We made it!

24 hours after getting on an hour and a half delayed coach in Piripiri, we arrived at Brazil's eastern port on the Rio Amazonas delta today at just before 5 in the afternoon. It may well be too early to say this, but we may have landed on our feet as we ended up in a boat ticket office with 3 Brazilians from our coach who negotiated a deal from R$250 to R$180 for 5 of us to go to Manaus tomorrow evening. The trip will take 5 days and has 3 meals a day and even has showers, much to Sal's delight. We forgot to ask if we'll need our own hammocks though - oops. Will get it all sorted tomorrow though.

The last few days have been great. Aside from the giant sand dune and a particularly nice pineapple, Jericoacoara was pretty crap. The best part about it was actually leaving - in an all-day 3 leg journey to Piripiri, we first got on a vehicle that was something like a cross between a 4WD and a milk van (seating extension in the back). Driven by a slightly stressed looking local called Carlinhos, he was already fully booked but Sal persuaded him to take us anyway... one of our travelling companions was a Sicillian who was with his dog, who was refusing adamantly to get onto the truck, or even come to his master... Sal once again proved her charms by becoming a dog whisperer and managed to get the frisky hound on board.

Once under way, we left to the west along the beach (we came in from the east coming into Jeri, after driving north from the main road along a dirt track in a big 4WD bus)...and kept going for quite some distance. The girl next to me somehow managed to fall asleep on me, despite us being packed in like sardines, dog and all, and going over some pretty big bumps in the sand. The best part of this leg was definitely when the 2 trucks (we had a convoy!) pulled up at a shallow river and we were told in Portugese to all get off. Before we knew it, two rafts only a little larger than the trucks were being poled across by enterprising locals. Sal watched in disbelief as they drove onto the rafts first time, then we crowded on board too and the skillful ferrymen poled us across to the other side.

Another hour or two later, we rocked up to Camocin and straightaway a minivan took us on board with promises of Parnaiba, our final destination before Piripiri. Sure enough, we got there eventually, despite the driver stopping to talk to every local he knew along the way, leaving us baking inside in the belting heat!

Our last connection at Parnaiba was a bit of a pain, as we got in around 2pm and had to wait for the 6pm bus, so we hung around the city a bit and decided it wasn't a bad place really. Moving on, we arrived in Piripiri (the bus station is cunningly not called Piripiri so ask the driver if you're going!) at a horribly late 10pm ish. The taxi driver ripped us off charging us 7 to get into the town centre, which is a huge 10 min walk away, dropping us off at the Hotel Texas, run by a friendly old guy.

The next day (despite some nervousness on Sal's part about when and where the free employee bus arrived - we must have asked half the town about it!) we went to the Seven Cities National Park, which is basically a load of rock formations caused by marine features being exposed to the elements when the sea level fell, eroding and cracking (somewhat like many major Brazilian highways......more on that later) into some pretty impressive shapes. We chose to do a bicycle tour (you had to have a guide with you to make sure you didn't clamber on the cities etc.) which cost R$20 for the guide, for 3 hours, and R$2/hr for the bike hire. (Working out at R$16/person).

There wasn't actually tons of bike riding involved, and the guides are very friendly and fairly flexible about how much of the park you want to see. They've given most of the rock formations names - and there's a lot of them! - but some really are quite impressive, photos will be posted when I get a chance. What's most impressive though are the native indian rock paintings on some of the "cities" - making the park a national archeological treasure too, the paintings have been there for many thousands of years, and some of the things they depict are quite strange, leading UFO-types to believe the cities are the work of aliens!

Wildlife was also quite interesting. Many more lizard photos than I really need, and an awesome shot into a small cave of bats that came out really well - without the guide we never would have known they were there, but the flash illuminated them in all their sleepy glory. Also a big mouse/squirrel type creature, and a couple of shots of the many turkey vultures that hang around that area of Brazil - huge, flappy and quite cowardly mofos.

After playing cards with the guides (who have the easiest job!) for most of the rest of the day, we caught the free bus back to town at 5pm, did some supplies shopping for the Belém bus then stayed in the Hotel California, which is a bit pricer but much nicer than Texas, and also takes Visa. Only down side was we got rudely awakened by shouting people and kids - sound carries very well in that place...

The bus, as stated before, was a mammoth 24 hour journey. Some of it was quite hair raising: along a substantial stretch of the road, it was full of giant potholes, unsurfaced and randomly varying width. Of course, Brazilian coach drivers are no different from any other Brazilian drivers, and the roads if nothing else are usually quite straight, so overtaking is the rule, as is swerving quite hard around any large potholes along muddy swathes of road that look like they wouldn't be out of place in Iraq after a mortar attack. Closer to Belém it gets better again though.

Feeling a bit dodgy this evening, due largely to exhaustion and lack of a proper uninterrupted night's sleep. I can't remember the last time I slept normally. Possibly in Pipa? Jeri we slept in tents and got woken up by confused cockerels in the garden next door before dawn and kept awake by annoying music down the road from one of the bars. Texas we had to be up at 5am to make sure we didn't miss the bus. California was rowdy people waking us up at the crack of dawn again. Then the bus last night... we had it all really: bounced and thrown around by dodgy roads, screaming, and I mean screaming demon child, and a crazy old guy yelling in Portugese when the kid finally had enough.

Hoping I'll sleep well tonight. I'm going to need it. Very excited though - cruising up the Amazon River is a pretty big deal! - and the Inca Trail is getting closer too........  ¶ 3:43 PM 2 comments

  Well, it is indeed a funny place. I think if we hadn't come from Pipa it'd be quite cool, but as it is... there's not much to do really, the beach isn't too nice, and as for being "more primitive" - I just don't know about that. Other than the roads being sand, there's actually more traffic than in Pipa or Sana, there's heaps of tourist trap shops, overpriced restaurants, bars and pousadas, and very little else.

I kind of expected something different I guess, like a tiny village of beach huts with no cars driving around and a rough but beautiful stretch of beach. It's nothing like that. The traffic really is the biggest pain in the ass here. Motorbikes, beach buggies and cars are everywhere.

The one cool thing about this place is the massive sand dunes nearby. We climbed the one closest to town last night in the dark to go stargazing, and got a nice view of the milky way... then I almost lost my camera! Dropped it on the way down somehow, then had to go back for torches while Sal stayed roughly where we'd been sitting... after retracing our tracks back down, my amazing wonderful sister spotted it in the sand. Awesome. So that's twice now... nice one Dave...

Think we're going to try and get to Piripira and the national park tomorrow. I imagine other people would enjoy this place more than I have - you can go kiteboarding for the princely sum of R$350+, and I guess hire one of those buggies to take you...somewhere. You can hire sand boards for about 5/hr which is decent, but after doing it in Pipa I don't really feel like it - you get sand EVERYWHERE! Oh yeah, did I mention we did that, cos I don't think I did?! Sal was great at it, me and Jess kept falling off before making it all the way down, and despite doing some spectacular rolls couldn't touch Salvador Sandboarder.

Anyway my free ten minutes are up. We're living very cheap now - today has cost R$8 for accom, and about R$5 for food and drink. Shame we didn't do that in Rio... or Salvador... or.... but it feels good to be finally saving a bit of money instead of blowing heaps on booze, eating out etc. Hopefully the national park will be good - our final destination before Belem.....  ¶ 11:34 AM 1 comments

  Getting ever closer to the mouth of the mighty Rio Amazonas now. Going to try and write down some rough times and costs for any other travellers thinking about doing Brazil, because the LP guide is very out of date price-wise and you can't forget distances in Brazil are big.

Rio to Salvador - R$199 on bus, or fly for R$150 + taxes (book about 1 week in advance for cheap fair)

Salvador to Maceio - R$58, about 10 hrs

Maceio to Pipa (about same price/dist as to Natal) - R$70, about 10 hrs

Natal to Fortaleza - R$58-90, about 9 hrs

Fortaleza to Jericoacoara - R$35, about 6.5 hrs

Notes about buses: you can buy tickets in the Rodovierio but the bigger cities usually have bus ticket offices closer to the city centre/tourist areas, so ask before you go all the way out (Rodos are always miles away from everywhere). Going at different times costs different amounts (we paid 90 for N-F then realized we could have got it for 58 on a promoçao if we'd left 1.5 hrs later. DOH) All of the longer bus journeys have been on quite comfortable coaches, so don't be put off by long journey times - you usually get more leg room than any british coach, more even than on economy class plane seats. Also buses are better for the environment than flying - short haul is the most environmentally damaging flight - and you get to see heaps of beautiful Brazilian countryside.


Last night in Pipa

Another hilarious one. Started out having our last supper with Jess, as she's decided to stay in Pipa, so had a nice meal for a change, then went out and met up with Gal, Ronnie, Aidan and some Irish lads for drinks. Finally found the mysterious and elusive club Babylon on the beach, which was booming out old school techno music - we danced, and danced! Poor bastards running the club had to contend with an old woman selling cheap beer right outside though - none of us bought anything inside!

After we got bored of the techno, Sal decided it was time for another night time swim, so we plunged into the sea without a moment's hesitation (or taking off any clothes) and clambered onto a rock a few meters wading away. I managed to keep my beer and money above water, despite foundering on a submerged rock, others weren't so lucky - a full pack of cigs was regrettably lost (meaning badly burning joints later), and the sea claimed one of my flip flops that I foolishly left on the beach where the waves were coming up!!

The night ended on the beach outside our pousada with a dawn smoking session and another swim. After crashing for a few hours sleep we did the usual rushing around, said our farewells to Jess and hit the road. The first leg of the trip out of Pipa (or when you're coming in) is very beautiful - a cliffside road overlooking first the sea, then a breathtaking river bay under a sun lit sky. (Sal described the clouds as looking as though they'd been "painted on"). This country really is beautiful.

Side note: on our way to our smoking sess on the beach this morning we walked past the biggest tarantula I've ever seen - thankfully it was dead! Wish I'd grabbed a photo - it was about the size of a large adult hand, and that was with its legs crawled up in "I'm dead" pose.

So we get into Jeri at 5:30pm today. 26 hours of travelling! It really eats into your time here. We might have to skip Piripiri and the national park at this rate, which would be a shame. I really must come back to South America one day with heaps more time.

Chao, amigos, and travel companions - see ya down the road...  ¶ 3:32 AM 0 comments

  After catching the 6pm bus from Salvador, we arrived in Maceio in the early morning - too early for the hostels we wanted to stay in to be open! So instead we ended up staying in an overpriced hotel where the shower kept giving Jess electric shocks. Recovering with a quick nap, we headed out to explore the small city.

We visited tourist information, who were helpful but we basically discovered Maceio didn't have much to offer really - some nice beaches apparently, and very little else. Yet somehow it's the "South American Capital of Culture"... we wandered around a bit and explored the beach, which was a very interesting colour, then decided to go buy bus tickets to get out of there earlier rather than later.

At the bus station we discovered the bus to Natal leaves at 10pm so we decided to high tail it out of Maceio that night. We had a quick feed, then me and Sal got stoned in preparation for another 10 hour bus journey up to Praia da Pipa, which was recommended in the Lonely Planet as one of the "unmissables" of Brazil. Rocked up here at 7 in the morning, and you know what? It's right!!

The beaches are awesome, the town is a bit pricey but very pretty and we even bumped into some people we met in Salvador here last night. Today has been the best day I've had in a while - we went to the "Bay of Dolphins", met a couple of Israelis on the way and chilled with them on the beach. Then we bought some bananas and orange cake for lunch, and while I was having one of my swims the girls shouted "DOLPHINS" from the beach and plunged into the water dropping clothes and sunnies by the way.

We swam out from the shore quite a distance, and saw a graceful dark shape leaping over a wave nearby. There might have been 2 of them, we weren't sure, but they came fairly close - reckon about 5m at the closest... first time I've swum with dolphins though so it was awesome, and we were all really made up!

Then after we came back up from the beach to catch the bus back into town (a LOT of steps), we saw a few people feeding monkeys sat in the trees by the path to the road! They generously gave us some of their bread and we all gave them bits. They were pretty tame and would lean from the branch to take the bread from your hand, though one of them didn't appreciate it when Sally tried to stroke its tail. They were about 2 feet from head to tail and had tufts of white hair sticking out of the sides of their heads. Very cute.

Internet here is atrocious - or at least, this net cafe is. Slow as dial-up, I can't get back into my email so I'm a bit pissed off at it, but hard to be annoyed when you've just spent an incredible day at the beach and are looking forward to trying surfing the next day, before heading up further along the coast to see more of this amazing country.



Sunset at main beach, Praia da Pipa




Sal in Salvador :)  ¶ 12:03 PM 0 comments

  Some stories about the crime in Rio...

One guy we met in the first hostel was walking along Copacabana beach, early evening. Made the mistake of carrying his camera on its big body strap so it's out there in plain sight. Couple of guys jumped him, he managed to fight them off... police were a bit down the beach completely ignoring him (more on these guys later!). He got away with his camera and a very, very torn t-shirt.

Another guy was walking home (think this was either in Sao Paulo or maybe Buenos Aires, so not really a Rio story) from a bar one night quite late, by himself. Some random dude starts walking with him, chatting etc. No problems yet. Then he gets offered weed, so stupidly, as he's had a few drinks, agrees to follow this guy into a derelict park (emphasis everybody who's heard this story). Final mistake is when the guy (who now has a mate who's shown up out of nowhere) shows him the weed, he says it's not good enough quality and tells him he doesn't want it anymore... so the guy pushes him really hard, he falls over, his mate clubs him over the head a couple of times with a rock! Wakes up and his money etc. are gone...

Two guys from our hostel try to score some weed (seeing a pattern here?), the moment they finish the deal police jump them and the dealer from a car on the street. Dealer franticly tries to dump his bags of coke. One of the guys goes to take the weed out of his pocket to give to the police - police think he's going for a weapon and put guns to their heads. Cop tells them "We can have trouble (aka jail) or no trouble (aka pay a 'fine')". So not wanting to be thrown in a Brazilian jail - who would? - they agree to pay a R$1000 "fine" each. ATMs don't let you withdraw that much, so the police drive them to a casino where there's no withdrawal limit. They then drive them back to the hostel and say friendly as anything, "We hope you enjoy your holiday in Rio, it's a very safe and nice city". We later heard 1k is probably about a month's wages for a copper.

Tales from the Favela

A couple of the guys in a hostel across the road from us at the moment are living in one of Rio's favelas at the moment, doing a teach english thing. They both say it's not really like in City of God (rampant crime etc), but the drug gangs do pretty much control the favelas. The gangs keep crime really low. One of the guys was visited by one of the drug baron's homies almost as soon as he arrived, to check out what he was doing, but was quite pleased when he found out he'd be helping the cariocas and teaching the kids etc. So he got left alone.

However...you get "invasions" in the favelas. This is where rival drug gangs from other favelas raid each other's territory, or the police come in sometimes too, shoot up a couple of people then leave again. Heaps of people in the favelas carry guns. So our guy was in the gym one day just doing his thing, then he hears a load of fireworks (a signal probably - they also use kites to signal drug shipments/incoming invasions), then a load of gunfire that carries on for ages. All the locals are shitting it, people are screaming etc. Then it goes quiet. On the way home, he's walking down one of the alleys (there aren't many roads in the favelas) and sees a big pool of blood, and what he thinks was brains.

The other guy was walking home one day and saw a bunch of dudes with guns coming out of his apartment block. They weren't after him or anything, but still.


A couple of other people we know also got minor muggings in Rio. It really surprises me that me, Sal or Jess haven't been yet considering how common it is, the worst we've had so far is people nicked their pajamas from the hostel!!! TOUCH ... WOOD.


Another difference between Brazil and most other places I've been: they basically don't have floats, I reckon. They never, ever have much change, if any. In Sana, we got basically let off cos they couldn't change a 50 (about 15 quid worth, or maybe 2 nights in a hostel) twice in a row. Nobody in the town had change! So we had to go back and pay them later when we finally found somewhere that did have change. You'd think it was a basic business practise to be able to give change..otherwise you can't charge some people for your stuff!


The music is almost non-stop but not quite. Between the early hours and morning today - Domingo, 16 de Julio - there was a brief respite. Then there was what sounded almost like Gregorian chants from one of the nearby churches, quite atmospheric. So many churches here. It's now almost 11am, and the drums have started up again...down the road someone just cruised past with some heavy bass booming out. The Pelourhino never sleeps.  ¶ 6:32 AM 5 comments

  Today we got up very late due to the previous night's fun and games, and went to see Igreja do Nosso Senhor do Bonfim, Salvador's famous healing church. It was quite interesting, though the neighborhood around the church was actually more interesting... me and Sal had a wander after Jess and Dave decided to head back. We went down to the sea through a poor but fairly happy seeming area, then along the garbage infested rocky beach past a big jetty and then along by some pretty dodgy looking housing. After we started to get followed by a few kids, we noticed we were headed towards possibly the dodgiest looking favela area I've seen yet, so we decided to go back, after getting directions from one of the kids who approached us.

We then wandered a bit more and took in other bits of the neighborhoods around the church. The feeling on the beach was pretty strange, kind of like you're suddenly in a ghost town, especially with all the garbage on the beach and the favela looming ominously further up the beach. The rest of our wanders were a bit more normal though, and everyone seemed friendly or at least non-threatening!

Finished off the day by finally finding Salvador's funicular railway, which only cost 10c to go up! So was pretty chuffed with that, (slight underexaggeration there, he was wetting himself - Sal) then we got some fried chicken and chips (rice and beans are a lot more common here than chips) for dinner and are about to think about heading out somewhere, not sure where yet, but there's music and something going on at every hour here - and I mean every hour.

Heading up north again tomorrow or the day after, probably to Maceio, then maybe Recife and onwards up to Belem.  ¶ 5:17 PM 0 comments

  Trying to keep a note of all the differences between Brazil and home, that you begin to take for granted while you're here. Will add more when I think of them...

The plumbing: toilets get blocked if you put toilet paper in them, so you have to put all your waste into bins which can get messy in hostels!

Per kilo restaurants are everywhere. You stack your plate from a buffet then weigh it and pay a fixed price per kilo (or per 100g depending on the place). Usually the cheapest option for a semi-decent meal.

...

Tonight we're going to a candomblé ceremony. This involves ritual posession or "incorporation" of priests by the orixás, or deities. Really looking forward to it!  ¶ 12:36 PM 4 comments

  This morning we arrived in Salvador, rightly renowned as Brazil's capital of music and African culture. It's a sprawling, seaside city, capped with the historical old town where live Brazilian musical beats and Candombré blend together along hilly cobbled streets, huge colonial churches, palaces, apartment blocks and abandoned buildings pressing in from every direction.

Travel was fairly uneventful, we got the 7am plane as planned and landed at Salvador around 9. After trying to find the first hostel on our list with an Israeli called David, we eventually discovered it's gone out of business or something..! so checked into another hostel called Albergue de Passo, which has turned out to be pretty good and at R$15/night, nice and cabado!

Jess has finally gotten access to some of her funds so when we're all awake we should be able to get her debts with us settled which will be a relief for all of us. Not sure what we're going to do tonight, we were all exhausted from very little sleep last night and have been having a siesta since 2pm (is now 4.30pm). Me and Sal explored a bit earlier though and found the first Governor of Bahia's house - Palace Rio Branco I think it was called! Also listened to some roots/hip-hop from this band. There's live music everywhere, Salvador is so colourful too with bright colours all over, and so much to see and do, we can hardly wait to have a proper look around the place. Awesome city - I already like it a lot more than Rio.  ¶ 12:31 PM 1 comments

  What a beautiful place! Surrounded by steep hills with the Rio Sana rushing past, it's an interesting little town. Loved by Brazilian hippies, the roads are little more than dirt tracks, there's more motorbikes than cars, and the shops are very new age. Kind of like a mini Glastonbury. It even has its own special hill with two natural standing stones on the summit, one atop the other, though it's a 3 hour trek to get up there so we're probably not going to.

The Rio Sana is quite waterfally though, so we had a little trip up there yesterday. One of the sections of river was over very smooth rocks and made a little waterslide that we had a few goes on, despite the water being FREEZING cold!

We're staying in a pousada called Ponto de Luz, which means Point of Light, and is run by a nice lady called Amalia with her daughter and grandaughter. The last two nights we ate at a really cool vegetarian restaurant run by a Swiss guy who is so far the only person in town who speaks english! All the shops, including the restaurant, are basically just houses with the front or back opened up. The restaurant is a kitchen with seating, self service; you walk around and fill your bowl from big earthenware pots sat on the side. We vowed to go vege while we were here to clear out our systems, though me and Sal accidentally ordered burgers for breakfast this morning! Oh well. I still feel pretty good being here though, it's so peaceful and nice.

We stay one more night then tomorrow we're catching the bus back to Rio then hopping on a plane to Salvador.  ¶ 7:36 AM 0 comments

  Went to Lapa again last night which was a blast as always...off to Sana today for a few days then coming back to Rio to fly to Salvador. Apparently it´s a little town in the mountains, off the beaten track so Im looking forward to going there. Rio and Ilha Grande have been great in their own ways but both have been full of backpackers like us, and sometimes I think it gets in the way a bit of appreciating the country and cariocas (locals) around you.

Natwest are still screwing Jess around, so she´s just gone to cash her travellers cheques before we head out to the bus station. If you dont hear from us in a few days its probably cos Sana doesnt have internet access, hehe. Anyway, chao!  ¶ 5:38 AM 1 comments

  What a place!!

Imagine a tropical island - palm trees, jungle, dozens of little unspoiled beaches with warm atlantic waves lapping at the sand. Populate sparsely with bits of town, little houses. No cars, just paved paths making up the few streets of the biggest town and dirt tracks along the shore between beaches and trails through the jungle criss crossing the island. No banks. Electricity - most of the time.

. . .

Today we went on a boat tour to this waterfall in the jungle near the coast. Normally it´s a 2 hr walk from town, so after doing a big jungle trek the other day we decided going by boat would be better.

Has anyone played Monkey Island? Remember Captain Dread´s little ship? That was our ship - no, ours was better! A little wooden boat just big enough to comfortably hold the 12 of us who went on the trip and its skipper - a mad bloke with shark tattoos called Camu who spoke broken but very spirited english. Flying the jolly roger from the stern, with a bunch of bananas hanging from the cabin, pumping out Bob Marley from 2 huge speakers.

Off we went around the island, putting ashore at a small isolated beach. He then lead us on an hour walk through the jungle along the narrowest trails, across lines of ants, past banana and mango trees, up and down the hills till we got to the waterfall, where we jumped in and had a very cold shower to wash the heat of the walk off!

On the shore a little further on we got some lunch, where me and a Canadian girl called Michelle did some jetty jumping while Sal and Jess soaked up the sun.

Then on to a bay called the ´sac of the sky´, so called because its so calm and sheltered at night all the stars are reflected in it. (Unfortunately we had to be back for the ferry so couldnt stay there that long) After that we went back to the beach where the trek to the waterfall began and put ashore to chill out for a bit, me and Michelle and another guy jumped off the boat instead of waiting for the dinghy to take us ashore so Camu threw us a pair of snorkel masks (calling us loco inglis, hehe!) and we did a bit of snorkelling around the rocks. Saw lots of fish and a couple of starfish, but nothing very big. Came back out and chilled on a big boulder watching while some of the others had some shots at the bamboo goal posts on the beach or played fribee, then sadly it was home time.

Leaving was very sad. On the way back to town, the sunset wasn´t awesome but the scenery it lit up in that evening way really was. The Brazilian mainland, rugged green mountains, was shaded greens and oranges in the haze of the horizon. Then the sharp contrast of the island´s hills - dark green against a bright blue sky with a torch of a sun reflecting off the waves of the sea.

It was a good un, anyway!

Then the rush once we got back to the hostel - Aquario - with Rosaria shouting at us to get our asses into gear and back onto Camu´s boat so he could take us to the main jetty (normally 10 min walk but we didnt have even that!) and the ferry back to Mangratiba. Somehow we made it, then got a mad minivan back to Copacabana, and once again landed on our feet finding a few beds available at the Mellow Yellow!!

Hostel was amazing - like a little tropical hideaway with hamocks in the bar and free kayaks. Staff amazing too - Fred and Rosaria who ran the place were absolutely awesome, such laid back, friendly, beautiful people. All in all quality digs in an absolute paradise of a place. I actually got a bit emotional at leaving it behind...but onwards and upwards - tomorrow we investigate getting to Salvador!  ¶ 6:23 PM 4 comments

  Got into Ilha Grande 2 days ago. Where has the time gone?!

Trip down to the port we sailed from was sleepy, then we got a 5pm sailing across on this nice little boat, then partied into the night at the hostel we're staying at (Aquario). NExt day we went for a jungle trek across the island to this really nice beach on the other side. Today we've just been chilling, kayaking around with Sal and Jess. This place really is paradise! No cars, no banks, just tropical island paradise.  ¶ 9:29 AM 1 comments

  Last night there was a capoeira show in the hostel bar, and after the show they started dragging people in to join in and have a go...I was the 2nd dragee, and it was really good fun!! I loved the music they play for it too, really tribal and the singing is awesome, gets you going. I love the culture of this place - the happy, genuine people, the latin/Brazilian music, the dancing... afterwards Sal and Jess went out to the Favela Funk party, and I went out with Hazel, Barbara-Anne, the Americans and a couple of others.

Need to try and find a travel adaptor for my (singaporean) camera charger, cos it finally died last night - argh!!! I REALLY dont want to be without it for Ilha Grande, as Ive seen some photos someone else took and it looks very beautiful.

Just had the best shower Ive had in this place - it was actually not cold - and thinking of heading up for breakfast now then nipping out quick to look for an adaptor.  ¶ 5:21 AM 3 comments

 

Sally last night




Me and Clare after the footie








Oh no!!  ¶ 11:57 AM 0 comments

  Last couple of days have been, in the words of Shack, madness. Pure madness. I built my bridge, drank a lot, mingled like nooo tomorrow, chatted with Clare quite a bit which was awesome cos we were thinking she´d left the hostel, shouted at the football(still cant quite believe it), and generally had a damn good time.

Its really funny here, a totally different world. Well actually, two different worlds. You have the world you experience outside the hostel - the magic that is the country of Brazil - then you have the closeness of the world inside the hostel. Whenever I think of all the people I´ve met, all I can really think to myself is that I love them all- all of them (its a very e feeling but more real!)..

I´m doing well sorting myself out too. thats always a mission and a half, but I think I am getting a bit better at things...people...women. We´ll see how things go...but this trip is giving me the opportunity to do a bit of that... reconstructive head surgery...or sommat.

Didnt get any sleep tonight...last night, its 7am now... and we´re off to Isle Grande in a few hours, by bus. May well end up with a mega hangover here, but I saw some pics of the place last night and it looks proper idyllic. Good place to recover!

Muyto bem. I am content.  ¶ 3:43 AM 0 comments