Advertisement
Published: September 2nd 2009
Edit Blog Post
Salvador
Barra Swimming Beach All is well over here in Brazil bar a couple of hiccups (see below!). Since the last entry we´ve mostly been around Salvador which we´ve been using as a base.
Our first trip out of there was to Lencois, a quaint little town about 6 hours west. Until twenty years ago it was a diamond mining town but when that source of cash dried up they turned it into a tourist destination as a base for exploring the nearby national park which is full of rivers, lakes, waterfalls and caves. Everything is connected by roads and paths created by the miners. We did an overview tour on the first day which was good but it felt like we were on a tourist conveyor belt - look at this, take a picture of this. The next day was better when we hired a guide to take us on a hike up a river bank,
which included a bit of climbing. Most of the route was completely empty so we had huge waterfalls and natural swimming pools completely to ourselves. Unfortunately poor planning meant that I didn´t take enough water along, but the guide came to my rescue by finding some natural
sources. The water was slightly orange but the guide assured me that it was ´organic, from the river plants, like a tea´. It did the trick, my thirst was quenched but something ´organic´ must have disagreed with me as I spend the next couple of days in close proximity of the loo! In Lencois we had a decent social scene which Natalie in particular had been craving (ie she is bored of me). The group included an Irish chap (Conti) who has been on the road for two and a half years and forty countries - he had a few stories. Most of the group spoke Portugese which was both embarrassing and helpful. Away from the big cities very few locals speak English (and why should they I suppose) which is proving to be a bit of a challenge.
Lencois was probably the highlight of the trip so far, so we returned to Salvador on a bit of a high only to be brought back down to earth when we checked our bank account. Both of our accounts had been tapped into, seemingly by card cloning at the cash point (apparently this is common in Brazil). Altogether we had
two thousand pounds stolen in around twenty different transactions. It´really annoying that we were robbed in such a subtle way when we´ve been so careful in protecting ourselves from the heavily publicised street crime.
After cancelling our cards there was nothing more we could do so we went ahead with a planned trip to Boipeba - a remote island south west of Salvador. The journey was a real trek - ferry, bus, speed boat and finally tactor which took you over a hill and through a swamp to a remote village where we were staying. The Pousada (guest house) was ran by a couple from Manchester, the guy was born in Rochdale. We said ´it´s a small world lots. Anyway Boipeba has beautiful palm tree fringed beaches, but if you were being fussy, you could say that the water is a bit shallow. Also if I´m honest we had quite a bit of rain and we had to spend much of the sunny day in an internet cafe on the phone to the bank´s
fraud department (I can feel your heart bleeding). On the upside we had some delicious seafood - all moqueca - a stew with tomato and
Chapada National Park (Lencois)
Nat on the natural water-slide coconut milk. Just realised that I haven´t mentioned food in any blogs - it´s good and portions are big - will add more detail next time as this entry is getting long. (Bet you can´t wait).
After four days in Boipeba we made the long journey back to Salvador, for one final day before heading north. We went to one of our regular haunts, Barra Swimming beach, and we were discussing how it would be shame to move on as it was such a lively place but the fraud had tainted it a bit. As if to prove us right Salvador provided on last bit of entertainment - two men were running down the beach, one was chasing the other and loads of mean above us on the promenade were chanting and cheering. The guy running away was caught by the chaser right in front of us and proceeded to punch him in the mouth, the guy escaped but was then captured by the crowd (they had moved down to the beach now) and then a full on fight started, with a massive crowd, it was proper playground stuff. We kept a safe distance as there seemed to be
Lencois
The Street some random fists flying from over exited spectators. Eventually the police broke up the whole thing and the crowd dispersed as quickly as it had gathered.
After a ten hour overnight bus trip we are now in Maceio, which is fairly dead, so I think
we´ll move again tomorrow. In case you´re worried the money should be back with us in the
next couple of weeks, provided the banks don´t suspect us of any involvement.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.138s; Tpl: 0.018s; cc: 7; qc: 46; dbt: 0.097s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Norm
non-member comment
Get a job
Hi you 2 ,looks great out there ! But Matt , beach views should have "people" as the main focus . Would love 2 chat but can't wait to get back to work ! ! ! Trying to earn enough for an upgrade on flight to aus ,after 2 hour portugal flight don't think i can do 24 ! Don't mention to Sando she still going cargo!!