Tchau Brasil!

Just arrived in Peru so we´re swapping the Atlantic Coast for the Pacific Coast, the shorts for sweatshirts, the Havaianas for the hiking boots, and limited Portuguese for limited Spanish. It was a long flight from Recife to Lima (via Sao Paulo) but we had our first glimpse of the Andes and the ´inland ocean' Lake Titicaca which was a nice preview of the weeks to come.

Anyway I need to fill you in on the last couple weeks - our last day in Brazil was uncharacteristically wet and grey. We were in Olinda which was not typical of most of the places we have visited - no decent beaches and no swimming due to ´a greater than average risk of shark attacks.´ It was the capital of Brazil in the 1500's, so it has many grand old buildings on cobbled streets which are impressive, particularly at night when you can't see the missing bricks and paint peeling off the walls. There are some great views of nearby Recife which we avoided as it has the highest rate of murder and other violent crime in the whole of Brazil. Olinda is supposed to be safer although the presence of three '24 hour´ undertakers on the same street as our hostel was hardly welcoming!

I'll run through where we´ve been chronologically since I last did an entry, so about two weeks ago we were in the sugar port of Maceio where we moved on after less than 24 hours - basically it was dead. Next we headed up the coast to Joa Pessoa where we stayed for a few nights. JP is the most easterly point of South America but is otherwise unremarkable, just nice. It was one of the cheapest places we've stayed which helped to bring the budget into line a bit, we had a lobster lunch there that was literally as cheap as chips. We met a nice Brazilian guy there one lunchtime and he advised us to go up the coast to Praia da Pipa which was ´the place to be´ for the upcoming long weekend to celebrate Brazilian Independence day. We were in search of a bit more action so took this advice and arrived there last Sunday afternoon. At the hostel the party was already in full swing with loads of Brazilian's drinking a singing in the pool. It seemed like we were too far behind but a couple of swift Caiprahini´s is an easy way to catch up and we didn´t look back from there. We left the hostel (which had a bar) for the club at 2am, the place was so empty we thought we´d been sent to the wrong place until around 3.30am when it became rammed. We ended up staying until seven, but I think the party went on all day. We lost the whole of the next day for the first time on the trip but it was worth it for a good blow out. Due to the Independence Day celebrations we actually discovered Pipa on our third day there and what a place! The town had emptied out leaving fairly quiet narrow and cobbled streets which forms the centre which is perched on a cliff top above four amazing beaches. The best by far is Baia Dos Golfinhos beach which is only accessible for three hours either side of low tide each day. The beach is permanently inhabited by dolphins that come within feet on the shore line and beach and are completely at ease with people swimming right beside them (they ignore you actually). They are busy bobbing up and down chasing fish and occasionally giving you a treat by throwing them in the air as if they´d been trained! We liked Pipa so much that we ended up spending 6 days there which is our longest stay anywhere so far.

Next stop and the furthest north that we would venture was Natal - I was breathing in deeply to shake off a cold as apparently it has the second cleanest air in the world. The main attraction in Natal are the sand dunes which surround the city for miles and miles. The way to enjoy them is by buggy tour so five us including our driver, Dino (age 50, mental age 15) packed into his buggy. You can choose to take the tour ´with or without emotion´ which translates to Dion either drives like a mild madman or a complete lunatic. Despite one guy in the buggy having reservations we went for ´with emotion.´ Natalie screamed like a girl as we sped down 50 metre high dunes, which only encouraged Dino to go faster! After Natal we headed back south to Olinda and Recife and now Peru, which brings me back to the start of the entry.

So a month in Brazil is over. To summarise a few observations, opinions and sweeping generalisations. Brazil pretty much gets better as you move from south to north and cheaper. The people are friendly and hospitable. The affluent travel their own country and turned out to be interesting and pretty smart. Generally people are not as ´beautiful´ as is perceived in the UK. In fact a lot spend too much time at Bob´s Burgers (their McDonalds) and dress in clothes a couple of sizes too small. Transport is pretty good but but expensive - taxis don´t have to observe red lights or speed limits, regional buses have almost flat beds, but local buses take forever as there are no stops so people get on or off anywhere. Food is good but not that varied for such a big place. Everything comes with beans (black or green), rice and Manioc Flour. Exotic fruit is plentiful and served up and breakfast even at the cheapest of places. Kilo restaurants where as the name suggest you pay for what you have are a budget saver - we love them. The national dish in a black bean and pig stew (Feijoada) - delicious but ALL of the pig goes in so if you get something chewy just spit it out and try not to work out was part of the pig it used to be. Speaking of spitting it out coffee is surprisingly dreadful in Brazil. It is weak and is served in a thermos style flask even in the posh restaurants. They all drink it with sugar so unless you remember to say no sugar it comes all sickly and sweet. Proper expresso style coffee has taken off in Natal so we treated ourselves to one the other night. Mine had something hard in it which when I spat out and inspected turned out to be a bug (like a small cockroach). They apologised lots and I was terribly British about it so accepted a replacement. My second sip produced another bug. The next night I was glad of the sweet weak stuff in a Thermos. Beer is cheap and weak but I have got to like it - the ´Skol´ brand has been adapted. Imported wine is pricey so we don´t have it. Carpirinas´s are the popular cocktail (made with sugar cane spirit cachaca, lime and sugar), they are lethal and you really know about it the next day. In terms of remedy coconut milk is drank by everyone and is a great hangover cure.

Peru update in a week or two.......

---

---