
- rivers and streams where you can chill out for hours
- rocky mountains imported from Colorado
- ...and still very very nice people around who take you home when you are stuck 40km away from your hostel in the middle of the park.

Small town Brazil

I realised last night trying to sleep in the 15 degrees air conditionned bus that what I prefer when travelling is... travelling, i.e. when I am on the move. You get real excited and sometimes a bit nervous about your next stop: you do not know what to expect, who you will meet, where you are gonna sleep... and everytime it starts all over again: find a hostel, get your bearings, meet people, organise excursions, find the best and cheapest food...

Anyway, I am now lying in a hammock under a tree full of hummingbirds, in Lencois. Lencois is an old mining town, a 6h bus ride inland from Salvador. My original plan from Salvador was to get a boat to Morro Do Sao Paulo, a paradise island with very good vibes I had heard. But the weather was so bad yesterday that boats would not leave the mainland. And with rain in Salvador in low season and an empty hostel, what do you do? F*** all. So I jumped on the 1st opportunity to leave town and got a night bus to Lencois, in the heart of the Chapada Diamantina national park. To give you an idea, the park is larger than the Netherlands and offers wonderful landscapes, great walks, waterfalls, rivers, streams and simple, friendly and authentic people.


Going back to Lencois, I love the place, the best I have seen in Brazil so far. People are incredibly nice, there are almost no tourists and it is very pretty. You walk around the streets and locals salute you, an old man sitting on the pavement next to my hostel sings all day, house doors are open and let you observe people watching telenovelas (soaps) on TV... and a very strong caipirina will only cost you 3 reais (75p).


I just had a walk and I shook hands with last night´s barman, the shopkeepersaid hello and I realised the woman from the tourist information office knows me by my name. It is all a bit hippy and very chilled out here.

Wish European big cities were like that!

Salvador: 1 - Rio: 0

Landed in Salvador de Bahia last night, after 12h travelling. Wow, what a shock!

From the airport I decided to take the local bus instead of a taxi into town. The bus took almost 2h to my destination (when I expected a maximum of 1h) and drove through some pretty dodgy neighbourhoods. I spent the last 20mn alone in the bus with a policewomen who had just got on: was it to protect me (Salvador is full of policemen everywhere), to extort money out of me (I have heard some good stories about the police in Brazil, but that´s for another post) or was she just taking a ride?


When I got off at my stop I was not where I expected to be. So here I was, in the street with my bags, completely lost and with some guys already following me and asking for some money. I finally got my bearings and walked to my hostel.

The atmosphere in the streets was phenomenal : fireworks, firecrackers, drumbands, reggae music blowing out of clubs, people talking to you...and the heat, the humidity. Wow!


After settling down and a quick beer in the hostel I went out with a newfound German friend. Salvador´s main square was buzzing with life. It was the way I imagine some parts of Africa to be. A band was playing loud Samba music, people were dancing, shouting, drinking, other people were trying to sell you bracelets, collars, peanuts, clothes, more bracelets, beach towels, kids would not let you go without getting something out of you. What a rush. An annoying rush a time, but a rush anyway!

Apart from the nightlife the city is really beautiful as you can see on the pix. But it´s hot man, so hot and humid.

Paraty

The Costa Verde is one of Brazil´s most beautiful coast (as my guide book says). The Costa Verde´s main attraction is Paraty, an unaltered colonial town 300km South of Rio. The town remains out of the beaten track and should not be missed, I think.


To me, Paraty is a mix between Vinales and Trinidad in Cuba. Vinales because inhabitants still go about their own businesses without paying attention to the few tourists around, children stroll to school, farmers and fishermen sit on the pavement drinking beer... people seem to have kept their authenticity. Paraty also reminds me of Trinidad because of its colonial architecture: houses built around courtyards, windows and doors painted in bright colours (where in Trinidad the whole houses were painted in bright colours, here walls are white and only doors and windows are flashing out in red, blue, green or yellow), cobbled streets making you feel like you have a leg shorter than the other all the time.


Anyway, very nice, very beautiful, very cute...

Tomorrow I have an early start (5h30) to take my bus to Rio. I will then fly to Salvador de Bahia, more than 2000km North. I am super excited: I will discover what people say is the true face of Brazil, the Nord-Este where African influence is still very strong. These words come to mind: heat, black, African cuisine, reggae street parties, forro, desert, wonderful beaches..... I can´t wait.

Why should I leave?

The boat dropped me off right by my bedroom. That was a good sign. The view from the bedroom was great: another very good sign (see pix below). The view from the hostel bar where I met my fellw travellers already playing drinking games was even better: the Abraaos bay to the left, the sea 2m away and the mainland on the horizon; the jungle mountains of the island in the back.


What do you do in Ilha Grande where cars, motorcycles and buses are forbidden (the only motor vehicule I came across was a police car with no front wheels!). Well...you chill out.

You go for day walks through the jungle and access a paradise beach on the other side of the Island; you jump on a boat in the morning and jump off at the ´blue lagoon´; you go snorkling or scuba diving and try to befriend with turtles; you play with friendly wild dogs who hang out on the beach (last night, a fight between 2 wild dogs got started under our dinner table and bottles and glasses fell down on the floor; that was quiet funny); you chill out the hostel hammocks with a caipirina in your hand; and at night you try not to step on huge crabs having their daily stroll in the village street.



My original plan was to stay 2 days in Ilha Grande. I ended up staying 4.5 days, too much stress on the mainland.

I am now back to civilisation, waiting for my bus taking me to Paraty.

Why did I leave?

6 days in Rio

My 6 days in Rio are over. I am now in Ilha Grande, a paradise island with no cars. Nature, nature, nature... Rio has been great:
- Ipanema beach house: the hotel was excellent. 3 blocks from the beach in the heart of trendy Ipanema. The interior patio including a bar and swimming pool were the best things to meet new people and start the night with a caipirina or two.
- Corcovado: no comments, you all have see the pix. Maybe the best view in the world.
- Copacabana: a bit seedy, a real tourist area now with prostitutes walking around looking for customers. Was very disappointed by this part of town.
- Leblon: one of the richest area in Rio, where Francoise and Yannick live. An expatriate hang out with a real village feel. The Guanabara pizza is where you should have a pizza around 5AM after a good night out.
- Lapa: the area for a night out. Walking around the streets of Lapa at night is a bit dodgy but that´s where you get a real feel of the city buzz. Samba, forro and other Brazilain sounds, it is all in Lapa. The samba club we went to, Carioca da Gama is highly recommended: great singing and dancing.
- Feira de Sao Cristavao: a weekly festival set inside a sport arena where immigrants from Northern Brazil relive their culture and feel at home. Entering the feria is like changing country: forro, forro, forro everywhere, food and craft from Northern Brazil. A lot of noise, dancing, eating, drinking. I liked the sign outside the arena: 'people carrying firearms will not be allowed in'.

On my return to Rio in 3 weeks I should not miss the following: the Sugar Loaf mountain and the favela tour which I heard was wonderfull.

How to pull in a favela

Well, the receipe is simple. You need to be at least 12. You should have been to the gym for the previous 5 years and not shy about showing your muscles. Being topless to show how strong and mean you are is a must. You should additionally wear a big gold chain around your neck and preferrably being tattooed all around. This all sounds like a cliche, like a snoop doggy dog video, but that´s the way it is.

So once you find a target in the favela club you should move straight to it, not loose time by asking any question or even talk (who cares for the name or the age of the target anyway?) and go straight for the mouth. If the target is a bit shy or unwilling try a bit a talking, but don´t push it: 1mn is more than enough. If you have followed the above recommendation you will be successful. If you are not successful, read the beginning of this post again. Next phase of the process (i.e. 5mn later, when you are done with target No. 1), find another target and repeat the above.

Well, all this to say that people in Brazil are pretty straightforward, and are more straightforward in a favela. I know all this because I went to a favela party last night. The favela (a favela standing next to the ´city of god´ favela, remember the movie?) is pretty safe as it has no drug lords and is mainly controlled by the police (mind you, I am not sure who is the worse in Brazil, the police or the drug lords. I have heard such stories about the police here).

So basically the night went OK, apart from the music (Brazilian hip hop) being really shit. We were a bit worried as we got there but the organiser kept saying there was absolutely no problems. We left around 5AM. On the way back our mini bus had to stop at the entrance of a tunnel: the tunnel was blocked as the police had apparently encountered some drog lords inside and serious action was going on in there. We were finally allowed through after a 15mn wait.

Every occurencies in Rio...

Ipanema

My youth hostel is in the center of Ipanema. Ipanema is an exclusive neighbourhood located in the Rio's Zona Sur, between Copacabana and Leblon. Ipanema is again, really exclusive. The youth hostel stands between Luis Vuiton and and Mont Blanc. Streets are packed with interior design and designers clothes shops. You could be in the Paris 16th districts or in Chelsea, London.

People here are beautiful. There are no beggars in the street, where are they? Maybe they get kicked out by the police when they show up. Valet parking attendants are everywhere. People here do not park their cars themselves you see.

Buildings around here are very posh, protected with high gates, security guards and security cameras. In that respect it reminds me of the Beverly Hills neighbourhood in L.A. This is weird: it feels safe and very unsafe at the same time. All this protection has been implemented for some reason.

Ipanema stands next to the beach. From the beach you turn your head to the right and discover one of the sugar loaf kind of mountain peaks which make Rio so beautiful and unique. The mountain is covered with unstable contructions; a huge favela.


From within the apparent wealth and order of Ipanema you are easily reminded of the two sides of Brazil: the richest and the poorest live side by side in a constant struggle.

A Nato index measures inequalities within a country, comparing the richest and the poorest people. Brazil comes in at number 1 (or 2, can't exactly remember) in the list; Brazil is the country where the gap between the richest and the poorest is the highest in the world.

Hand gliding over Rio

Woke up this morning on my 2nd day and felt a bit crazy: today I am going hand gliding. The instructor picked us up at 1PM and drove us West through the richest neighbourhoods of Rio and the always adjacent favelas. We then drove up through the wonderful national parc of Tijuca (the largest urban forest in the world) and up to the top of the sugar loaf type of mountain from where we were gonna jump, 800m above the city.

The view from the top was absolutely amazing, a different angle on Rio from the day before. The sky today was a perfect blue, super clear, you could see all the islands surrounding Rio far, far away out at sea.

The islands were a good trick: when you start running down the ramp before the jump, focus on the islands and the islands only: 'If you look down you will get scared and stop running and it will be too late...'

1, 2, 3....off you go, stare at the islands on the horizon, run as fast as you can down the ramp... and relax. The first second was the scariest thing: the handglider has not caught the wind yet and you just fall down the mountain. But the moment the wind is caught the fun starts: no noise, complete silence and the beauty of Rio and the nearby beaches unfolding below. What a kick!

13mn later we landed smoothly on the wonderfull beach surrounded with gorgeous mountains. An experience not to forget. What best place to handglide than over the beautiful city of Rio.

Welcome...

My cab driver set the tone after picking me up from the airport. It was 6AM, I had just landed in Rio and we were driving down the motorway leading to Rio: 'on the right here you can see favelas; Can you see? I would not drive down here at night, I have seen so many shootings and armed roberies on this part of the motorway...' Welcome to Rio!!


3h after landing I was already up the Corcovado where the view over Rio is flabergasting: on one side you can see Leblon, Ipanema, Copacabana; on the other side Sugar Loaf mountain, Flamengo, Centro and Niteroi bridge can be admired. Behing you, the huge 36m statue of Christ watches over the city. I will need to get back up there at sunset to see the city lights appearing. A girl I was up there with and who was finishing her world tour told me nothing see had seen could quiet beat the view (the view of Cape town from Table mountain in South Africa was coming in 2nd position only).


Ended up the day walking Santa Theresa, a set of hills where rich Cariocas (as Rio's inhabitants are called) used to build houses back in the 19th century. Walking around this area is pretty safe and well protected by the police. An exotic ride on the 'Bonde' full of school kids holding on to the outside of the tram took us back to the city centre.

Don't worry mum, I only travel around the city by taxi, so I am safe from muggings!

Getting ready...in advance

Well I know, I am still 2 months away from my trip to Brazil but I am getting so excited. Sometimes I wake up at night thinking about the country or the people I could meet. I even had dreams about Brazil.

My next 4 books to read are about Brazil as well. 'Brazil' by John Updike; 'A Death in Brazil', a great one about the culture and society there; 'Brazil, life, death and Soul' and another which name I forgot. And obvisouly the Rough Guide to Brazil sits on my bed table.

I am contacting Yannick and Francoise as well who have been living in Rio for some time now. Trying to sort out all what needs to be sorted out: Brazil air pass, where to go, when to go, emailing friends of friends of friends who have been there or who live there...

Well, I am getting crazy really. It helps me forgetting about the 3 degrees in London I suppose.