From Salavdor to Barra de Serinhaém

---

What a journey !



At 8 o'clock a taxi picked us up at Pousada Estrela do Mar in Salvador and brought us to the ferry terminal.

The queue of cars waiting to take the ferry was already in the street, out of the terminal, it was a total mess. Fortunately, there was plenty of police and people behaved correctly. A lane was left free for taxis and other priority vehicles.

We joined the queue of pedestrians to get our tickets.

We were lucky as a ferry was loading. We joined another queue and in no time we were sailing in the famous 'Bahia de todos os Santos', direction Itaparica. Itaparica is in fact an island on the other side of the bay (west of Salavdor) and connected by bridges to the main land.

The ferry took 45 minutes to get there. Upon arrival we joined another queue to buy bus tickets for Itubera, about 150Km furher south. From there we would take a boat to our final destination.

We had to wait for the 10 o'clock bus, it left at 10:20. Timewise we were on schedule as the last boat would leave Itubera at 3 PM. Unfortunately, we could not take the express coach with air-conditioning as it didn't fit our schedule. On the way the coach stopped at Nazaré, Valença and Taperoa. After Taperoa it became a regular bus, stopping where people asked for or if people were waiting for it on the road. Soon the bus was full and with all the seats taken people were standing were they could in the corridor. All windows were open, there was no air-co, it was hot, very hot. At Valença we had a 25 minutes “strategic stop”.

People on the bus were very kind, laid back, taking things as they came. Behind us were sitting a lady with her little boy. It was a real pleasure. He introduced himself so we had a bit of conversation about what he learned in school, etc... Then we heard him singing songs about 'papa Noel'.

Suddenly the bus stopped with no apparent reason. The road was free. We could not get out of the bus and the temperature inside started rising. Then two policemen enterred in the bus. It appeared that a lady had forgotten her mobile phone in the toilet of the bus, at the back. On realising this, she went back to get it, but it was gone. Police in Brazil must have some training in psychology. They expressed to all of us “mobile phone robbers” that the one who stole the mobile phone better found a way to give it back, they were not interested in knowing who it was. The alternative was to bringing bus and passengers to the police station and having people and luggage searched . As no thief appeared, we all had to get out of the bus except the owner of the mobile phone. She kept looking for it and suddenly she shouted that she found it, on the floor under her seat. By then it was about 1:30 pm. Alas, we were still on time for the 3 pm boat at Itubera.

We all got back into the bus which now stopped all the time to let people in or out. Another sudden stop, there was a queue of cars in front of us. The locals explained that due to heavy rain, a few weeks earlier, a bridge had collapsed. As a temporary solution, a bulldozer created a track trough the forest on the side of the road. As this is a hilly countryside, the track went first down then crossed the river then there was a steep hill to get back on the road. It was a one direction track and one car at a time. As the bus went slowly through this makeshift track the passeneger in the seat in front of us managed to grab a nut through the open window, it was a cocoa fruit. He gave it to us and explained how to eat it.

We crossed the river and the biggest challenge was a steep hill in front of us. Somehow the bus managed to get back on the road. We were happy, but the clock was ticking, it was about 2:30 PM. By then the whole bus were giving us moral support as they knew we had to take a boat to our final destination. A lady explained that we were not too far from the city and that she would tell us where to get off and the driver also knew.

We arrived at our stop at about 14:45. The lady came with us, explaining it was not that far. She brought us to a small bridge over an almost empty river. « There is not enough water, it is low tide, the boat must be at the pier on the big river » she said. She then pointed to some young men, all wearing the same t-shirts with the inscription « moto-boy », they will take you there she said. It was 14:55.

Each of us got on a motor bike with our rucksack. The other bag somewhere between the arms of the driver and there we went. The journey was about 1 euro per person.

When we arrived at the pier, we discovered a huge river and a small speedboat which was just embarking a few passengers. We managed to join them and after a few stop on the way, we arrived 45 minutes later in Barra de Serinhaém, a fishing village on the Santarem river, our reveillon destination.

---

Photos

Rio Santarem
Barra de Serinhaém is on this river, but very close to the sea.

Comments

[Etienne Deleu]

Back to basics!?
Met veel genoegen volgen we jullie avontuurlijke tocht! Moet enig zijn om "back to basics" te reizen in zo'n paradijselijk land! Geniet mateloos! Hou het veilig! See you soon. Etienne & Yvette! xx