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Published: March 24th 2009
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Tim Version:
* Went to a stunning beach village, Itacaré, and recovered from Carnaval.
* Even got to get a bit of decent surfing in while I was there!
The version that loves the cove style beaches of Itacaré, very tranquilo:
Itacaré was a spot I had heard about from a Brazilian girl we surfed with in Pavones, Costa Rica, all those months ago. After Carnaval I certainly needed some down time at the beach and this was the place to have it. A lot of people from our Salvador hostel went down there, as well as to Morro, so it was also easy as no need to even make new friends. I was the very last Carnaval'er to leave the hostel (a couple of girls I was hanging around with also from Carnaval leaving a couple of hours before me) so everyone was now somewhere else.
In Itacarè after a very cruisy comfortable bus ride down there, I grabbed a room in a hostel called Albergue o Pharol (Hostel the Lighthouse), and its an awesome place. With a kitchen as well it was time for me to start cooking some healthier meals for myself instead
eating out like during Carnaval, to try and help the body recover a little health. Itacaré isn't that tiny, but the main touristy area is really one main street that leads to the various beaches. There is a bay like beach called Concha closer than the rest but it is just for flat water fun, not for me. I hung around mostly just with a beautiful Peruvian girl I knew from Carnaval, getting to practise Spanish with her, just chilling and relaxing going from beach to beach (there are 4or 5 main ones and they're all enclosed by rocks on each side). She left after a few days so then it was time for Surfing and Portuguese.
Oh I also discovered the best Açai! This a dish you will encounter in Brazil, and while it changes a little this one contained a berry pulp frozen that I can't think of the name of, combined with pieces of Banana and Granola, and man it is addictive! It is so damn good. If you're ever feeling a bit sick or hung over, some Açai will fix it! There is one place in Itacaré that I think makes the best too. From
Albergue o Pharol, looking directly out up a street that comes off the main one, it is up that street on your left coloured in pink and white. Really friendly owner too, she was good to practise some Portuguese with.
As for surfing in Itacaré, I grabbed a board for 3 days once the swell picked up a little. I found the second beach to be the best, but it gets pretty crowded out there. Especially since every beach is sided by rocks, so there is a definite limited space in which to be! The skill level of some of the surfers there is out of this world, and even if you don't surf it is worth watching them.
There is one far away beach that we also walked to one day, but it is a bit of a trek. It tends to get called the "secret" beach, though it's name is prainha. Its the biggest of the lot, and is totally lined with palm trees and is definitely the most beautiful beach of the area. It is also not very crowded at all due to it's isolation as you can't take cars to it. It's a good
Inlet waves
where the water enters the bay. Not sure what was underneath here, be it sand or rocks or coral, but it must have been very shallow. 40 minute walk or more from the main street, involving winding through bush paths that can add some time when you accidently take the wrong one. It does however feel awesome when you break out the jungle into this beautiful pristine beach. There is a basic bar there that serves water, coconuts and beers, though I think that is all... apparently a good spot to surf too I never got to try it.
I met a pretty Spanish woman there too, maybe 35 or so, that was a roaming translator, an awesome style of work! She spoke fluently Spanish, Portuguese, French, and pretty good English too, and worked from an online account where people would send her work and she would complete it from her laptop from wherever she was and then they would pay her into her online account. She said that occasionally they don't pay but it is rare. What a wicked type of work =) And by her continually travelling she also keeps all her languages fluent, staying up to date with the latest slang and changes in language, and has an awesome time while doing it. It also looked like it paid pretty well too...
Praia do Resende
How is this for an entrance After a few days surfing I managed to injure myself somehow with what feels like a strained muscle around my ribs that only hurts when I breath or move my chest (I must have looked ridiculus as to move around I had to hold my breath or it hurt too much) so that severely slowed my last day of surfing and let me know it was time to move on. Hell, my next destination was another beach anyway, the far away beach of Jericoacoara!
Oh yeh, a note on travellers... now there is always lots of Israelies wherever I have been in Central America, Mexico and now Brazil, but the number here in Itacaré is approaching ridiculus. When I arrived there were some other Australians and some Americans and British, but by the end it is just Israelies and you hear more hebrew than Portuguese. Many restaurants have signs and/or menus in Hebrew. Despite being a bit boring as it always is when there is just a whole bunch of people from one country, it doesn't affect me much as I still get the "I´m in a foreign land" feeling that I want, but it must be incredibly
annoying for them! Almost nowhere can they get away in Latin America it seems from hordes of their fellow countrymen and women. They do however almost always seem to travel in packs, so I'm not sure this is something they are after anyway... heh oh and one Israelite translated a few signs for me, and apparently they all just said in Hebrew "This is the best restaurant, come eat here".
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