Blogs from Espírito Santo, Brazil, South America

Vitoria & Ilhabela Today we sailed into the rather confined harbour of Vila Nova da Vitoria, which was first colonized on Whit Sunday May 1535. Some say it resembles a miniature Rio because of “its geography and scenery: a gorgeous backdrop of rolling hills with cliffs jutting out into the ocean, pristine beaches and an impressive bridge, the two-mile-long Darcy Castelo de Mendonza Bridge”. The city of 300,000 today occupies an island, just off the mainland coast. It was moved there by the early Portuguese settlers to provide better protection from attacks by the local native population. The town name comes from a Portuguese victory over the Indians of the area. The island itself is situated in a relatively poor agricultural zone but has succeeded because of its port. This section of Brazil, the Esprito Santo, ... read more

A common fear when travelling on buses in a foreign land is that it will pass through the town you want to visit, and you will remain completely oblivious to the fact until you wind up in the middle of nowhere! It is for this reason that, on the bus to Domingos Martins, we sat looking wide-eyed out of the bus window for about 20 minutes before we were due to land. When someone who looked like a local person pulled the cord in the middle of a nice village, we decided we had arrived and hopped off. Lady Luck must have thought she owed us one from yesterday, as directly in front of us, we found the Culture House - which doubled as the tourist office. Armed with a list of hotels and pamphlets for ... read more

Hello! here we go again.... not much has happened since we last blogged. we are 42km west of Vitoria in a small mountain town called domingos martins, the beddgelert of brazil! if we thought the rest of brazil was too civilized then its nothing compared to this place! you have to wipe your feet before leaving your hotel!!! theres a big german influence here which just makes the whole experince very strange, the whole town is chalet like and ahs the oddest christmas deco´s... they have made their own wooden christmas tree in the square!! still have not found any waterfalls or incredible walks... infact, the town is tucked between high peaks and cliffs so im guessing the only way is up up up! And the way we were feeling yesterday after going out ´brazilian style´ ... read more

BRAZIL... read more

Once again I found myself sitting alone on a bus heading off for a few days of uncertainty. I can't say I tried all that hard to recruit anyone to join me and as usual I enjoyed the idea of taking off on my own. My destination: Parque Nacional do Caparaó and the Pico da Bandeira. Sitting on the border of Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo this park hosts some of the highest mountains in Brazil. Pico da Bandeira was once thought to be the highest peak in Brazil, but at 2,892m (9,254ft) is now known to be the third highest peak. Though nothing compared to the mountains of Argentina and Chile, I could not wait to get away from chaos of the city. After two buses, a train and a taxi I arrived the ... read more