davinbrazil

As previously mentioned, I am now in São Luis, State of Maranhão. The city, founded by the French in the early 17th Century in honour of medieval king Saint Louis, was taken over a few years later by the Portuguese. It now has a run-down colonial look which is quite pleasant, when combined with the laid-back atmosphere of the historical center which can be admired with a reggae background (São Luis is now the Brazilian capital of reggae music). A couple of days ago, I went to a beach north of São Luis with Nana, an Argentinian primary school teacher I met in my hostel. It wasn't an exceptional beach, but was deserted and thus very pleasant. We also met a group of three Brazilian kids who were extremely friendly. As tourists, you're often used to ... read more

I have now moved on! Time was ticking on, and I felt like I wanted to know more more of Brazil before I returned to Europe. I left Lençóis with regret, however, and will keep a wonderful memory of it and its people in my mind. I took a 7 hour bus ride to Salvador, and left almost straight away for Natal, much further up North, on a 21 hour bus ride, and from there another 3 hours to Praia da Pipa. I will talk about it in my next entry. This one, as the photos testify, is dedicated to my last Chapada tour to the Cahoeira da Fumaça. I really wanted to visit the Fumaça, the most famous waterfall in the Chapada Diamantina. Until recently, it was advertised as the highest in Brazil, but I ... read more

The day before yesterday, that is straight after our return from the failed attempt to reach the Michilla waterfall, the same group and guides went off to explore the Lapão cave. By then I had got to know much better the other members of the group, who were truly interesting and entertaining caracters: Filipe, from Portugal, had grown up in Namibia and had also studied in Germany; Ines, his Slovenian girlfriend; and Camila, their Norwegian travelling companion. They were all working in an orphanage in a small town near Rio de Janeiro, facing much tougher working conditions than I have over the last few months. Before reaching the Lapão, our guide opened up a trail with his machete to an area I had never heard of, and as far as I know, few locals have knowledge ... read more

I'm back! Unfortunately, the walk only lasted 3 days, as a couple in the group had to return early to São Paulo early. Pity, but it was worthwhile nonetheless. It was quite testing, actually. Long walking days, including large parts walking on very steep slopes of mud or wet clay, offering numerous opportunities for falling on your backside which I took full advantage of. We also had to cross river rapids with slippery stones, which was not too easy. Undoubtedly the most annoying rainforest feature though was the 'capim navalha' (I think I'm writing it correctly), a plant with long, sharp leaves which cuts your arms and legs as your walk around the forest. Luckily, it didn't rain too much, but the combination of tropical rain during the night and ligth drizzle during the day meant ... read more

I should really feel ashamed of my current blogging performance. My latest entry was on the 31st March, and was really uninformative. I will do my best to make up for it. I am still truly enjoying Lençóis. Its small size allows one to meet many of its inhabitants in a short period of time and to soon call it home, whilst its cosmopolitanism (a large part of the population came from other parts of Brazil or from ‘o exterior’) makes you feel connected to outside, makes you feel no different from many of the locals. My work at the pousada has evolved progressively. Initially, it merely involved translating standardized email responses, trekking information and website information into French and English. Next, I demonstrated some of my excel skills in the hope that it would extend ... read more

It's been a long break since my last post. Not that I have been doing strictly nothing, but prehaps nothing worthy of a full-scale article. And you wait, you wait, for something important to happen, but only mondane events have punctuated the last few weeks. This article will not have an overarching theme, but will rather be a little collection of some of the - as I have said - rather banal things that have occurred. Firstly, the obvious: I'm still in Lençóis. I thought my work at the pousada would have been finished by now, but they seem to be able to find extra bits and pieces for me to do, and do not seem in a hurry to chuck me out. That obviously makes me very happy. Of course, this means less time to ... read more