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Published: February 6th 2014
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Time is almost up in Brazil sadly, we've got another two weeks-ish for our final few destinations on the list... All of which sound amazing.
But first... What happened after our initial stay in Rio. We jumped on a quick flight up to Salvador for a nights stay before a catamaran to Morro de Sau Paulo. We stayed in the old town area which looked very pretty - All pastel houses, cobbled streets, Capoeira which is ballet/fighting kinda dance and Bahian ladies in traditional dress. The lovely exterior makes it hard to believe that it is apparently quite dangerous after dark. We had a little pootle around and saw some of the amazing cathedrals but felt a day was enough here. Plus we were just excited about the beaches that lay ahead.
Morro de sau Paulo is like a ready made holiday island, along 4 beaches with posadas (guest houses) , restaurants and bars just a little walk from the sea. There are no vehicles here so most things are done by wheelbarrow. You can get someone to wheelbarrow your luggage to where you are staying and even get a 'Jesus' taxi which is a glorified wheelbarrow with a lid, and
essentially you just get pushed to your destination. We spent a super relaxed four days here lying on the beautiful beaches, getting a tad sunburnt (or bronzed in Ela's case) and drinking Cocos.
Itacare was next on the list, we'd heard only good things about this little coastal town and couldn't wait to get there. After settling into our hostel and meeting our straight up stunning Argentinian roommate, things were off to a good start. The town is just off the sea, centered around the one main street, Pituba.. After a few days there you realise that everyone knows everyone and you seem to know them too.
We booked ourselves on a few tours with Brazil tours to see some of the waterfalls and beaches you can only really get to with a guide. Enter Elias, our guide, king of nature and our one true love. Talk about best person ever. He knew so much about his hometown and obviously loved the rain forest and all things nature. From moving miniature frogs off the path, creating little valleys to stop the forest from flooding, chopping up coconuts for us with his big machete, scooping up babies who were about to
lose their footing.... He was basically super brilliant. Great teeth too. Just sayin. If you ever find yourself in Itacare, I would highly recommend Brazil tours.
But enough of Elias, we saw some incredible beaches, including Prainha, which is listed in Brazil's top 50 beaches. Perfect white sand, blue green sea all surrounded by jungle and palm trees. We swam in fresh waterfalls, trekked through rainforest and waded through mangroves. We also were lucky enough to meet a lovely Brazilian family who took us under their wing and in fact we made such a good group we spent the next four days with them, learning about Brazil, their culture, family life and most importantly... Getting taught Portugese swear words by a certain Bia.
We also took our first surfing lesson in Itacare, well my first and Ela's second. Ela took to it like a natural, standing up, riding the waves.... me.. Not so much. After 2.5 hrs of getting battered by what felt like the world's biggest tidal waves I was pretty much done for. Fun but really tiring, I now understand why surfer girls have guns to die for. Hopefully we'll try it again when we move on. I'm
hoping I improve... Ela also got her first war wound... Getting caught up in a wave which smacked the board fin into her thigh. It's been an impressive bruise.. Poor lamb.
Whilst Itacare was beautiful and relaxing, the mozzies started to do our heads in. After 6 days I was pretty much covered in bites and as for 95% deet... It made me smell like a chemical factory but not sure how effective it actually was. Bahia state is the epi centre of dengue fever apparently, so with that in mind and the deadline in Brazil looming, we heard the bright lights of Rio calling our names once more. A mere 21 hr bus ride and we are back! Enjoying the Caipirinhas, sunsets on Ipanema and beautiful people for a few more days...on Saturday we're heading to Ila Grande, then floripa and Iguazú falls as final brazil destination!
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estelle lockett
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Take me with you.....
Oh Chloe, what a lovely blog. I can feel your joy. Just keep on drinking it in. much love xxxx