Liz and Cristiano

We were very excited about going to Bahia. I heard such amazing things about the beaches, music, culture, historic buildings etc. We arrived first in Salvador and were a little shell shocked at the size of the city and the poverty since we had been in small fishing villages for most of our traveling. We decided to check out Pelourinho which is the historic district that the city has tried really hard to clean up and restore. The buildings were beautiful but the poverty and begging was overwhelming especially if you are a blonde. We were harrassed constantly which definitely took away from our experience in Salvador. We then went North to the beaches of Imbassai and Praia de Forte. They were nice but not as beautiful as we had seen in the Northeast. We ... read more

Fernando De Noronha is beautiful no doubt but a few words of advice before going. Bring lots of money and rent a buggy. The island is not easy to walk around since it is extremely hot and very hilly. We learned after the first two days though that if we looked particularly desparate or Cristiano threw me out onto the highway we usually could pick up a ride to our next destination. Our first day we were able to break all sorts of island rules without even knowing it(or wanting to know it). The island is monitored by an environmental agency that tried to limit you from any interaction with nature without them overseeing you. We aren't the type to hire guides for anything unless absolutely necessary so we set off on our daily hike ... read more

We embarked on a month long journey around Brazil-Amazon, Northeast, Fernando De Noronha and Bahia. Our first stop was the Amazon. We arrived at our lodge(Amazonat) to the quick understanding that Cristiano was one of the only Brazilians that has been to the Amazon on vacation. I do have to admit that we weren't roughing it in the Amazon. There was an option to spend a night in a hammock in the middle of the jungle but we both opted to continue to sleep in our comfy cabin. This was the only part of the trip that we had planned activities. We spent two days on two different rivers(Urubu and the Amazon), one night hike looking for tarantulas and one all day hike. We had an amazing guide who was extremely knowledgeable about the area. ... read more

A view into our tough life in Rio. We are off to the Sambadromo tonight for the Carnaval festivities. We will blog on soon!! Liz and Cristiano... read more

4 days of hiking and several blisters later we traversed a good portion of ilha grande. The island is 60 sq miles. It is one of the remaining places you can see mata atlantica which is the true vegetation of the atlantic coast. We loved it here. The combination of rainforest with beautiful beaches and crystal clear water was amazing. The island was laid out with hiking paths that take you between all the different beaches, waterfalls, sights. There is nothing like hiking for several hours and being very hot and hungry to stumble upon a deserted beach and then have Dona Tereza cook you lunch at her house. The island has a small town that is full of restaurants, shops and live music being played at night in an open square. There are visitors from ... read more