Another day in paradise

Guilt has overcome me. I have neglected BTW… of late, and I apologize to my millions of viewers around the world. Last time I checked in I posted from the Iguaçu waterfalls on the border of Brazil and Argentina, having come across Argentina from Chile and Bolivia. I have spent the subsequent time in Brazil, a country that just keeps you coming back for more.

Iguaçu Falls, Argentina & Brazil

From Argentinian side

From Brazilian side

Iguaçu, a UNESCO world heritage site, has 275 waterfalls and can be visited from both sides of the border. The Argentinean side gives you an up close and personal experience, with lookout platforms overlooking the falls (Devil’s Throat, the largest, is at 82 metres) and rafting tours beneath the falls and through the spray. The Brazilian side offers a better overview of the extent and width of the falls, with idyllic, almost clichéd panoramas. The scenery is pretty surreal.

Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil

After two days spent in Iguaçu, one on each side of the falls, I flew to Florianópolis or Floripa as it’s known in Brazil. There I met up with Jared, who was also renting a room in the apartment in Rio, and had been in Floripa for a month. Floripa is an island city in the southeast in the state of Santa Catarina, famous for its beautiful women, pristine beaches and as one of Brazil’s top party destinations. Brazilians from all over the country go to Floripa for the Christmas period, increasing the number of people on the island four-fold. The island has 42 beaches, some of them considered the best in Brazil, with the middle of the island dominated by the large and striking Lagoa de Conceição lake.

Lagoa de Conceição - view from Hostel

I arrived on the 20^th December and was planning on staying until the 28^th, and then heading to Rio for my birthday on the 29^th and New Year’s. Thankfully, just before boarding my flight to Rio (bags were already on the plane), I checked my email on my phone and had received an email from my friend with whom I was staying, that they had arrived at the airport in the States and not realized they needed Brazilian visas. They were cancelling their hotel and heading to Miami instead. A spur of the moment decision, I asked the airline to take my bags off the plane, and I extended my stay in Floripa staying with Jared and some friends of his in a house they had rented in Jurere, the north of island. It worked out , and I avoided landing in Rio at midnight on my birthday without anywhere to stay during the busiest time in Rio.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Day

Praia Mole - one of Brazil's best surfing beaches

Days in Floripa were spent exploring the island and chilling on one of the many different beaches, playing football, drinking agua de coco (coconut water), eating açai with banana and granola (a typical sorbet-like refreshment made from Amazonian berries), and a little bit of surfing. And of course watching some of Brazil’s (and possibly the world’s) best bodies – God is truly a great sculptor. Nights were a relentless barrage of parties, sometimes at clubs including a Pacha, and sometimes at bars. Days can be as debaucherous as nights, with parties at open-air clubs every day of the week. Christmas eve was spent at the hostel with fellow backpackers in place of family. A very different event from what I’m used to. For the full Floripa New Year’s experience, a ticket to one of the clubs will set you back $800 USD. We opted for a private house party organized by a friend of Edouard’s, a French guy staying at the house. Despite its great potential, the party was a little disappointing, with us gringos feeling like the Portuguese who had just landed in Brazil for the first time. After midnight we ventured towards the beach, which was packed with revellers and the vibe more enjoyable. But in general, New Year’s never really lives up to its hype.

Day party at P-12

We left Floripa on the 5^th on a 7am bus to Sao Paulo having spent an all-nighter partying. Buses in Brazil are generally quite comfortable, with reclining seats and foot rests, but even so a fifteen-hour journey in a bus can never be described as bliss. I spent two days in Sao Paulo, before heading to Rio for the weekend to meet with some friends from London, where a Paul Oakenfeld day party in Copacobana was mixed with more Ipanema beach downtime.

Paraty and Ilha Grande, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil

From Rio we headed six hours south, between Sao Paulo and Rio to an historic colonial coastal town, Paraty. Set amongst mountains covered in rainforest, Paraty is dotted with several idyllic tropical islands, and a day was spent on a boat exploring them. Our travelling group had now increased to me and Jared, two friends from London who I’d met up with in Rio (Chris and Remy), Edouard, the French guy from Floripa and two of his friends (Cyrielle and Carine). Paraty had a quiet, sleepy ambience to it, with its cobbled streets home to horse-drawn carts, and its old colonial houses now converted into boutique stores. Not much nightlife, but definitely a beautiful spot. From Paraty we headed two hours back up the coast north towards Rio, to the much talked about island of Ilha Grande.

Island hopping in Paraty

Hard at work

A quick rest after epic football session

The cobbled streets of Paraty

The island is a two-hour ferry ride from the main land, and is definitely a tropical paradise, and the least developed of  the beach spots I have seen in Brazil. The ambience is hippy, with the only cars on the island an ambulance and a fire truck, and sand streets. There are no ATMs on the island, and while we were there internet and credit card machines were down. Given that we had not been able to use the ATM before our arrival, we only had 200 Reais (about 80 GBP) between us for the three days there, with the hostel, food and transport still to pay. We resorted to cooking meals at the hostel and limited ourselves to only one beer a night. The island is home to one of Brazil’s official top 10 beaches, Praia Lopes Mendez, a true beauty and accessed by a rewarding two hour trek through the jungle or an hour’s ferry ride.

Arrival port - llha Grande

View from trek

Jungle Trek

Praia Lopes Mendez

Me and Jared

More of the crew

From Ilha Grande we headed back to Rio to enjoy the weekend. Rio pretty much felt like home as I was staying in the apartment I spent a month in, and didn’t feel the need to be looking to do new things all the time. On the Sunday night we went to a concert of one of Brazil’s most famous musicians, Gilberto Gil, who was also culture minister under Lula in the previous government (the equivalent of making David Bowie culture minister in the UK) – a great experience.

Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

On the 18^th January, I flew with Jared (I guess I am no longer technically travelling solo anymore) to Salvador, Brazil’s first colonial capital and the biggest city in the North East, capital of Bahia state. Known for its Afro-Brazilian influence, (Salvador was a large hub for the slave trade in South America), the city has a constant heartbeat of drum rhythms and Capoeira dancing (a type of non-contact martial art derived from slaves), and the locals are notoriously the nicest in Brazil, and that is saying a lot. I experienced this when my two good friends Kyle and Dan (there’s your token shout-out, tossers) put me in touch with a few friends they had met when on a trip last year. Over a few choppes (lagers) we shared a few laughs, and despite the brief encounter their warmth, openness and hospitality was easily recognisable.

View over Salvador

The famous art-deco lift that connects uptown with downtown

Capoiera on the streets

Baian woman serving Acarajé, typical Bahian snack

Salvador's UNESCO coloured buildings

The city has several beaches that are fairly unspectacular compared to those of Rio’s or cities further north. The colonial part of the city (yet another of Brazil’s UNESCO world heritage sites) is its true attraction, with narrow cobble-stoned streets and colourful buildings, all viewed with the constant background sound of African drums. Food in Salvador is very different to the rest of Brazil and generally much better and more diverse, with more spices and sauces used due to its African influences. Interestingly, Salvador is the only place in Brazil where the sun sets over the sea as it is on the inside of a peninsula.

Morro de Sao Paulo, Bahia, Brazil

Morro is an island two hours off the coast of Salvador, where I spent a weekend. Foam parties, more stunning beaches and a lot of Argentineans on their summer holidays – Argentinians tend to be far less open and friendly than the Brazilians, and I have gained a preference for Portuguese over Spanish (Spanish now sounds like Swiss to a German)…. From there, we headed back to Salvador for a night, before flying on to Natal further north.

Foam party

Sunrise

Beaches ain't half bad

Natal, Rio Grande de Nord, Brazil

Natal is a big beach city in the Northeast, with decent nightlife and a nice city beach that is good for surfing. Having experienced the city life of Rio, Sao Paulo and Salvador, and seen plenty of beautiful beaches, Natal was nothing too exciting. We spent two days there, one surfing on the beach, and the other taking Natal’s notorious beach buggies exploring the coast and sand dunes north of the city, with some impressive views and some steep drops (we opted for the ride ‘com emoção’ – with emotion).

Beach buggy tour of the coast

Hard at work

Praia de Pipa, Rio Grande de Nord, Brazil

Pipa is one and half hours drive south of Natal, and famous for its stunning beaches, good surf and kitesurf, and fun nightlife. A lot of people had recommended a stop in Pipa, and it certainly did not disappoint. One of my favourite stops on the trip so far, it boasts some incredible beaches with white sand, blue waters and lush vegetation. Praia dos Golfinhos (dolphin’s beach), accessible only at low tide, guarantees dolphin sightings every day given its calm waters. The original plan of spending three days was quickly pushed to five upon arrival. The town has several stunning beaches, each with its own characteristics, and the town itself although small has a lot to offer, including some good restaurants, a few fun bars and one impressive club that played good electro on the weekend, and forro (music typical of Bahia state that is danced to as a couple) on Sundays. Jared and I managed to get a kitesurf lesson in amongst beautiful surroundings and during an amazing sunset – a dream! Lessons are supposedly cheaper further north, where we will stop for a week and nail the lessons once and for all…. And by then hopefully I’ll be up and running and will buy my own equipment as renting each time is a big cost.

Praia de Amore, Pipa - beautiful beach

Kitesurfing at sunset

Praia de Madera - one of the best

It was hard to leave Pipa, but our next stop beckoned. We managed to book the day before departure a spot on the secluded and notoriously beautiful island of Fernando de Noronha, an incredible getaway 300 miles off the coast of Brazil in the Atlantic – this is not really the domain of backpackers as prices are extremely high, but given our hard work we decided to treat ourselves. Brazil’s official beach bible gives only four beaches a 5-star rating, and three of them are located on the island. It is something else, paradise. It deserves its own blog post, so I will leave it for another time. At this point, I have amassed enough of Brazil’s famous beaches to make a top ten ranking, which I will also do at a later date.

Only recently have I noticed that my standard going-to-the-beach wear displays no less than four Brazilian flags, some more discreet than others. My havaianas (Brazil’s famous rubber flip flops), beach towel, swimming trunks and cap (which along with my blackberry have recently been lost to the great Atlantic Ocean – I was toppled over by a wave that crept up on me). As mentioned in a previous post, the Brazilian flag is literally everywhere – at restaurants, at bus stops, at hostels, you name it – with the natives and tourists alike proud and happy to wear it. There is no threat of nationalistic pride; this is not an expression of superiority, simply recognition of a fantastic country and its general feel-good factor (it’s also a damn nice flag, which rather ironically has ordem e progresso, order and progress, emblazoned on it – I would probably beg to differ). Brazil’s landscapes, its culture, its music, its vibe is in my opinion simply unbeatable.

I am now in the backpacker and kitesurfer’s paradise of Jericoacoara, in the north of Brazil, where the coast is now East-West rather than North-South. It’s a really chilled out spot and I’ve managed to improve my kiting substantially. From here, it’s further north and into the Amazon.

Keep well,

BTW…