Blogs from Itacaré, Bahia, Brazil, South America

Dear Diary, I’m sorry for not writing to you in such a long time. You’ve been on my mind, I swear! I just have a special talent of procrastination – even over here I cannot shake it!! So after being in Itacare for 6 weeks now, I have discovered it is definitely a unique place and I am finding out the more I stay here, the people in this town are quite unique along with it! Last week I made a 6hr round-trip to the closest ‘big town’ Ilheus and extended my visa with the Federal Police. Considering my (very!) basic Portuguese I think I did quite well and now have another stamp in my passport for another 3 months - YAY! All done on day 89 of a 90 day visa! Lucky for me I ... read more

Before emabarking on our journey to Itacare, I needed to take some money out to pay for the hostel. I had tried 3 banks the previous day to no avail, so I asked Inbal where a particular bank was that I knew would accept my card. He asked a few local friends and told me it was through a bad neighborhood but he would take me on his motorcycle if I wanted. 10 minutes later I was holding on strong to the rear handles of the bike, zooming through the steep curvy streets of Pelorinho. As we rode, I could see why one wouldn´t want to venture through the favela on foot. Dirty streets with skinny fiends taking shelter under bridges and in alleyways. The interesting part was this area was only 2 streets downhill from ... read more

Bahia minha vida Happy New Year bloggees, I'm pleased to have released my death-grip on 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' long enough to update you all (I don't care how 2008 that is, I was late on the Stieg Larsson bandwagon). I'm even more pleased to announce that I have had no further contact with transvestite prostitutes nor grope-happy drivers. I never imagined that I would have to make these kind of declarations but hopefully 2011 will remain a sodomy-free year. Having said that, I must admit that I attended a Boxing Day Carnaval in which men dressed up as women and hit the town on the the huge floats and sound systems (known as trio eletricos) that seem to resonate through the shaking streets every other fortnight. There's no shortage of things to commemorate ... read more

We left Paraty and were bound for an idyllic surf town in the North of Brazil called Itacare. There was no direct bus, so we made the 2 hour trip back to Rio de Janerio (which is absolutely stunning at night) and then arranged for a 25hr overnight bus to Ilheus. We made a bet about how many times this bus would stop along the way with the maximum number of stops being 10. Lucky for us this particular bus had incredibly social personalities cracking jokes at each other and giving the bus drivers a hard time. It was a fun time with lots of laughing, but after about 15+ bus stops along the way (we completely lost count)... we were ready to get there. Once we got to our layover in Ilheus we spent some ... read more

Brasil Brasil! Land of sun and sea and toned bodies - oh yes indeedy, I´ve arrived! First few days were in Rio (pronounced Hee-o) in a little hostel a stone´s throw from Copocobana beach. Due to risk of muggings I didn´t take my camera anywhere in Hee-o but if you imagine the beaches were packed as it´s the height of summer, the sun was searingly hot, and little me was sat amongst it all like a little belisha beacon, the whitest, sweatiest thing in sight. There now, thats a nice mental image to start with :-) I did manage to do a guided tour to the main sights (with camera) but as I didn´t feel entirely safe and so not at liberty to do what I wanted under my own steam, I didn´t stop for long ... read more