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Published: February 24th 2007
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Hey,
Sorry for the dwindling efforts with my travelblog, my last entry was a poor excuse and 2 weeks late at that, and have failed miserably to keep you all updated with my progress on my travels...my only excuse is that its been carnaval for the last 2 weeks here in Brazil, and during carnaval you do not sit for hours on end in Internet cafes!Also, things have been pretty hectic these last few weeks, so just not had the time. So, let me update you on where I am and what I´m doing now....
Have just joined up with my tour group a few days ago in Rio...a group of people with whom I´ll be touring down through Brazil, Argentina, down to Patagonia and up through Chile for the next 7 weeks...CAMPING!We´re in a really pretty little colonial town in Brazil called Paraty at the moment - just spent the last few days chilling at the beach, taking boat trips, and learning how to get to grips with a tent and all the other camping paraphanalia...and so far, so good amazingly!But more on that next blog....
So, after having spent a week in Punta, I took a
flight up to Salvador in the north of Brazil, where I had been told about the beautiful beaches and non-stop sun. Needless to say, it was raining when i arrived, and continued to do so pretty much non-stop for the whole week i was there!Salvador is a world apart from the south of Brazil where I had been before...different climate, different people, different culture and different feel entirely. My first few days there were a bit hairy - after having had such good luck meeting cool people straight away in all the other places I visited, here I found myself totally alone in a pousada which was lovely, but miles away from the centre of town, in a scary area where I was the only white person, there were gangs of young guys prowling around everywhere letting off firecrackers, not to mention the crackheads lying in the gutter!So, i packed my bags and moved out asap to a hostel in la Barra, the beach near the centre of town which was much nicer!Here, I felt much safer and met some really fun people and finally began to enjoy my time in Salvador!
I spent my mornings on the beach,
before the inevitable afternoon rain would start, then my afternoons up in the historic centre of Pelourinho. Here, you really see the difference between the North and South of Brazil - Salvador is such a pretty quaint old town, with lots of brightly coloured colonial buildings and the most amazing culture of music, food and dance. The area has a sad history of slavery - this is why the population is predominantly black, as they are all the ancestors of the African slaves who were brought to the area by the Portuguese to farm sugar. However, the people here are very proud of their culture, which is the most famous in Brazil, with samba music playing in the streets and capoeira dancers everywhere. It really is amazing to see and made me feel as if i was really in Brazil! The pre-carnaval party was in full flow a week befiore carnaval, and it was great fun to party in the streets at night with all the samba bands practising for carnaval. Having seen the whole town getting geared up and transformed, I was so glad I stayed in Salvador for the first night of carnaval - it was an amazing
experience!We got VIP places in a camarote above the crowds and watched all the action below, as the different blocos danced past non-stop beneath us. We didnt stay there for long tho, as you get swept up in the atmosphere, and its much more fun to be down in the thick of things with the crowds!Unfortunately tho I have no photos of carnaval, as its too dangerous to take ur camera out into those crowds - all the peope come down from the favelas, and altho i had absolutely no problems with them, its safer not to carry anything with you.
After a long night of partying, I dragged myself to the airport to catch my flight to Rio for the rest of carnaval. It was amazing flying into Rio - it is a breathtakingly beautiful city - the most beautiful contrast between scenery and a vast modern city I have ever seen. Here i met up with lots of friends that I met during the first month of my travels, who had all descended on Rio for carnaval, along with seemingly half the rest of the world!The crowds were amazing, but unfortunatley, carnaval here just wasnt as fun
as Salvador. We spent one night at Sambadrome - the huge arena where the most famous samba schools in Brazil spend the night parading for 80 minutes at a time - and this was an amazing, if somewhat tiring experience (9 hours of non-stop dancing!) Other highlights of Rio were going up Corcovado, Christ the Redeemer, and the amazing beaches - Copacabana and Ipanema - miles and miles of beautiful people!It was great to see Debo, Helen and Carla again here, altho sad to say goodbye to them as it will be the last time i see them on my travels.
But now its on to the next chapter of my trip....i met up with my tour group on the last day of carnaval in Rio and had a great first night out with them - we partied all night and didnt get a wink of sleep before we had to catch the bus to begin our tour!But hey, i dont know when ill be back in Rio for carnaval....
Ill update you on my tour in my next blog, but for now here´s a few pics of Salvador and Rio - tho none of carnaval!Oops!
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