Blogs from Ceará, Brazil, South America - page 2

A correction from the other day, the FanFest at the beach where I watched game 1 had 32,000 people. Thursday night me, old Chris, and new Chris went to Dragão do Mar, which is the local bar strip (equivalent to Fayetteville St in Raleigh). The bars and clubs here close around 4, but the special after parties that are invite-only last until sunrise. Tuens out we got invited to one. By the time we got back to the hostel it was 7:00. After a quick rinse I passed out. I slept until about 12:30 and watched the Mexico vs Cameroon game. Mexico won, which I didn't enjoy :( BOO MEXICO! New friends Humam, from Canada, Markus, from Portland, Daniel, from Uruguay, and a guy from Scotland, along with George came with me to find some food. ... read more

Fortaleza was a necessary stop on the way from Pipa to Jericoacoara, but I didn't plan to hang around too long. It's a big city on the coast with a nice enough beach, and that's all there is to say about it. There are better destinations. Next stop was one of the best-kept-everyone-knows-about-it-secrets in all of Brazil - Jericoacoara. It has the hallmarks of the familiar story of old fishing village turned tourist mecca, however luckily mass-tourism hasn't taken over yet. You won't see any high-rise hotels or apartments here, but how long that lasts I'm not sure. Its not terribly easy to get there which helps keep the package deal tourists and geriatric bus hordes at bay. The nearest major airport is 8 hours drive, buses don't (can't) go there, and the only way of ... read more

Ja, so ungefähr hab ich sie mir vorgestellt, die Hölle für Pauschaltouristen. Sie sieht aus wie eine Tagestour entlang der Ostküste von Ceará. Das haben wir nämlich heute gemacht, klang so von außen ganz nett: eine Fahrt nach Canoa Quebrada (was ein sehr toller Strand ist mit noch tolleren roten Sandsteinklippen), mit Zwischenhalt an einem anderen Strand, wo der Sand beeindruckend viele Farben hat. Entpuppt hat es sich wie bereits erwähnt als wahre Pauschalhöllentour. Mit einem Kleinbus ging die Fahrt Richtung Osten. Der erste Stopp war, wer hätte es gedacht: an einem Souvenirladen mit völlig überteuerten „traditionellen“ Produkten. Das erste Mal gestöhnt. Der zweite Stopp war immerhin in Beberibe, wo es die Steilküsten mit dem bunten Sand geben sollte. Doch plötzlich hieß es, wenn wir die sehen wollen und auch einen der Süßwasserseen inmitten der Dünen, ... read more

It has been a different time for me, I keep thinking of mum at WDHB while I am having fun. Mum is never far from my thoughts, I know Sharon will look after things as she does, but it must be very hard back there. Down the Rio pregiucas. Well we had a day down the river, which is lined with palms trees to start with and then cuts over to mangroves. After a while we reached the end of the river, and I am talking at least an hour we reached the end where there was a lighthouse on one side and Caburi on the other. At Caburi there is a hotel, on one side of the hotel is the river and then you can walk thorugh to the sea on the other side - ... read more

So I finally tamed the Amazon river from one of the starting tributaries to the end at the Atlantic Ocean. I hopped on her back like she was a bull at the National Finals Rodeo and I rode her for the full 8 seconds (by BTW, did you know that some of the best bull riders come from Brazil? Who would've thought??). Well since I didn't have to navigate the ship, plan the route, etc maybe it was more like riding a horse along a trail. Come to think of it, maybe it was closer to riding a merry-go-round, but that doesn't sound as exciting now does it? I finished the boat ride a few weeks ago and am now traveling south down the coast of Brazil. I will have more details on the trip down ... read more