Blogs from Lençóis, Bahia, Brazil, South America - page 3

Hello all! I greet you happy but fluey on a warm Tuesday afternoon in Lençois. I´ve been sick for over a week now. I´m finding it damn near impossible to shake and I don´t know why - maybe the Brazilians have a stronger strand of flu here? It´s probably just yet another thing that I´m not used to about living abroad, like insects and odd fruits and the weather... I could do with taking some days off the properly recuperate, but the chances of that are slim to none, seeing as I´m now the only volunteer at the project. Work is extremely tiring. I have had to implement a kind of points system with one of the groups just to get through the hour with them, so its tough going. Fortunately the rest of the groups ... read more

Hi all! Another exciting week here in Lençois. The kids decided to behave themselves a little better, you´ll be glad to here. We have a new volunteer, who is now living with me in the project house. He is a 28 year old from Recife in the north of Brazil. He is really nice, but for now I reserve my judgement as to how well the housing situation will work. At least he is a clean freak, so I don´t have to housetrain him! Things continue to go well for me here, and my Portuguese is coming on in leaps and bounds. I´m even getting some of the local slang down to a tee! The highlight of my week was a trip to the nearby town of Igatu - a pretty little place with only 400 ... read more

We went on a 7 hour bus ride into the interior of Bahia to Chapada Diamantina. It is a place where diamonds used to be mined. It's in a semi-arid climate, there are plateaus, waterfalls, caves, etc. I also went to a little community that was started by runaway slaves. They are a small community with 400 people and 40 houses. Very poor fishing community. It is 25 km to Lencois. Lencois is a small town, I believe it used to be a place to trade in diamonds and slaves, now it is mainly a tourist town since diamonds are illegal to mine there. So, we climbed a plateau and there is a cross at the top. Then we went to the caves with stalagmites and stalactites. And then we went to a waterfall. Nice little ... read more

The day before yesterday, that is straight after our return from the failed attempt to reach the Michilla waterfall, the same group and guides went off to explore the Lapão cave. By then I had got to know much better the other members of the group, who were truly interesting and entertaining caracters: Filipe, from Portugal, had grown up in Namibia and had also studied in Germany; Ines, his Slovenian girlfriend; and Camila, their Norwegian travelling companion. They were all working in an orphanage in a small town near Rio de Janeiro, facing much tougher working conditions than I have over the last few months. Before reaching the Lapão, our guide opened up a trail with his machete to an area I had never heard of, and as far as I know, few locals have knowledge ... read more

I'm back! Unfortunately, the walk only lasted 3 days, as a couple in the group had to return early to São Paulo early. Pity, but it was worthwhile nonetheless. It was quite testing, actually. Long walking days, including large parts walking on very steep slopes of mud or wet clay, offering numerous opportunities for falling on your backside which I took full advantage of. We also had to cross river rapids with slippery stones, which was not too easy. Undoubtedly the most annoying rainforest feature though was the 'capim navalha' (I think I'm writing it correctly), a plant with long, sharp leaves which cuts your arms and legs as your walk around the forest. Luckily, it didn't rain too much, but the combination of tropical rain during the night and ligth drizzle during the day meant ... read more