On the water


Advertisement
Brazil's flag
South America » Brazil » Bahia » Lençóis
April 14th 2016
Published: April 15th 2016
Edit Blog Post

Marimbas wetlandsMarimbas wetlandsMarimbas wetlands

Wading through water to get to the boats
I was picked up promptly for my trip today. There were six of us - a trio of French speakers, two of whom were living in Brazil long term and a visiting cousin. The cousin spoke little English and less Portuguese but I managed to have a chat with the other two, mainly in Portuguese. Everybody loves the fact that a tourist has made the effort to learn some Portuguese and thy are always interested to know where I learnt it - which makes all that hard work worthwhile. The other pair were Brazilians and they mainly spoke to the guides. The main agency guide spoke limited English and Portuguese.

In contrast to the scenery yesterday, which was a sort of scrubland with the occasional cactus today, we were surrounded by jungle. We were not travelling a long distance but all distances on these trips seem long here because you are travelling a lot of the time on red dirt roads - red because of iron in the soil, I believe. At one point the guide got out and started hacking with his machete at a piece of vegetation which was blocking the way. The drivers are very expert at
Marimbas wetlandsMarimbas wetlandsMarimbas wetlands

The other boat!
weaving round the potholes but the smart air-conditioned minibuses must have a short life as we got bumped all over the place.

We had a few minutes walk to get to the canoes which, more accurately are rowing boats, each seating five including two rowers, one at the front and one at the back, three of us in each. Unfortunately I was seated towards the back so missed the rower/guide's commentary at the front. Hower since it was in Portuguese not sure how much I would have got of it. We were rowing through the Marimbus wetlands which were very beautiful with water lilies , orchids and reeds lining the banks, palm trees further back and the mountains on the horizon. Particularly enjoyed gliding through some of the very narrow channels towards the end of the hour's trip. At th beginning a lot of the ground on one side had ben scorched - apparently this was an accident - they had deliberately set fire to a piece of land, presumably to clear it and, unfortunately, the fire had spread.

The wetlands are supposed to be inhabited by alligators and other exotic creatures but they do warn you that
Marimbas wetlandsMarimbas wetlandsMarimbas wetlands

View from our boat
it is almost impossible to spot these. There was lots of bird life, however, including a colony of storks. We had been warned to use lots of sun cream because there was no shade on the boat but fortunately it was cloudy in the morning. None of us were expected to row although the guy in front did assist by periodically bailing out the water in the bottom of the boat which helped to keep our feet partially dry. Just in case anybody is worried, we did wear life jackets though I have no idea whether I put mine on right and I suspected it was one for a child!

We got out of the canoes on a sand flat and were told we would have to walk the rest of the way to where we were going to swim and have lunch. The river level was unusually low so the boat couldn't get any further and we would have to do some wading through water. An unlucky three of us were wearing trousers, the rest were in shorts. I asked the guide how deep the water would get. He indicated about mid-calf. He must have had decptively long legs as it easily came up to mid-thigh on me. Fortunately it was so warm there was no possibility of feeling cold but the sensation of walking in sodden trousers was definitely a bit uncomfortable. Since we had to wade and walk intermittently we ended up walking bare-foot through the jungle - I meant to ask the guide about snakes but he was in front and nobody else seemed bothered.

We went swimming before lunch at a pool with a waterfall. This time I got changed in the toilet belonging to the fazenda (farm) which was not without its challenges as there was no light in it Unfortunately the waterfall was not as impressive as it might have been due to the drought that they have been suffering - global warming, said Maiza. Maybe I shouldn't say this, but some of the waterfalls of Galicia seem to me more beautiful. As on yesterday's trip, negotiating a route to the pool over the rocks proved difficult but I didn't hesitate to ask the guide for help. Didn't risk going across to the actual waterfall and reclining under it though, like some of the others.

Lunch was another help-yourself buffet cooked in a primitive looking kitchen. I asked the French guy what we were eating but most of the words meant nothing to me. There were some chunks of fish which had been caught in the river we had rowed along but they seemed to mainly to consist of bone. The meat was unidentifiable and more or less inedible. I have noticed that it seems customary to sprinkle some sort of flour made out of maize or manioca over rather liquid- heavy stews, of beans, for example, and then mixing it all together. This, of course, has the effect of making the stew thicker - perhaps a way of eking it out. I always seem to forget to try the cactus which is usully served chopped very fine and stewed. After lunch coffee was served, not with sugar, but with a type of hard toffee which, apparently, is made from honey, and tasted eactly like the bonfire toffee my mum used to make. You chop it up with a little pick or hammer in the same way.

After lunch we made our way back to the boats the way that we had come. This time I was wise to the event and, as I still had my bikini bottom on, took my trousers off. Howeever this was not much of an improvement as, although my trouser legs had dried, the rest of them were sodden from keeping my bikini bottom on and after putting my trousers back on I proceeded to get the bottoms wet again in the process of getting into the boat! Our boat arrived back at the village about 10 minutes before the other one. Think this was because the main agency guide, who was on the other one, wasn't pulling his weight - or rather he was but he was bulit like a very lean Rastafarian - and was no match for the other three heftier rowers. I enjoyed watching those in front of us! It was so hot on the way back that even they had got their heads covered. I sat peering out from under my well-pulled hat, trying to avoid the sun. Lots of joking and laughing as we dropped the rowers off in the village where they clearly lived and hugs from the agency guide for us tourists as he dropped each of us off. Full marks for leaving each of us at our accommodation rather than at the agency.









Advertisement



15th April 2016

Civilised breakfast
Hi Judy I am really enjoying your blog, reading it whilst having my weetabix and tea. I feel so lazy after reading about your trip, pleased you had a good guided day yesterday. One of the highlights of our (highly organised) OZ trip was an evening boat trip with a keen birdwatcher. We saw thousands of eagrets coming in to roost, plus the huge bats and a croc. Look forward to reading your next entry. Take care Helen
16th April 2016

Hello
Hi Judy, Enjoying hearing about your outdoor adventures. I'm off to Lisbon at the crack of dawn tomorrow so will not be picking up your blogs until the end of the week so..... have a great week. love Clare

Tot: 0.102s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 9; qc: 48; dbt: 0.0706s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.1mb