Brazil

Now we really are comming to the end of this trip, indeed the South American Adventure is officially over as I write this from Toronto, Canada, where I am staying with my friends Katherine and Ryan, and their son Owen. In this blog entry I pretty much will cover all my time in Brazil. The just over 3 weeks I had was nowhere near enough to cover what is the biggest country in South America but it gave me at least a taster, even if the amount of travelling I had to do was draining and not really what I needed at this stage of my trip. The last entry in this blog will cover Canada and will be written when I get back to Belfast. Probably when im still suffering from PTD (Post Travelling Depression).

Travelling down the Amazon - Manaus to Belem.


Manaus is a city right in the middle of the Amazon. If you want to reach the North East Coast you have two options. One is to fly, and the other is to take the ferry. Driving is impossible as there are no roads running through the Amazon. Accordingly the river is the main lifeline for the whole region, and taking the ferry gives you a unique insight on what life is therefore like for people who live in the Amazon. Now the ferry takes 4 nights/ 3 days so isn't exactly fast. It also isnt exactly modern or particularly comfortable. You have to bring your own hammock and string it up, and theres no onboard restaurants, TV rooms, game rooms, or bar. What there is is a basic shop, and the option of purchasing 2 meals a day. For breakfast you could purchase beef stew, with rice, beans, and spagetti and for dinner you could have the same or a beef soup. When I considered this I certainly had my doubts about taking the boat. But the whole point of this trip was to experience the different and the unusual so with some reservations I bought my boat ticket for the top deck, a first class ticket if you will, for 180 reals (about 60 pounds) the day before and strung my hammock up in what I was told was a prime spot (at the back is the toilets, and down below is the engine, so the best spot is forward on the top deck).

Now my big fear was boredom as my Portuguese is non-existent I was concerned I wouldnt have a chance to talk to someone for my whole period on the boat, which as anyone who knows me can confirm is my idea of hell. Fortunately, I met a Welsh couple in the hostel who were also going down to Belem, so was able to travel with them, and enjoy their company.

When I had put up my hammock the day before there had been few other hammocks on the deck. When we boarded the boat on the day of sailing I was taken aback by the scene of chaos that greated me. There were hammocks, bags, and people literally everywhere. In a 2 metre section there must have been easily 6 to 8 hammocks. I guess cosy is one word to describe it. My pictures will do more justice then my description. In the end it wasnt as bad as it sounds. People were very respectful of each other, keeping noise to a minimum at night, there was no snoring, and everyone showered each day so the smell wasnt too bad either. Now hammocks arent necessarily that comfortable but the trick is to lie diagonally across them, that way your back is straight, and so with that knowledge and Colombian sleeping tablets I slept well every night.

3 whole days of doing nothing could have been very boring but the the thrill of being on the most famous river in the world, the natural beauty of the region, a number of good books, a couple of bottles of rum, good company, and the opportunity of sitting out in the sun and working on the tan meant that the I felt the experience was one of the highlights of my trip. I am a sucker for sunsets and the sunsets on the Amazon were very special. The boat was pretty much heading due East so every night I could grab a beer and sit on the back of the boat and watch as the sun slowly set. The remoteness of the region also meant there was little in the way of light pollution so you got a beautiful view of the night sky and could even watch the moon rise.

We stopped along the way at settlements by the river where we dropped off people and cargo. We also encountered indigenous people to the Amazon region. They would canoe out to the boat in the hope that people would throw packages out to them. It was later I found out that people were throwing clothes to them. The native people can find food in the forest and the river, but theres not much in the way of clothing outlets accordingly they rely on boat passengers charity for new clothes. While it may appear exotic to live on the Amazon the reality that most people subsist and are poor.

Our neighbours on the boat were a group of teenage missionaries from the states. They were very pleasant but I have to recount this funny story that occurred on the last night. One of the American guys was sleep walking. He tried to get into my Welsh friends hammock, but was chased away. He then went to the hammock where an oldish man was sleeping behind him, tipped the old man out, got into the hammock and continued sleeping. The old mans neighhbours found this hysterical, as did we. The group leader had to coax the guy out of the hammock and back to his own bed so the old man could go back to sleep!

Early on the 4th morning we arrived in Belem, the city closest to the mouth of the Amazon where it meets the Atlantic. While I enjoyed the trip, by the 4th morning I was sick of the food and looking forward to treating myself to a McDonalds. Belem, like Manaus is a big port city, accordingly it was noisey, dirty, smelly, hot, and busy. A massive culture shock after lazy river life. It had an old fort, and some crumbling colonial buildings, but nothing to keep me longer then the day I had to wait to get my bus further south.

Jericoacoara

The trip by bus, minibus, and 4x4 from Belem to Jerrcoacoara was the worst journey of my trip. I had expected the busses in Brazil to be comparable to the developed South American countries like Argentina and Chile. But the North of Brazil is one of the poorest regions in the country and this was reflected in the standard of the bus and the poor state of the roads. The bus stoppped frequently for no reason, and the road was potholed and poorly maintained. Accordingly the 22 hours spent on it were nightmareish. We got the bus to Sobral, from there got a packed boiling hot minibus to Jijoca, and from there got a 4x4 to Jericoacoara. All together it took 30 hours. Fortunately Jericoacoara was worth the effort.

In the bible there is a story about how houses can't be built on sand because the foundations will be washed away. Well Jericoacoara proves the writer wrong. It is a small town built exclusively on sand and surrounded by sand dunes. As the roads are all sand only 4x4's and sandbuggys can drive you there. Indeed there are no ATM's as the armoured van cant complete the trip. It is a big Brazillian holiday destination, to enjoy the beach, and also for kiteboarding and windsurfing. While the beach isnt the most beautiful beach in Brazil its a good spot for sunbathing, and recovering after a nightout in one of the lively bars.

Travelling through South America I have used pretty much every method of transport, but one that I had neglected was the sandbuggy. This was rectified in Jericoacoara where I went on a sandbuggy trip out to a couple of lakes in the sand dunes. These lakes were like oasis' in the desert and again were beautiful spots to swim, sunbathe, and enjoy a nice chilled coconut.

Finally, I must mention the hostel I stayed in, in Jericocoara, Pousada Senzala. It was a lovely chilled hostel with a owner who not only owned one of the most popular bars in town but was a trained chef who loved cooking. If you were sat about he would quickly rope you in to helping him cook some traditional North of Brazil dish and next thing you would know you were sat round with about 10 other guests eating lunch or dinner. Definitely one of the best hostels I stayed in on my trip.

Fortaleza/Olinda

As Jericoacoara was in the middle of nowhere arranging onward travel was difficult. As I only had a limited amount of time left in Brazil I wanted to travel all the way from there to Salvador. This would involve another 30 hour trip over 2 busses but would mean only one night on the bus. The nearest big city to Jericoacoara was Fortaleza. I got the bus to there and hoped to get a bus onto Salvador. Unfortunately that bus was full and there wasnt another bus for 2 days. I therefore got one overnight bus to Recife, and then the following night an other overnight bus to Salvador. The first time I had done consecutive nights on a bus in the whole trip. What this did allow me to do was to spend the consecutive afternoons in Fortaleza and then in a town called Olinda.

Fortaleza is another Brazillian holiday destination and comparable to resort cities in Spain. It is a city with a beach and I was told by a Dutch guy I met really good for Salsa clubs. I only had a few hours and so visited the beach. While the city centre is far from appealing I was pretty impressed with, the beach and I also enjoyed fresh shrimp and a coconut. However after dark, which in Brazil is 6pm it becomes a bit dodgy. I couldnt find the bus stop to go back the bus station and certainly felt on edge. Later in Rio I spoke to two Danish girls who had got robbed in Fortaleza.

At Forteleza bus station I ended up chatting to the left luggage man, or more accurately he ended up talking to me. He was asking me where I was from, and when he discovered Ireland, he was keen to know whether I was from the North or South. When I confirmed the North, he wanted confirmed that the North was Protestant. My Portuguese is not good enough to explain the intricacies of the religious situation in Northern Ireland so I ensured him it was. This news was enthusiastically greated and he confirmed he was Protestant too. At this point I lost the thread of his conversation but it appeared we were both brothers in arms. After a while I finally was able to leave a little confused, and pondering whether an Irish Catholic would have had their bags returned to them.

I arrived in Recife the following morning and got myself a bus ticket to Salvador for that evening. As Recife is not a particularly attractive city I caught the metro and bus to Olinda, described in the Lying Planet as "a vibrant city with bohemian quarters, art galleries, music in the streets and a celebration always in the works". While this is the Lonely Planets usual hyperbole it is a very pleasant colonial town thats easy to navigate around. I felt I had seen everything in the afternoon I spent there but there seemed to be quite a few good restaurants and nice guest houses. So while I dont think theres that much to do it felt a place where you could relax for a couple of days and compared to alot of Brazillian cities it felt pretty safe.

Throughout Brazil I found the people to be very friendly, and they would go out of there way to be helpful even if they didnt speak English. To highlight this I want to write about one such example of this I experienced in Olinda. I caught the bus from Recife to Olinda, but Olinda wasnt the last stop. I wasnt sure where to get off but as I had asked for Olinda I thought the conductor would tell me. After spending 50 minutes on the bus I was wondering how much further I had to go so asked the bus conductor. He slapped his hand to his head and muttered something in Portuguese. Fortunately the women sat behind me despite not speaking English instructed me which stop to get off so I could get a bus back to Olinda. She then instructed two teenage boys to put me on the right bus and tell the driver and conductor where I was to be let off. Goodness knows where I would have ended up if it wasnt for her.

Salvador

In its past Brazil was heavily involved in the slave trade , bringing people from Africa to work as slaves to work in the various plantations that exploited Brazils abundant natural resources. Accordingly Brazil has a sizeable black population. Salvador is seen as being Brazils black heart. It has the highest proportion of black people for any Brazillian city and is where Brazillian black culture remains strongest, in terms of the Afro-Brazillian religion of Candomble, and the martial art Capoeira. Apparently it also has the second best carnival after Rio. It is also one of the most dangerous cities in Brazil and by all accounts if you are going to get mugged or pickpocketed it will happen in Salvador. Tourists are advised not leave the Pelourinho, which is the historic centre, and not to walk about alone at night. I was pretty apprehensive about going to Salvador after these warnings but I was sensible and played it safe. In the end Salvador exceeded my expectations and I was disappointed that I didnt have more time there to experience the Afro-Culture aspects and especially that I wasnt there on a Tuesday which is the biggest night for partying in Salvador.

Salvadors centre is full of churches but I have pretty much had my fill of Colonial churches. Accordingly my highlight in Salvador was meeting my first Latin American President. It was one of those random moments that travelling throws up and ironically enough the President was of a country I havent visited and is not actually on mainland South America. Anyway I was walking through the Pelourinho when I saw a small crowd gathered, a number of film crews, and some photographers. Being naturally nosey I went and joined them wondering who was visiting. I was enlightended by 3 girls who told me that Raul Castro was visiting Salvador. Raul Castro is Fidel Castros brother and since Fidel stepped down is the President of Cuba. Along with the rest of the crowd I patiently waited and was rewarded with a press conference on the steps of the city hall, and then an impromtu walkabout to one of the churches I had studiously been avoiding. On this trip I have now seen Prince Charles, Camilla, and now Raul Casto. Not bad for 6 months work.

In Rio I would miss out on experiencing Brazillian beach culture so it was fortunate I got to experience it on one of the beaches in Salvador. It seemed to me that the beach culture is centred on wearing the smallest tightest costume, whether you are male or female and worshipping the sun. However, this isnt to suggest that its a lazy culture because beach sports dominate. Beach football is popular, as is beach volleyball, and also football volleyball. In this game you play 2 v 2 on a volleyball court with a light football. Usual volleyball rules apply but you can use any part of your anatomy except your hands. It looked great fun but unfortunately my ball control skills mean that its not for me. The other great thing about the beach is that vendors selling all sorts of goodies are walking up and down the beach. Thus when your hungry or thirsty you dont even need to move. Thus in Salvador, sat on the beach I had shrimp on a stick, grilled cheese dipped in chillie flakes, a fruit salad, an ice cream, and a coconut without moving from my spot.

My one experience of Afro-Brazillian culture in Salvador was going to a reggae club. Unsurprisingly Reggae music dominates the music scene in Salvador so when I went out with a group from the hostel there wasnt much option. Im not a massive fan of Reggae but probably would have enjoyed it more had it not been dub reggae. The bass in the club was like an assault on both my ears and my chest. While I always think it is interesting to experience another musical scene I wont be hurrying back to dub reggae anytime soon.

Rio

Rio was going to be the last place in South America I spent a significant amount of time and I was really looking forward to it. Its location and natural beauty was one of the things that attracted me to South America. The view from Sugarloaf and Christ the Redeemer was something I have long imagined and I couldnt wait to see for myself. Accordingly I had an action packed itinery for my time in Rio. I never plan to much when I travel as I always think if you do you set your expectations for places too high and the reality can only be a let down. This golden rule was something I abandoned for Rio my expectations were sky high and I was left disappointed by my time there. Thats not to say I didnt have fun, I did, and I went to everywhere I wanted to go but it just wasnt as good as I hoped or expected. Now in the large part this was due to the weather. While I knew Rio was going to be in winter, according to the guidebook the weather in July should average 25 degrees, with max 5 days of rain in the month. Now this would be for me a pleasant summer let alone winter. Unfortunately for me Rio was suffering its worst winter in decades. I experienced maximum 5 hours of sun in the 4 days I was there. Mockingly the day I left was the clearest most beautiful day. Rio is a city to be enjoyed in the sun and when its not sunny its a pretty depressing place.

I arrived in Rio in the middle of a thunder storm and got soaked going to the hostel. The next day was overcast so I went on a favela tour. Since the film City of God the awareness of what favelas are has increased greatly. Put simply vast slums in the hills that ring Rio. The homes are all built illegally on the land, and cramped together. The government provides no amenities like electricity or water and no taxes are collected. What water and electricity that are provided is by private companies and paid for by the favela. The favela is controlled by drug gangs and they provide the policing.

Now there is an argument that to go on these tours is voyerism, relatively rich people gawking at how poor people live, treating the Favela as a human zoo. This argument I accept when describing how people take the cable car over the favelas in Medellin and look down on them from above, that is voyerism. But when you go on a tour where you walk through the favela, with a guide who works in the favela, and seems to know everyone in the favela, when you buy presents and food from businesses in the favela, and when you interact with people who live there I dont consider it voyeurism. Experiencing how different people live is a good thing, it breaks down pre-conceptions and barriers. Indeed our guide was saying the problem in Rio is the local people are too scared to go on the tours and so have no understanding on how the Favelas work or what the people are like. This kind of divide and segregation is a problem, and one that is only going to increase as Brazil gets richer and the divide between rich and poor increases even further.

We visited the largest favela in South America, called Rocinha, which is home to 200,000 people. We were taken to the top of the favella on the back of a motorbike and we then walked through the narrow streets down to the bottom. On the way our guide explained about the problems in the favela, alcoholism, single parent families, high birth rate, drug addiction, education, sanitary conditions. He explained about how the drug system worked. Rochina was controlled by a gang called ADA (Amigos De Amigos). They sell cocaine and marijuana but wont allow crack cocaine to be sold in the favella. Sporadically there are police operations where the police attempt to seize drugs and weapons. The gangs are well armed and given how narrow the streets are the street fighting when this occurs must be pretty vicious, and there is no wonder innocent civilians get killed in the crossfire. Less often an other gang will attempt to take over a favella by force. The big thing that came across to me is that the vast majority of people work and try to make a living to support their family. There are an incredible amount of social problems but most of them are the same problems that exist in poor areas of North America, Europe, and the UK, its just the Brazillian government is doing nothing to try and address them, which in the long term I doubt very much is a sustainable policy.

On the Saturday night in Rio I went out to experience a Samba show at the Mangueira Samba School. This is one of the best supported Samba schools in the country, and outside festival is the best opportunity to experience Samba. I was a bit concerned that it would all be tourists but this wasnt the case it was full of Brazillian Samba enthusiasts of all ages who proved to be very nimble on their feet, indeed at one point a birthday cake was brought in for one of the members and the whole crowd got to enjoy a slice. The show was held in a big concert hall. On the stage at the back in the percussion section with all the different drums. They have a conductor who makes order out of the chaos. Towards the front there are guitar players and then singers. When we first arrived there was a couple dressed up in the Samba school colours with the flag who were like dancing versions of the pied piper leading people dancing around the floor. Later the dancefloor became a free for all with everyone showing off their moves. Later in the evening the Samba school mascot was unveiled. When I say mascot, beauty queen would be more accurate, as she was stunning. Im not sure of her role at Carnival but she is certainly pleasing for the eye. It was a good experience but my ears were ringing from the drums for the whole of the next day.

Football and Brazil are synonomous and the Maracana in Rio is one of the most famous stadiums in the world, in fact before it became an all-seater stadium it was one of if not the largest in the world. I couldnt come to Rio and not experience a football match at the Maracana. Thus on the Sunday night I went to watch Fluimenese v Cruezio. It was great to visit the Maracana, the stadium is on par with European grounds and is visually very impressive. As an all seater modern stadium it holds 80,000, thus it was very disappointing that the match I went to there was less then 15,000. Indeed im told that even on a derby day they will be lucky to fill half the stadium. Part of the problem is that there are so many matches in Brazil the season goes on nearly all year which makes it expensive for the average fan, and also with so many competitions the games lose their lustre. But also for me if you cant fill an 80,000 stadium then you should play at one that accomodates your needs, otherwise its just embarrassing. For me having experienced the atmosphere in Argentina, Chile, and Colombia I found the atmosphere incredibly disappointing. Brazil may have the best national team in the world, but they dont even for me have the best fans in South America. The one thing I found novel, was that as you pay in for either the top deck or lower deck and then have complete freedom of movement, the Fluminese hardcore fans moved at halftime so that they would be behind the goal Fluminese were shooting into for the second half. The game itself was pretty entertaining for a 1-1 draw, though like every game I have watched in South America, it was slower and more individualistic then in England.

Probably the highlight for me in Rio was visiting the neighbourhood of Santa Teresa. This is a bohemian district up in the hills looking down on the centre of Rio. To get there you catch a tram, which you can cling onto the side as it takes you over a Roman style viaduct above the traffic and up the hill. It was a nice neighbourhood in which to wonder about in and in which to admire the mansions in which the rich live. It was also the only time the weather favoured me, which made a big difference.

In all honesty the afternoon I visited San Teresa I should have visited Christ the Redeemer or Sugarloaf. I visited Sugarloaf later in the day. Sugarloaf is the distinctive rocky mountain which you take a cable car up and enjoy the views. You first get a cable car up to Morro da Urca, from here the clouds were clear so I enjoyed pretty impressive views down onto the centre of Rio. From Morro da Urca you take a second cable car up to Sugarloaf. Here my luck ran out, a cloud simply descended on the peak and refused to move, giving me zero visibility. If that was disappointing my trip up Christ the Redeemer was devastating.

Christ the Redeemer and the view from it is as linked to Rio as Big Ben is to London. I caught the train up and arrived yet again in a cloud covering. The visibility was so limited I couldnt even see the Christ the Redeemer staute let alone a view of any description. I desperately waited half an hour freezing in the hope that it would clear but it was pointless and I descended feeling very gutted.

I stayed in Ipaneama, a few blocks from the beach. The beach looked amazing and I would love to experience the atmosphere when its sunny and everyone is out sunbathing. Similarly the famous Copacabana was one beach over, but seeing it when the weather is overcast just frustrates.

I guess I will have to return to Rio in the summer to make up for this disappointment.

Sao Paulo

As Sao Paulo is even further South of Rio I knew it would be even colder. As it isnt on a beach nor famous for its natural beauty the weather was less important. Sao Paulo is the biggest city I have been to in South America, with a population of over 11 million. While a not particularly attractive city it is vibrant multicultural and famed for its restaurants, art gallerys, museums and night clubs. As expected Sao Paulo was overcast, cold, and pretty wet. I looked pretty stupid in my flip flops and shorts but as I sent all my warm clothes home after Peru ("the weather will be hot here on in!") I had no option. Sao Paulo has the largest Japanese community outside Japan so I enjoyed my last evening meal in a Japanese restuarant, visited one of the tallest buildings to give me a view of the city (cloudy but by no means a Rio style right off), and went to the famous food market before making my way to the airport.

I think this has been the largest blog entry its certainly taken me ages to write. My last one will cover my week here in Canada, even though I guess that doesnt really come under "Tom's South American Adventure".

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