Today, contrasting with yesterday's rather depressing note, here are pictures I took at the Orchid Centre right near Lençóis. [View Full Entry]

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It's the third day since a fire was set off in the forest across the Riberão River - almost certainly intentionally. According to Roy Funch's excellent guidebook to the Chapada Diamantina, there are many reasons why this occurs. Often, they are due to cattle farmers who want to extend pastures for their animals, or simply as a gratuitous act of vindication against the National Park which expelled them from the area to protect the local fauna and flora. Less frequent as they used to be, but still of occurrance, diamond prospectors burn out areas to make it easier to identify the [View Full Entry]

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Today, I have mustered the energy to write just a few residual thoughts from my overall trip: I have now been in Brasil for over 2 months! Parabens (congratulations in Brazilian) to myself! As for this blog, through which I intended to convey my thoughts and impressions on top of news of my whereabouts, I'm fairly happy with it. It is difficult to make very regular updates, and laziness often takes the upper hand when I internally debate about a potential new article. Despite that, I've managed to keep it fairly regularly updated. Perhaps a few regrets about the lack of [View Full Entry]

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Today you will get a treat of Lençóis history, along with photos of the little walk I just did up to the cachoeirinha and the cachoeira da primaveira, for which I didn't need a guide as it was only about an hour away. I managed to take a few (too many you may think) pictures of lizards and dragonflies on the way. Lençóis was founded in the mid-19th Century by diamond prospectors, when precious stones began to be found in the area. The city grew quickly due to the diamond rush, which also gave the name to the area of the [View Full Entry]

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Here are photos of a few more sights around Lençóis. Otherwise, I thought I talk a little bit about the Portuguese language today. For whoever knows a decent amount of Spanish, Portuguese is pretty easy to pick up at a basic level. In fact, simply speaking Spanish with a Brazilian pronunciation will probably get you quite far. Naturally, speaking properly requires quite a lot more work. I'll try to explain some of the main rules of Brazilian Portuguese language and pronunciation, as well as a few interesting aspects: In terms of pronunciation, there are a few letters that, depending o [View Full Entry]

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Now that I have got a translation gig in Lençóis (lovely little town in the centre of Bahia) and free accomodation, I can explore the surrounding Chapada Diamantina National Park. The pictures here are of a place called Pratinha, about 70km from town, deep in the park (but I got a lift off a couple of Brazilian tourists). It has lovely (but cool) clear waters within which you can snorkel with the many fish that live there, and has a network of caves that you can visit with a snorkel, a bit of light (it's 100% in there otherwise) and a [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday, I arrived at the pousada in Lençóis. As I walked around the garden, this is what I saw... PS: my camera is really not ideal for these kinds of pictures, but I did my best. PS2: The first computer I used to upload my photos was too long, and then the website crashed, so I feel really stupid writing this for the third time... [View Full Entry]

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Further apologies for the lack of news, but last week was carnaval, and that is in Brazil an excuse for absolutely anything. Salvador carnaval is different from the stereotype of the Brazilian samba folly that is generally seen from outside the country. Here, there is almost no samba. Instead, they have Trios Eletricos. The concept started in the 1940s' when two musicians, Dodó and Osmar, got the idea of putting a couple of loudspeakers on an old Ford 1929 car, and playing into them. The idea became an instant success, and the trios grew larger and louder until today, when the [View Full Entry]

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It's been a few days since I've written anything personal, so, if you've been wanting more news about me, then you're in luck, because I got robbed again! Nothing bad though. I was walking back home in my street when a couple of probably 15 to 16 year olds pegged me to a wall, told me to give them money, and without politely waiting for an answer, went straight to my pocket. Luckily, they only stole my cheap Brasilian mobile phone and the equivalent of 2 or 3 euros. Petty thieves. Didn't even show a gun or a knife (which I [View Full Entry]

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Today I wanted to talk about a film I saw a few weeks ago - Tropa de Elite. Synopsis: In a Rio de Janeiro riddled with violence, the corrupt conventional police appears incapable of fighting drug cartels and gangs in the favela. This is where enters the BOPE - Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais (Batalion of Special Police Operations). Captain Nascimento of the BOPE wants to retire, but in order to do so he needs to find a suitable replacement. Amongst the contenders to enter this extremely selective force are Neto and André, two old friends who could not stand the [View Full Entry]

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