Perched into the mountainside of Morro De Sao Paulo, a tropical island off the coast of Bahia in Brazil, is a majestic hang out called 'One Love'. A colorful mural of Bob Marley is painted on the only wall in the place, leaving the rest open to fresh air and sunshine. People lounge in the hammocks and sunbath to the sounds of live music typical to Northern Brazil. The waitstaff sits and smokes and laughs with the patrons, only getting up to crack a fresh tall bottle of beer to pass around amongst friends. People drink from small chilled glasses, filling anyone's glass that is within arm's length.
Anyone who is in the mellow mood can pick up a hand-drum or tambourine and play along with the local musicians. Bob Marley's universal lyrics rings through the air as people sing along to 'Redemption Song'. There are no cars on Morro, and 'One Love' is located off the beaten path down a jungle trail, so people come and go at a much slower pace than I am used to. The unusual foreign, yet comfortable sounds of people's conversations from the corner's of the World pass through my ears as I daydream looking out at the sunset. Maybe it's just because I am an observer, but it seems people in Brazil have a lot more to talk about in a much more animated way than people from The States.
The cigarette's and weed burn constantly as if the smoke is necessary to keep the mosquitoes at bay. I find myself indulging in both more frequently than back home, trying to fit into the Brazilian culture. Walk down 10-steps to the beach for a refreshing swim in the ocean or for a walk down the white sand beach. Either way, 'One love' is the place to go to relax and forget about time or anything else that may be bothering you.
Thursday, 27 January 2011
Hitch-Hiking with the Locals
The car is full, so one of my friends, Daniel (also called Jack Daniels), offers to hitch-hike with me to Morro. Daniel, being Brazilian and speaking Portuguese eases my concerns of successfully hitching to Morro. I lag getting my bag packed and am informed that we are crunched for time, we have to get to Valencia before 3 to catch the last Ferry to Morro. We hike to the road leading out of town, and wait in the baking sun for cars to pass by in hopes of a ride.
Hitch-hiking in Brazil is much different than the hitch-hiking that I have witnessed in The States. If you put your thumb out in Brazil, driver's who pass will all give you some sort of hand gesture or stop to explain why they can't give you a ride. I tell Daniel that you would be lucky to have someone make eye-contact back home, it was refreshing to see people show concern for people trying to catch a ride.
After 45 minutes we catch a ride to Morro with a couple, or at least I thought that's what happened. They end up taking us only a couple miles to another intersection where we find ourselves back out in the sun with our thumbs in the air. This time, the first car that passes pulls over and let's out another hitch-hiker and let's us in. I buckle up and off we go. Our driver seems as if he is in a race, squeaking the tires as he rounds turns, hitting the gas any chance he gets, all the while looking as if he were taking a leisurely drive through the countryside. 20 minutes later, he pulls off and let's us out to my dismay.
We are really pressed for time to make the last ferry and we find ourselves in the middle of nowhere in the heat of the day with nowhere to run from the sun. We wait patiently for cars which are less frequent on this stretch of road but luckily by the 4th car, we catch a ride. This driver doesn't drive as fast as the last one, but turns out to be a conversationalist with a vast array of hand gestures and too much eye contact as he drives and rants on with Daniel. He is animated in his stories, which I know nothing of what he is saying except when he says 'gringo' and looks in his rear-view mirror at me. Daniel at first seems interested in talking with him, but eventually starts to fall asleep. The driver isn't allowing this, so he pulls over and buys us beers, including himself, I oblige not to be rude but am now concerned for my safety.
The driver keeps lighting cigarettes and spitting out the window, seeming to be more interested in telling Daniel stories than driving. We end up hitting a pothole and blowing out a rear tire and at this point in time I start thinking how I can gracefully explain that I'm going to get another ride in broken Portuguese. The driver replaces the tire in record time and before I know it, we load back up and our on our way. The rain starts, but our driver seems to have settles in a little and we are getting close to our destination. He stops for one more round of beers and 10 minutes later we arrive in Valencia unscathed and we both give a thanks to the powers above. In the end it was quite the experience, something I would have never done had I not been with a Brazilian local. I think I'll stick to the buses at least until we get to Spanish-speaking Countries where I can kind of understand whats going on.
Hitch-hiking in Brazil is much different than the hitch-hiking that I have witnessed in The States. If you put your thumb out in Brazil, driver's who pass will all give you some sort of hand gesture or stop to explain why they can't give you a ride. I tell Daniel that you would be lucky to have someone make eye-contact back home, it was refreshing to see people show concern for people trying to catch a ride.
After 45 minutes we catch a ride to Morro with a couple, or at least I thought that's what happened. They end up taking us only a couple miles to another intersection where we find ourselves back out in the sun with our thumbs in the air. This time, the first car that passes pulls over and let's out another hitch-hiker and let's us in. I buckle up and off we go. Our driver seems as if he is in a race, squeaking the tires as he rounds turns, hitting the gas any chance he gets, all the while looking as if he were taking a leisurely drive through the countryside. 20 minutes later, he pulls off and let's us out to my dismay.
We are really pressed for time to make the last ferry and we find ourselves in the middle of nowhere in the heat of the day with nowhere to run from the sun. We wait patiently for cars which are less frequent on this stretch of road but luckily by the 4th car, we catch a ride. This driver doesn't drive as fast as the last one, but turns out to be a conversationalist with a vast array of hand gestures and too much eye contact as he drives and rants on with Daniel. He is animated in his stories, which I know nothing of what he is saying except when he says 'gringo' and looks in his rear-view mirror at me. Daniel at first seems interested in talking with him, but eventually starts to fall asleep. The driver isn't allowing this, so he pulls over and buys us beers, including himself, I oblige not to be rude but am now concerned for my safety.
The driver keeps lighting cigarettes and spitting out the window, seeming to be more interested in telling Daniel stories than driving. We end up hitting a pothole and blowing out a rear tire and at this point in time I start thinking how I can gracefully explain that I'm going to get another ride in broken Portuguese. The driver replaces the tire in record time and before I know it, we load back up and our on our way. The rain starts, but our driver seems to have settles in a little and we are getting close to our destination. He stops for one more round of beers and 10 minutes later we arrive in Valencia unscathed and we both give a thanks to the powers above. In the end it was quite the experience, something I would have never done had I not been with a Brazilian local. I think I'll stick to the buses at least until we get to Spanish-speaking Countries where I can kind of understand whats going on.
Full Moon @ Prinha
Walking down the streets of Itacare I get called in from the group of Brazilian friends that I made from Victoria for some desert at a local bakery. They invite me to the beach the following day and tell me to bring a flashlight. We hang at one of the main beaches until late afternoon and then head out for the jungle walk to Prinha. People coming back from Prinha give us strange looks because not many people go to Prinha this late in the day. We show up for an epic sunset bodysurf session with absolutely nobody else around. The water and air temperature is warm, so we stay in the ocean past sundown.
We go sit on the beach and laugh and stretch and wait for the full moon to rise. It comes up out of nowhere and is big, full and orange. The moon dances between the clouds as it rises, I watch in amazement while a couple of friends shoot some photos. I sit and watch the moon and think of my mom, who celebrates the full moon and wonder if it's a full moon in Santa Cruz as well.
It turns out that I have one of the 3 flashlights amongst the group of 6, which I offer to one of the girls who voices her concerns about walking through the jungle at night. Without my light I end up stubbing my toe a couple times, but am so thankful to have been invited on this adventure I only curse under my breath. I remember that I have my ipod and traveling speakers in my pack, so I put on some tunes which lightens the mode for the hour long walk back to town. I'm invited over for dinner which consisted of pasta with tuna and cream sauce. If I wasn't so hungry from the walk I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it, but it turned out to be a pretty good meal. They invite me to head back to Morro De Sao Paulo with them in the morning, and having nothing better to do, I agree.
We go sit on the beach and laugh and stretch and wait for the full moon to rise. It comes up out of nowhere and is big, full and orange. The moon dances between the clouds as it rises, I watch in amazement while a couple of friends shoot some photos. I sit and watch the moon and think of my mom, who celebrates the full moon and wonder if it's a full moon in Santa Cruz as well.
It turns out that I have one of the 3 flashlights amongst the group of 6, which I offer to one of the girls who voices her concerns about walking through the jungle at night. Without my light I end up stubbing my toe a couple times, but am so thankful to have been invited on this adventure I only curse under my breath. I remember that I have my ipod and traveling speakers in my pack, so I put on some tunes which lightens the mode for the hour long walk back to town. I'm invited over for dinner which consisted of pasta with tuna and cream sauce. If I wasn't so hungry from the walk I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it, but it turned out to be a pretty good meal. They invite me to head back to Morro De Sao Paulo with them in the morning, and having nothing better to do, I agree.
Itacare
Back to the mainland and a reggae vibe town called Itacare. There is one main street lined with hostels and restaurants, that no matter what time of day or night, is lined with people. A short walk to three main beaches is the call during the heat of the day. The second beach was my favorite with a skateboard bowl looking over the beach. Rasta's set up slack lines between the palm tree's and practice all day long. Once again, I could show up with a little pocket change and rent a chair and some shade and have fresh cold coconuts and food delivered as I enjoyed the tropical good life. A fresh water stream has been diverted to make a shower to wash the salt water off before the walk back to town. It's hard to be unhappy in a place like this.
Toby is nearing the end of his trip, then I will have a little over a week to travel solo before Paul arrives for the rest of my journey. Tobes and I meet a group of Brazilian's from Victoria out on the town one night and they tell us about a secluded beach not far from the popular beaches. We get some directions that we will just have to hike through the jungle for 20 minutes to one of the most beautiful beaches in Brazil. Toby is anxious to go, so I tell him I'll meet him there. I start my walk into the jungle and realize that I might get lost because there are a bunch of different trails without any signs. I have to trust my intuition. Only one wrong turn and a coconut water bought from a guy in the middle of the jungle later and I arrive at Prinha, truly the most beautiful beach I have ever visited. Palm tree's line the white sand beach which has rocky cliffs on either side. There are fewer people because it is not an easy walk and is kind of hard to find, so bodysurfing is much more enjoyable without tons of people and surfer's to watch out for.
The nightlife is the same every night. Two bars: Jungle Bar and Favela host both DJ's and live music. Jungle Bar had a couple good reggae and Folha (a type of popular Brazilian music) bands, while Favela mostly had DJ's playing a variety of music from reggae, RnB, Hip-Hop and Electronica. A local friend helped arrange a set for me, I spent the whole day trying to burn CD's for my set. I finally got a couple of CD's to burn and was pumped for a chance to DJ in Brazil. I show up early to check out the gear I am going to use and am excited to see CDJ's (a kind of universal DJ set up). I get help from the local DJ to set up the gear and I am live. I have a bunch of friends in the crowd and I am nervous like one of the first time's I got to DJ back home. It is going great and people are feeling the music and then it completely shuts off. There is nothing worse then having the music completely die and even though it wasn't my fault, I am embarrassed and bummed that people aren't happy. I get the beats going again and this happens twice more until I figure out that the connection for one of the CDJ's is fickle and there is nothing I can do about it. Out of frustration, I track down the local DJ and have him take over. He apologizes for the faulty gear and tells me we should try again tomorrow because he liked my tracks, I kindly deny his offer. All my friends tell me I did great (lies), and I tell them that I wish I had my gear so I could play a seamless set.
It's time to say bye to Tobes, who takes back some extra gear of mine which helps to lighten my load. It's nice to be traveling solo again. I make my own schedule and eat where and whenever I want. If I want to hang out with people, there are plenty of cool peeps around the hostel or around town that I can adventure out with. I meet a cool crew from Canada that was about to start a yoga retreat for a month long teacher training course. This inspired me to get back on my stretching, push-up and sit-up program. I had a bunch of good meals with the Canadian crew, especially at this Vegetarian Arabian food restaurant that served up a much needed feast of veggies and hummus.
The local scene in Itacare reminded me of Santa Cruz. There is a big surfer, musician and Capoeira scene. The best of the bunch are like rock-stars in town, showing up with an entourage calling the shots on which of the two bars is the happening place for the night. The Capoeira guys are all ripped and a couple of them seem to be quite crazy or on drugs or a combination of the two. I witnessed one guy dancing the whole night aggressively, sipping from a foul looking green concoction, and convulsing like he was having a seizure to the beat of the music. I watched this guy running around and dancing for the 5 hours that I was out that night. When I showed up to the beach the next day, there he was, dancing to the sounds of the ocean. I wish I had that much energy, then again, maybe I don't.
Toby is nearing the end of his trip, then I will have a little over a week to travel solo before Paul arrives for the rest of my journey. Tobes and I meet a group of Brazilian's from Victoria out on the town one night and they tell us about a secluded beach not far from the popular beaches. We get some directions that we will just have to hike through the jungle for 20 minutes to one of the most beautiful beaches in Brazil. Toby is anxious to go, so I tell him I'll meet him there. I start my walk into the jungle and realize that I might get lost because there are a bunch of different trails without any signs. I have to trust my intuition. Only one wrong turn and a coconut water bought from a guy in the middle of the jungle later and I arrive at Prinha, truly the most beautiful beach I have ever visited. Palm tree's line the white sand beach which has rocky cliffs on either side. There are fewer people because it is not an easy walk and is kind of hard to find, so bodysurfing is much more enjoyable without tons of people and surfer's to watch out for.
The nightlife is the same every night. Two bars: Jungle Bar and Favela host both DJ's and live music. Jungle Bar had a couple good reggae and Folha (a type of popular Brazilian music) bands, while Favela mostly had DJ's playing a variety of music from reggae, RnB, Hip-Hop and Electronica. A local friend helped arrange a set for me, I spent the whole day trying to burn CD's for my set. I finally got a couple of CD's to burn and was pumped for a chance to DJ in Brazil. I show up early to check out the gear I am going to use and am excited to see CDJ's (a kind of universal DJ set up). I get help from the local DJ to set up the gear and I am live. I have a bunch of friends in the crowd and I am nervous like one of the first time's I got to DJ back home. It is going great and people are feeling the music and then it completely shuts off. There is nothing worse then having the music completely die and even though it wasn't my fault, I am embarrassed and bummed that people aren't happy. I get the beats going again and this happens twice more until I figure out that the connection for one of the CDJ's is fickle and there is nothing I can do about it. Out of frustration, I track down the local DJ and have him take over. He apologizes for the faulty gear and tells me we should try again tomorrow because he liked my tracks, I kindly deny his offer. All my friends tell me I did great (lies), and I tell them that I wish I had my gear so I could play a seamless set.
It's time to say bye to Tobes, who takes back some extra gear of mine which helps to lighten my load. It's nice to be traveling solo again. I make my own schedule and eat where and whenever I want. If I want to hang out with people, there are plenty of cool peeps around the hostel or around town that I can adventure out with. I meet a cool crew from Canada that was about to start a yoga retreat for a month long teacher training course. This inspired me to get back on my stretching, push-up and sit-up program. I had a bunch of good meals with the Canadian crew, especially at this Vegetarian Arabian food restaurant that served up a much needed feast of veggies and hummus.
The local scene in Itacare reminded me of Santa Cruz. There is a big surfer, musician and Capoeira scene. The best of the bunch are like rock-stars in town, showing up with an entourage calling the shots on which of the two bars is the happening place for the night. The Capoeira guys are all ripped and a couple of them seem to be quite crazy or on drugs or a combination of the two. I witnessed one guy dancing the whole night aggressively, sipping from a foul looking green concoction, and convulsing like he was having a seizure to the beat of the music. I watched this guy running around and dancing for the 5 hours that I was out that night. When I showed up to the beach the next day, there he was, dancing to the sounds of the ocean. I wish I had that much energy, then again, maybe I don't.
Monday, 17 January 2011
Morro Do Sao Paulo
Feeling a little quezy from the catamaran ride, we arrive in Morro. Morro is an Island without cars, so the taxi service is a bunch of ripped locals with wheel barrels that charge 5 Real ($3) per bag to carry luggage to your hostel. The taxi service guys bombarded us as we got off the boat. I am always a little hesitant to hand over my belongings, so I decided to carry my own things up and down the hills to the beach.
Always having to watch my back and not being able to trust people straight away can really take away from meeting cool people or enjoying certain situations. I feel bad sometimes for not trusting people, especially when someone is trying to be nice, but just in case they are trying to scam me, I cannot trust people blindly. Toby and I were talking about how people from the United States are filled with stories of robbery and violence when traveling to foreign countries. All of the places I have already visited in Brasil, many people warned me of the dangers of when they went or stories that they heard of travelers being robbed or kidnapped. The reality of the situation is that everywhere in the world (including Santa Cruz and the States) has the potential to be unsafe, but more often than not, the places we travel are filled with genuinely nice people ready to help you or be your friend. It is good to be cautious, but I feel like people are instilled with so much fear, it is often a main reason they decide not to travel.
There are 3 main beaches on Morro. The 1st beach has a zipline down from the hill into the ocean. This beach also has surfing and scuba diving. The 2nd beach is the main beach where all the nice restuarants and hostels are located. On the 2nd beach there is also a volleyball net and two footvolley courts that are used mainly in the morning and afternoon when the sun is less intense. The 3rd beach only exists on low tide and is mainly hostels, we stayed here for the first part of our trip because everywhere else was filled up.
Everyday as the sun sets the 2nd beach starts to transform. A DJ sets up by the main footvolley court, where a crowd gathers and cheers on the local pros as they bet money and play a very intense skilled game of footvolley filled with yelling and long rallies that never ceased to amaze me. The restaurants set the mood with candlelight and live musicians playing rock covers, reggae or local folha and samba music. The boardwalk that lines the beach transforms into an outside tropical fruit bar, where there are tons of exotic fruits I´ve never seen being muddled into vodka concoctions, very delicious.
Morro is a hotspot for Brazilian and Argentinian people to vacation to. Talking to a group of traveling Argentinian people, they told us that it takes them a whole year to save enough money to travel to Morro for one week. I was embarrassed to tell them I was traveling for 7 months.
Aaron tracked down a potential DJ gig at a sushi bar/club called Six. The owner agreed to giving us a set between 2 and 4am, so we spent the rest of the day tracking down blank cds and preparing to drop a hot electro set in Brasil. We showed up early to practice with their equipment, I was nervous because I never used that set up before and only had about 15 minutes to get used to it. The DJ before us played local favorites and other top 40 songs popular in the US. When 2am rolled around, Aaron went up to the DJ booth only to be waved off by a sassy local DJ girl, who wasn´t having any foreign DJ´s stealing her heat. We tried and tried without success to get behind the DJ booth, very dissappointing, but a fun night of dancing to electronica none-the-less.
Aaron´s time to head back to the States arrived, he was sad to go, but also ready to get back because his identity was stolen while he was traveling, forcing him to borrow money from Toby. It turned out that one of his assistants, Aaron is a DP in the film industry, gave his banking information to her boyfriend who stole a bunch of money while Aaron was away. The guy set up a phone number in his name with some of the money, so it looks like he will be caught red handed. We gave Aaron a nickname on the trip ´Digital Dan´, which eventually turned into just `Digital´or ´Dan´. He was given the name by Toby after we realized how much "digitry" he had brought with him. He had: a laptop, an external hard-drive, an external battery for his laptop, an ipad, a camera with multiple lenses, and an iphone which eventually got water damage. His digital gear probably weighed more than all my gear put together.
Toby and I spent the next few days on Morro hanging on the beach, going to one of the main clubs on the hill, eating well and going on a horseback ride with a couple of Argentinian girls who didn´t have a good time. The trail to the beach on the horse was pretty intense and technical and one of the girls was scared of the horse, she was ready for it to be over as soon as the ride started. After the ride, the girls bee-lined it for their hostel while Toby and I ran into some of the local taxi service guys and hung out with them on a side-street sharing beer and listening to samba. The guys ended up giving us their work shirts off their backs, Toby gave one of them his pair of nice sunglasses, they all passed it around with nods of approval. We showed them some pictures of Burning Man on Toby´s iphone, they couldn´t believe what they saw and tried to convience us to throw a burning man party on their beach.
Morro is a very cool place, it was nice not to worry about getting hit by cars, buses and motorbikes for a week. Morro is one of my favorite places so far and I would reccommend it to anyone traveling to Brasil. A quick acai and we caught a motorboat ride to the mainland where we are headed to Itacare for the last part of Toby´s trip and really only the begginning of mine.
Always having to watch my back and not being able to trust people straight away can really take away from meeting cool people or enjoying certain situations. I feel bad sometimes for not trusting people, especially when someone is trying to be nice, but just in case they are trying to scam me, I cannot trust people blindly. Toby and I were talking about how people from the United States are filled with stories of robbery and violence when traveling to foreign countries. All of the places I have already visited in Brasil, many people warned me of the dangers of when they went or stories that they heard of travelers being robbed or kidnapped. The reality of the situation is that everywhere in the world (including Santa Cruz and the States) has the potential to be unsafe, but more often than not, the places we travel are filled with genuinely nice people ready to help you or be your friend. It is good to be cautious, but I feel like people are instilled with so much fear, it is often a main reason they decide not to travel.
There are 3 main beaches on Morro. The 1st beach has a zipline down from the hill into the ocean. This beach also has surfing and scuba diving. The 2nd beach is the main beach where all the nice restuarants and hostels are located. On the 2nd beach there is also a volleyball net and two footvolley courts that are used mainly in the morning and afternoon when the sun is less intense. The 3rd beach only exists on low tide and is mainly hostels, we stayed here for the first part of our trip because everywhere else was filled up.
Everyday as the sun sets the 2nd beach starts to transform. A DJ sets up by the main footvolley court, where a crowd gathers and cheers on the local pros as they bet money and play a very intense skilled game of footvolley filled with yelling and long rallies that never ceased to amaze me. The restaurants set the mood with candlelight and live musicians playing rock covers, reggae or local folha and samba music. The boardwalk that lines the beach transforms into an outside tropical fruit bar, where there are tons of exotic fruits I´ve never seen being muddled into vodka concoctions, very delicious.
Morro is a hotspot for Brazilian and Argentinian people to vacation to. Talking to a group of traveling Argentinian people, they told us that it takes them a whole year to save enough money to travel to Morro for one week. I was embarrassed to tell them I was traveling for 7 months.
Aaron tracked down a potential DJ gig at a sushi bar/club called Six. The owner agreed to giving us a set between 2 and 4am, so we spent the rest of the day tracking down blank cds and preparing to drop a hot electro set in Brasil. We showed up early to practice with their equipment, I was nervous because I never used that set up before and only had about 15 minutes to get used to it. The DJ before us played local favorites and other top 40 songs popular in the US. When 2am rolled around, Aaron went up to the DJ booth only to be waved off by a sassy local DJ girl, who wasn´t having any foreign DJ´s stealing her heat. We tried and tried without success to get behind the DJ booth, very dissappointing, but a fun night of dancing to electronica none-the-less.
Aaron´s time to head back to the States arrived, he was sad to go, but also ready to get back because his identity was stolen while he was traveling, forcing him to borrow money from Toby. It turned out that one of his assistants, Aaron is a DP in the film industry, gave his banking information to her boyfriend who stole a bunch of money while Aaron was away. The guy set up a phone number in his name with some of the money, so it looks like he will be caught red handed. We gave Aaron a nickname on the trip ´Digital Dan´, which eventually turned into just `Digital´or ´Dan´. He was given the name by Toby after we realized how much "digitry" he had brought with him. He had: a laptop, an external hard-drive, an external battery for his laptop, an ipad, a camera with multiple lenses, and an iphone which eventually got water damage. His digital gear probably weighed more than all my gear put together.
Toby and I spent the next few days on Morro hanging on the beach, going to one of the main clubs on the hill, eating well and going on a horseback ride with a couple of Argentinian girls who didn´t have a good time. The trail to the beach on the horse was pretty intense and technical and one of the girls was scared of the horse, she was ready for it to be over as soon as the ride started. After the ride, the girls bee-lined it for their hostel while Toby and I ran into some of the local taxi service guys and hung out with them on a side-street sharing beer and listening to samba. The guys ended up giving us their work shirts off their backs, Toby gave one of them his pair of nice sunglasses, they all passed it around with nods of approval. We showed them some pictures of Burning Man on Toby´s iphone, they couldn´t believe what they saw and tried to convience us to throw a burning man party on their beach.
Morro is a very cool place, it was nice not to worry about getting hit by cars, buses and motorbikes for a week. Morro is one of my favorite places so far and I would reccommend it to anyone traveling to Brasil. A quick acai and we caught a motorboat ride to the mainland where we are headed to Itacare for the last part of Toby´s trip and really only the begginning of mine.
Sunday, 16 January 2011
1-16-11
Toby left today, so I am back to being on a solo journey. I have a lot more free time to read and write and ponder the meaning of life. Traveling is a great way to shed old habits and to try and create new positive one´s in there place. I have until the 24th to make my way down to Rio to meet up with Paul for the rest of my journey. I plan on taking it slow, spending some more time in Itacare, then busing down the coast, stopping at cool beach towns arriving in Rio around the 24th.
Catamaran Ride
I´m excited to get on a Catamaran voyage for 2 hours through the tropics of Brazil to Morro De Sao Paulo. We load up and I notice that there are plastic bags tied to the back of everyone´s seats . . . interesting. I put some tunes on my ipod and go into day dream mode as the boat leaves port. As we get out of the bay, the water becomes pretty rough and we are rocking quite a bit. There are probably around 150 to 200 passengers and watch as their faces go from smiling and taking pictures to sheer focus on the coastline.
I write down some ideas for a club somewhere in the bay area, still rocking my tunes. The smell turns foul and I see that a little girl has lost her lunch and is very upset. The crew bring over a bucket of water and clean the mess up and I figure that is the end of it. Half an hour into our voyage, people start dropping like flys. It is embarrassing to throw up in public, so everyone is trying their hardest to keep their cool. I notice a family a couple rows ahead of me with everyone sick but the father. He is laughing at his son, who is very upset and sea sick. Not more than 5 minutes later I watch as the father starts to look pale and gets very quiet. He is standing near the side of the boat and he eventually loses his lunch over the side of the boat as his family watches in joy.
Pretty soon, everyone is in bad spirits and about half of the passengers have gotten sick. The crew walks around handing out plastic bags and cleaning and collecting the mess. The smell is horrible and I am starting to feel sick. Aaron is out on the back of the boat rocking with his camera and ipod in hand. Toby is out cold, sleeping as if we were on solid ground. Somehow I manage not to get sick for the 2 and half hour trip. It was funny to watch as people realized that this was not a pleasure-sight-seeing cruise, but a free workout for your abs should you succumb to the rock of the sea.
I write down some ideas for a club somewhere in the bay area, still rocking my tunes. The smell turns foul and I see that a little girl has lost her lunch and is very upset. The crew bring over a bucket of water and clean the mess up and I figure that is the end of it. Half an hour into our voyage, people start dropping like flys. It is embarrassing to throw up in public, so everyone is trying their hardest to keep their cool. I notice a family a couple rows ahead of me with everyone sick but the father. He is laughing at his son, who is very upset and sea sick. Not more than 5 minutes later I watch as the father starts to look pale and gets very quiet. He is standing near the side of the boat and he eventually loses his lunch over the side of the boat as his family watches in joy.
Pretty soon, everyone is in bad spirits and about half of the passengers have gotten sick. The crew walks around handing out plastic bags and cleaning and collecting the mess. The smell is horrible and I am starting to feel sick. Aaron is out on the back of the boat rocking with his camera and ipod in hand. Toby is out cold, sleeping as if we were on solid ground. Somehow I manage not to get sick for the 2 and half hour trip. It was funny to watch as people realized that this was not a pleasure-sight-seeing cruise, but a free workout for your abs should you succumb to the rock of the sea.
Salvador
Salvador is hot! The ocean, being pretty warm, provides little relief. The beach is nice, especially for a sunset bodysurf session. We meet some local girls who invite us to a samba club later. I never met anyone who drank Smirnoff Ice willingly, but thats the only thing the local girls drank.
We roll into the samba club and dance a gringo style of samba. There are 6 people in the group and the lead singer has an amazing voice and presense. She sings the night away as we dance not more than 5 feet away from the band, good times.
Brazil has a crazy nightlife. People do not go out until midnight and will dance and party until the sun rises like it´s perfectly normal. I have to get used to taking a nap between 8 and 10, so I have the energy for a full night of fun. After the Samba club, we get some traditional food from Bahia, not really my style but it was nice to try the local flavors.
The next day we go to the oldtown in Salvador where the women are dressed in traditional dresses and some of the men practice calputa (I´m miss-spelling this) a type of dance that looks like fighting, fun to watch. We take pictures of old churches and make our way into a marketplace where local arts and crafts are being sold. Having one backpack for my 7 month trip makes me stay away from collecting souvineers, but it is fun to explore.
Lot´s of people reccommend Morro De Sao Paulo, an Island close by to Salvador, so we book a Catamaran to the Island for the following morning.
We roll into the samba club and dance a gringo style of samba. There are 6 people in the group and the lead singer has an amazing voice and presense. She sings the night away as we dance not more than 5 feet away from the band, good times.
Brazil has a crazy nightlife. People do not go out until midnight and will dance and party until the sun rises like it´s perfectly normal. I have to get used to taking a nap between 8 and 10, so I have the energy for a full night of fun. After the Samba club, we get some traditional food from Bahia, not really my style but it was nice to try the local flavors.
The next day we go to the oldtown in Salvador where the women are dressed in traditional dresses and some of the men practice calputa (I´m miss-spelling this) a type of dance that looks like fighting, fun to watch. We take pictures of old churches and make our way into a marketplace where local arts and crafts are being sold. Having one backpack for my 7 month trip makes me stay away from collecting souvineers, but it is fun to explore.
Lot´s of people reccommend Morro De Sao Paulo, an Island close by to Salvador, so we book a Catamaran to the Island for the following morning.
Itacara
Jungle hike to a swimming hole. Drink a coconut for hydration. Continue into the jungle which opens up to the most beautiful white sand beach I´ve ever seen. Warm water, white sand, palm trees and not a cloud in the sky, epic beach day!
Friday, 14 January 2011
Lencois - Trekking
Overnight bus to Lencois for some exploring in one of the many Brazialiian National Forests. I try sleeping as the bus plows over potholes and cranks the air conditioning to freezing cold temps, last time I dress for the beach when getting onto a bus. We arrive around 7 in the morning as the sun is rising. Delirious, Aaron, Toby and I grab a cab and head to our hostel that we reserved in Floripa. We check in, head to the room, and crash into our beds for another 5 hours of sleep.
I wake up refreshed and cruise around town with my camera. Lencois is a very rootsy town, narrow cobblestone streets with small houses painted vibrant colors. The children play soccer and hide and seek in the streets as their parents find protection from the heat of the sun on the stoop of their houses. Lencois is a trekking town, with lots of fit locals waiting to take the next batch of fresh gringos into the outback. I eat lunch at a kilogram spot (fill your plate and pay by the kilo) and head out to the many eco tour spots in search of our next adventure.
Toby finds a well managed spot called Zen tours and we book a highlight trip of some of the top spots in the area for the next day. They offer us a ride to a trail head with promises of a rockslide at the end of the trail. We hike through a jungle trail for a couple miles, passing local snack shacks selling beverages while passing the time playing dominoes. We arrive to the sound of people screaming with joy as they slide down a surprisingly long rockslide into the water. The water is a spooky brown color and it is explained to us as organic matter mixed with the water. We stay until around dusk and head back through the backstreets. The locals stare at the unusual looking tourists as we make our way back home.
Early to rise and excited to see the sights. We load in a van where we drive for 30 minutes to a turnout and our told by our guide that we may get wet. Not sure what to expect, we hike to a amazing waterfall with a place to do a 30 foot cliff jump, zipline into the water or repel off a cliff. Toby and I hit the zipline, belly first into the water below, so fun! The guide gathers his things and tells us its time to move on. We arrive at a cave, where we venture in to see some amazing stalagmites. We shoot some trippy photos, explore the cave and then grab some lunch. Next, we drive down a rocky dirt road to another cave, where we rent snorkel gear and snorkel into the cave. We turn off the lights and enjoy the darkness, my first time being in a underground water cave, it would have been exciting to discover it. Our guide takes us to a breath taking vista to enjoy the sunset before we call it a day.
The highlight tour was fun, but we decide we need more adventure with less people so we book an overnight backtrip to some less explored waterfalls. As we pay for the trip for the following morning, I notice lightening striking in the distance, hope it doesn´t rain.
Bright and early we eat a typical Braziliian breakfast: coffee, plain bread, pastry, banana and papaya. I empty out my travel backpack to use for our overnight excursion. We head to Zen Eco tours where our Brazilian guide and two other French guys are waiting. We load up in a truck and the Isreali owner gives us a ride into the outback and the trailhead of our excursion under a mango tree that is dropping fresh fruit. It´s very hot, even in the shade of the mango tree. I load up a couple mangos, do a little stretching and we are off into the heat of the day. We cross a couple streams, following our guide who burns a cigerette endlessly. We stop to rest at the base of a granite slab. The guide says we are climbing for awhile, throws on his backpack and leads the way.
It feels great to be backpacking in another country. Everything is different, yet the Brazilian outback reminds me of home. After we summit the granite, it begins to downpour on us. We all pull over waterproof covers over our bags and keep on trekking. It is strange to be in the middle of a rainstorm and not be cold. We hike for a couple more hours and arrive at the river where we will make camp for the night.
The river is a eerie brown color, which the guide insists is good for drinking. I am skeptical to say the least, but am almost out of water and do not have a water filter. I watch as the guide leans down and fills his water jug with brown water and takes a drink. When in Rome, we all fill our empty water bottles and have a drink of the brown river.
The guide sets up lunch in the shade and pulls off some killer tuna sandwiches with lots of veggies. We eat and stash our bags and follow the guide boulder hoping up the river. The guide is older, 49, but boulder hops faster and more confidently than any of us. We get to a point where there are sheer rock cliffs on either side of the river, where the guide tells us that we are probably going to have to swim. We put all our camera gear, which is a lot, into a dry bag and attempt to follow the guide as he scales one side of the cliff above the water. Free climbing was not in the itinerary for the trip. The rock climbing becomes challenging, especially for Aaron who is carrying along all the expensive camera gear. Nobody wants to get in the brown murky and bubbly water below, so we cling to the rock as if our lives depended on it. Aaron gets to the hardest part of the climb, slips and somehow manages to place the camera gear on a ledge before he crashes into the water below. I eventually reach for a handhold and slip into the water with Aaron.
Soon, all 5 of us fall into the water, only the guide, cigerette in mouth, makes the climbs successfully without getting a drop of water on him. We scramble up a small waterfall to arrive at a jawdropping 150 foot waterfall. The water comes down mainly in one area, but also cascades down so water falls 180 degrees around us. We snap photos and swim to where we can stand under the falls, screaming at the top of our lungs with joy.
The guide finishes another cigerette, which he seems to have an endless supply of, and gestures to us that it is time to go. We scramble back over the boulders, all fall back into the water at the harder climbing section, and eventually make our way back to camp with an hour of daylight to spare. We set up our rented tents, throw some extra clothes on for the mosquitoes and play dominoes and rummy as the guide prepares dinner. Anytime someone tries to help with dinner, the guide looks in disguest as he yells for the person to get out of his kitchen. We tell him we are going to get him a cooking apron that reads "Get the fuck out my kitchen".
Everyone´s mouths are salvating at the pasta stew our guide has prepared. We eat until we get our fill of a great marinera chicken pasta. Then the tiredness from the days activities engulfs us, so we head to the tents for an uncomfortable night of sleep. There are 3 of us in a 2-person tent, that has been placed on a slight pitch over a boulder, not the best night of sleep but I´ve had worse.
We wake up just before dawn to a slight drizzle, Tobes jumps to his feet, scrambles to cover his backpack and our tent with a rainfly and jumps back in just before it starts to downpour. The humidity already makes our sleeping situation moist and having to cover our tent with a rainfly only makes matters worse. We wait out the rain and I look over at our French friends tent and laugh. There tent has collapsed on top of them, they have no rainfly, yet are still fast asleep like nothing happened. I go for a nature walk in search of a nice place for a morning poo. The rain starts up again and interupts my relief, I come back soaked and in a slightly irritated mode.
I stand under a tree for cover, not having any true raingear. Our guide is already at it in the kitchen. He whips out a fresh fruit salad and a big pot of coffee. I drink enough coffee to kick start my morning right as the sun comes out. I put my clothes out to dry, grab my ipod and go for a stretch and exercise session before we hit the trail for home.
We make our way back down the trail, going a different route to check out another waterfall. There are rain showers off and on, which makes our group anxious to get back to town for a hot shower. We stop and stash our bags and head down a steep muddy trail to another breath-taking waterfall. We snap some photos, go for a swim and then head back for our packs. We chat off and on as we traverse down the granite, making our way back to the trailhead and the truck which is awaiting our arrival.
Back to town, we pack up our gear, eat some dinner and catch a 11pm bus out town back to Salvador and the beach.
I wake up refreshed and cruise around town with my camera. Lencois is a very rootsy town, narrow cobblestone streets with small houses painted vibrant colors. The children play soccer and hide and seek in the streets as their parents find protection from the heat of the sun on the stoop of their houses. Lencois is a trekking town, with lots of fit locals waiting to take the next batch of fresh gringos into the outback. I eat lunch at a kilogram spot (fill your plate and pay by the kilo) and head out to the many eco tour spots in search of our next adventure.
Toby finds a well managed spot called Zen tours and we book a highlight trip of some of the top spots in the area for the next day. They offer us a ride to a trail head with promises of a rockslide at the end of the trail. We hike through a jungle trail for a couple miles, passing local snack shacks selling beverages while passing the time playing dominoes. We arrive to the sound of people screaming with joy as they slide down a surprisingly long rockslide into the water. The water is a spooky brown color and it is explained to us as organic matter mixed with the water. We stay until around dusk and head back through the backstreets. The locals stare at the unusual looking tourists as we make our way back home.
Early to rise and excited to see the sights. We load in a van where we drive for 30 minutes to a turnout and our told by our guide that we may get wet. Not sure what to expect, we hike to a amazing waterfall with a place to do a 30 foot cliff jump, zipline into the water or repel off a cliff. Toby and I hit the zipline, belly first into the water below, so fun! The guide gathers his things and tells us its time to move on. We arrive at a cave, where we venture in to see some amazing stalagmites. We shoot some trippy photos, explore the cave and then grab some lunch. Next, we drive down a rocky dirt road to another cave, where we rent snorkel gear and snorkel into the cave. We turn off the lights and enjoy the darkness, my first time being in a underground water cave, it would have been exciting to discover it. Our guide takes us to a breath taking vista to enjoy the sunset before we call it a day.
The highlight tour was fun, but we decide we need more adventure with less people so we book an overnight backtrip to some less explored waterfalls. As we pay for the trip for the following morning, I notice lightening striking in the distance, hope it doesn´t rain.
Bright and early we eat a typical Braziliian breakfast: coffee, plain bread, pastry, banana and papaya. I empty out my travel backpack to use for our overnight excursion. We head to Zen Eco tours where our Brazilian guide and two other French guys are waiting. We load up in a truck and the Isreali owner gives us a ride into the outback and the trailhead of our excursion under a mango tree that is dropping fresh fruit. It´s very hot, even in the shade of the mango tree. I load up a couple mangos, do a little stretching and we are off into the heat of the day. We cross a couple streams, following our guide who burns a cigerette endlessly. We stop to rest at the base of a granite slab. The guide says we are climbing for awhile, throws on his backpack and leads the way.
It feels great to be backpacking in another country. Everything is different, yet the Brazilian outback reminds me of home. After we summit the granite, it begins to downpour on us. We all pull over waterproof covers over our bags and keep on trekking. It is strange to be in the middle of a rainstorm and not be cold. We hike for a couple more hours and arrive at the river where we will make camp for the night.
The river is a eerie brown color, which the guide insists is good for drinking. I am skeptical to say the least, but am almost out of water and do not have a water filter. I watch as the guide leans down and fills his water jug with brown water and takes a drink. When in Rome, we all fill our empty water bottles and have a drink of the brown river.
The guide sets up lunch in the shade and pulls off some killer tuna sandwiches with lots of veggies. We eat and stash our bags and follow the guide boulder hoping up the river. The guide is older, 49, but boulder hops faster and more confidently than any of us. We get to a point where there are sheer rock cliffs on either side of the river, where the guide tells us that we are probably going to have to swim. We put all our camera gear, which is a lot, into a dry bag and attempt to follow the guide as he scales one side of the cliff above the water. Free climbing was not in the itinerary for the trip. The rock climbing becomes challenging, especially for Aaron who is carrying along all the expensive camera gear. Nobody wants to get in the brown murky and bubbly water below, so we cling to the rock as if our lives depended on it. Aaron gets to the hardest part of the climb, slips and somehow manages to place the camera gear on a ledge before he crashes into the water below. I eventually reach for a handhold and slip into the water with Aaron.
Soon, all 5 of us fall into the water, only the guide, cigerette in mouth, makes the climbs successfully without getting a drop of water on him. We scramble up a small waterfall to arrive at a jawdropping 150 foot waterfall. The water comes down mainly in one area, but also cascades down so water falls 180 degrees around us. We snap photos and swim to where we can stand under the falls, screaming at the top of our lungs with joy.
The guide finishes another cigerette, which he seems to have an endless supply of, and gestures to us that it is time to go. We scramble back over the boulders, all fall back into the water at the harder climbing section, and eventually make our way back to camp with an hour of daylight to spare. We set up our rented tents, throw some extra clothes on for the mosquitoes and play dominoes and rummy as the guide prepares dinner. Anytime someone tries to help with dinner, the guide looks in disguest as he yells for the person to get out of his kitchen. We tell him we are going to get him a cooking apron that reads "Get the fuck out my kitchen".
Everyone´s mouths are salvating at the pasta stew our guide has prepared. We eat until we get our fill of a great marinera chicken pasta. Then the tiredness from the days activities engulfs us, so we head to the tents for an uncomfortable night of sleep. There are 3 of us in a 2-person tent, that has been placed on a slight pitch over a boulder, not the best night of sleep but I´ve had worse.
We wake up just before dawn to a slight drizzle, Tobes jumps to his feet, scrambles to cover his backpack and our tent with a rainfly and jumps back in just before it starts to downpour. The humidity already makes our sleeping situation moist and having to cover our tent with a rainfly only makes matters worse. We wait out the rain and I look over at our French friends tent and laugh. There tent has collapsed on top of them, they have no rainfly, yet are still fast asleep like nothing happened. I go for a nature walk in search of a nice place for a morning poo. The rain starts up again and interupts my relief, I come back soaked and in a slightly irritated mode.
I stand under a tree for cover, not having any true raingear. Our guide is already at it in the kitchen. He whips out a fresh fruit salad and a big pot of coffee. I drink enough coffee to kick start my morning right as the sun comes out. I put my clothes out to dry, grab my ipod and go for a stretch and exercise session before we hit the trail for home.
We make our way back down the trail, going a different route to check out another waterfall. There are rain showers off and on, which makes our group anxious to get back to town for a hot shower. We stop and stash our bags and head down a steep muddy trail to another breath-taking waterfall. We snap some photos, go for a swim and then head back for our packs. We chat off and on as we traverse down the granite, making our way back to the trailhead and the truck which is awaiting our arrival.
Back to town, we pack up our gear, eat some dinner and catch a 11pm bus out town back to Salvador and the beach.
Wednesday, 5 January 2011
Floripa
Florianopolis is an Island off the Central coast of Brasil. It is where all the Brazilians go for vacation. Toby, Aaron and I rolled in a week before Christmas into a goast town which was fine because we needed a break from the hustle and bustle of Rio. We were told on arrival that after Christmas, people arrive from all over the Country . . . no joke. Pretty soon the trafic started going to and from the beach, it was faster to walk than drive. The Island has 2 main beaches that are filled with people whenever it´s sunny. On Praia Mole, there are restuarants that line the beach that throw parties every afternoon. One day, Jeremy treated us to a couple bottles of Champagne, which we shared with the locals as we danced to electro house, awesome!
The Island has a lagoon in the middle of it, where people practice windsurfing and kiteboarding . . . great for learning because you can stand up 200 yards out. Floripa is spread out and the bus is unreliable, so we decided to rent a car. We struck out at the rental places and started to hitch hike home. Our ride was a Brazilian named Fabio that had been to Santa Cruz and stayed with Flea and Barney. I asked him if he wanted to rent us his car jokingly and he agreed on the spot. We paid half the money we would have through a rental agency and he gave us a ride to the airport when we left. So we mobbed around a truck, sitting in the back as we cruised to the beach, what a life.
On Christmas Eve Day we went for a river rafting trip. It was a crazy experience flying through rapids on a river in Brasil. There was one class 5 rapid that we ran. Before we attempted it, we pulled off the river to have lunch and visit a waterfall. We were with one other group, they went first and we watched their approach. The rapid is a double waterfall and it looked pretty intense. The guide sent it off the waterfall and looked like he picked the right line, but the raft flipped and trapped a guy for a good ten seconds and slingshoted the guide over the front of the boat. I got pretty scared at that point, with a bad knee I wasn´t trying to go for a swim. I held my breath as we rolled over the falls. We slammed into the water covering us all and rolled out the second part no problem, we have the other boats attempt and ours on film on Toby´s waterproof camera. Aaron and Toby are in process of cutting a short film of the excursion.
On the North end of the Island there are a bunch of upscale clubs at a beach called Jurere. Everyone on the Island kept telling us about a day pool party at a spot called P12. We rolled up to the party with another hostel in a caravan of party buses. Within the first 5 minutes of being there, Aaron dove into what he thought was the deep end and cut his head on the bottom of the pool. 8 sticthes and 3 hours later he was back at the pool party rocking it with us on the dancefloor. Pretty classic day with a pack of 6 Californians trying to fit in at a ritsy pool party not speaking the native language.
I´ve been missing DJing and getting down to some electro house. Luckily there is a club called Pacha that satisfied my needs from 11pm untill sunrise. I blew the Brazilians minds with my green spread lazer. I made friends shinning the lazer on the dancefloor to the beat of the music, so much fun. The lazer was such a big hit that one of the bouncers tried to confiscate it for his own personal use.
New Years was spent on the beach at Jurere along with thousands of others. Everyone was shocked that 3 Californians were on the beach in Brasil celebrating New Years. The color of the clothes you were signify what you want in the upcoming year. Most people wear white which signifies peace. Red is love. Yellow is money. Aaron, Toby and I all wore white and were shocked at the amount of people on the beach all with their own private parties roped off around shade canopies. One group brought us in and shared some smoke and drink and had us join in on a tradition of jumping 7 waves and eating 12 grapes, making a wish after each one. There were fireworks and everyone was out to have a good time. I suggest learning Portuguese, saving some (a lot) of money and rolling to Jurere for New Years. If you are on a budget like me, you get to see the megaclubs throw down from the perimeter. It costs 1000 Real or $700 to go to one of the clubs on New Years, unbelievable. Even though I didn´t get to go to one of the major New Years parties, people were out having a great time the week leading up to New Years and I had a blast playing the California card to get in good with the locals.
The Island has a lagoon in the middle of it, where people practice windsurfing and kiteboarding . . . great for learning because you can stand up 200 yards out. Floripa is spread out and the bus is unreliable, so we decided to rent a car. We struck out at the rental places and started to hitch hike home. Our ride was a Brazilian named Fabio that had been to Santa Cruz and stayed with Flea and Barney. I asked him if he wanted to rent us his car jokingly and he agreed on the spot. We paid half the money we would have through a rental agency and he gave us a ride to the airport when we left. So we mobbed around a truck, sitting in the back as we cruised to the beach, what a life.
On Christmas Eve Day we went for a river rafting trip. It was a crazy experience flying through rapids on a river in Brasil. There was one class 5 rapid that we ran. Before we attempted it, we pulled off the river to have lunch and visit a waterfall. We were with one other group, they went first and we watched their approach. The rapid is a double waterfall and it looked pretty intense. The guide sent it off the waterfall and looked like he picked the right line, but the raft flipped and trapped a guy for a good ten seconds and slingshoted the guide over the front of the boat. I got pretty scared at that point, with a bad knee I wasn´t trying to go for a swim. I held my breath as we rolled over the falls. We slammed into the water covering us all and rolled out the second part no problem, we have the other boats attempt and ours on film on Toby´s waterproof camera. Aaron and Toby are in process of cutting a short film of the excursion.
On the North end of the Island there are a bunch of upscale clubs at a beach called Jurere. Everyone on the Island kept telling us about a day pool party at a spot called P12. We rolled up to the party with another hostel in a caravan of party buses. Within the first 5 minutes of being there, Aaron dove into what he thought was the deep end and cut his head on the bottom of the pool. 8 sticthes and 3 hours later he was back at the pool party rocking it with us on the dancefloor. Pretty classic day with a pack of 6 Californians trying to fit in at a ritsy pool party not speaking the native language.
I´ve been missing DJing and getting down to some electro house. Luckily there is a club called Pacha that satisfied my needs from 11pm untill sunrise. I blew the Brazilians minds with my green spread lazer. I made friends shinning the lazer on the dancefloor to the beat of the music, so much fun. The lazer was such a big hit that one of the bouncers tried to confiscate it for his own personal use.
New Years was spent on the beach at Jurere along with thousands of others. Everyone was shocked that 3 Californians were on the beach in Brasil celebrating New Years. The color of the clothes you were signify what you want in the upcoming year. Most people wear white which signifies peace. Red is love. Yellow is money. Aaron, Toby and I all wore white and were shocked at the amount of people on the beach all with their own private parties roped off around shade canopies. One group brought us in and shared some smoke and drink and had us join in on a tradition of jumping 7 waves and eating 12 grapes, making a wish after each one. There were fireworks and everyone was out to have a good time. I suggest learning Portuguese, saving some (a lot) of money and rolling to Jurere for New Years. If you are on a budget like me, you get to see the megaclubs throw down from the perimeter. It costs 1000 Real or $700 to go to one of the clubs on New Years, unbelievable. Even though I didn´t get to go to one of the major New Years parties, people were out having a great time the week leading up to New Years and I had a blast playing the California card to get in good with the locals.
Sunday, 2 January 2011
The Essentials
Constantly changing where I lay my head makes excess a burden. Anyone who feels they need to eliminate things from their life should travel . . . it teaches me what really is of value and what just ends up taking up to much space. From bus to taxi, walking to tiny hostels, I am forced to bring fewer and fewer things along the way.
I divised a list of things I have with me for future reference and to give you an idea of my daily life:
-EagleCreek Travel Backpack with detachable daypack. It zips all the way open like a suitcase and has 2 compartments. The main one for all my clothes and random things, the smaller one for dirty clothes.
-6 pair of boardshorts. I´m sending back 2 pair with Toby, but it is the main thing I wear so variety is nice.
-5 pair socks. I don´t wear shoes often, but it´s nice to have a clean pair when I do because laundry service is hard to find.
-6 pair breifs. Use mostly when traveling from place to place, more comfortable than boardies on the bus or plane.
-1 pair of shoes. I brought a pair that I took camping only to find that they smelled horrible. I desposed of those and bought a new pair of loafer style in Rio. Anyone who knows me, knows I love shoes, so having only one pair is hard to do.
-Stickers. To pass out to friends and kids along the way
-Notebook for recording contact information and places I want to remember the name of
-Books. I brought 8 books to start which made my pack very heavy, but this also makes me inspired to read more so I can pass them on as I finish. Aaron (a friend I am traveling with who is into his digital items commented that I pack light, with only clothes and a library).
-1 pair of black slimfit jeans. Good for going out or if the weather is cold at night, which is rare
-3 pair of sunglasses. I figure I will lose, break or have at least one pair stolen at some point in the trip.
-iPod with 2 pair of headphones. By far the most valueble thing I have on my trip. I´m gone for 7 months and it has all my important music and mixes I´ve created on it. To lose it would be tragic because I can´t buy a new one and load up my music because that is back in the States. Bus travel would be impossible without it.
-Canon Rebel Digital Camera with Pelicon case. Too bulky and flashy. Gonna send this back with Toby and replace with a smaller waterproof camera.
-3 pair of shorts
-5 T-shirts. Wish I had more for variety. They cost too much in Brasil, so hopefully I can find cheaper one´s in other countries.
-1 dress shirt. I haven´t used it yet
-Games. Dominos, cards, and dice are great way to pass rainy days or interact with new or old friends.
-Contacts. I might do laser surgery when I get back because contacts are such a burden to bring and wear while traveling.
-Toiletries. Soap, razor, shaving cream, deodorant, nail clippers, scissors, small mirror, lotion, sunscreen (need more), travel toothbrush, toothpaste, sonic care tooth brush, floss, tweezers, bengay (savior for pain in my knee), and hand sanitizer.
-Knee brace. Bulky expensive item, dam you knee.
-Flip Video camera. Haven´t used it much yet, but it will come in handy at some point.
-Hat. Gave it away, wish I haden´t because it was great for protection from the sun.
-Volleyball. This is kind of a tease because I can only pepper at this point, cannot wait to be able to play again.
-2 small sweaters. Crucial for AC bus rides and airplanes.
That´s all I can think of for now, less is more
I divised a list of things I have with me for future reference and to give you an idea of my daily life:
-EagleCreek Travel Backpack with detachable daypack. It zips all the way open like a suitcase and has 2 compartments. The main one for all my clothes and random things, the smaller one for dirty clothes.
-6 pair of boardshorts. I´m sending back 2 pair with Toby, but it is the main thing I wear so variety is nice.
-5 pair socks. I don´t wear shoes often, but it´s nice to have a clean pair when I do because laundry service is hard to find.
-6 pair breifs. Use mostly when traveling from place to place, more comfortable than boardies on the bus or plane.
-1 pair of shoes. I brought a pair that I took camping only to find that they smelled horrible. I desposed of those and bought a new pair of loafer style in Rio. Anyone who knows me, knows I love shoes, so having only one pair is hard to do.
-Stickers. To pass out to friends and kids along the way
-Notebook for recording contact information and places I want to remember the name of
-Books. I brought 8 books to start which made my pack very heavy, but this also makes me inspired to read more so I can pass them on as I finish. Aaron (a friend I am traveling with who is into his digital items commented that I pack light, with only clothes and a library).
-1 pair of black slimfit jeans. Good for going out or if the weather is cold at night, which is rare
-3 pair of sunglasses. I figure I will lose, break or have at least one pair stolen at some point in the trip.
-iPod with 2 pair of headphones. By far the most valueble thing I have on my trip. I´m gone for 7 months and it has all my important music and mixes I´ve created on it. To lose it would be tragic because I can´t buy a new one and load up my music because that is back in the States. Bus travel would be impossible without it.
-Canon Rebel Digital Camera with Pelicon case. Too bulky and flashy. Gonna send this back with Toby and replace with a smaller waterproof camera.
-3 pair of shorts
-5 T-shirts. Wish I had more for variety. They cost too much in Brasil, so hopefully I can find cheaper one´s in other countries.
-1 dress shirt. I haven´t used it yet
-Games. Dominos, cards, and dice are great way to pass rainy days or interact with new or old friends.
-Contacts. I might do laser surgery when I get back because contacts are such a burden to bring and wear while traveling.
-Toiletries. Soap, razor, shaving cream, deodorant, nail clippers, scissors, small mirror, lotion, sunscreen (need more), travel toothbrush, toothpaste, sonic care tooth brush, floss, tweezers, bengay (savior for pain in my knee), and hand sanitizer.
-Knee brace. Bulky expensive item, dam you knee.
-Flip Video camera. Haven´t used it much yet, but it will come in handy at some point.
-Hat. Gave it away, wish I haden´t because it was great for protection from the sun.
-Volleyball. This is kind of a tease because I can only pepper at this point, cannot wait to be able to play again.
-2 small sweaters. Crucial for AC bus rides and airplanes.
That´s all I can think of for now, less is more
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