Ipanema and last sunset in Rio de Janeiro

After almost 3 months of traveling we reached our last destination - Rio de Janeiro.
Here our travel comes to an end.
We feel little bit sad but at the same time we are looking forward to meet our friends and family again. :) :) :)

Salvador - colonial pearl

Brazil's northeast coast was home to large sugar plantations originally built on slave labor, which is evident in the distinct African influence that can still be seen today.

Nicknamed the “City of Happiness”, Salvador is noted for its music, food, arts, and architecture.

 

Understanding Brazilians

Brazil isn't growing - so why are Brazilians so happy ?

Brazil, really put itself on the economic map. Having grown by 2.3% a year between 1995 and 2002, it grew by 4% annually in the following eight years. The Brazilian research institute, regularly finds that two-thirds to three-quarters of families say their financial situation improved during the past year, and that they expect it to get even better in the year ahead.
In December, a global pollster, found that those optimistic about the economy outnumbered pessimists by a wider margin in Brazil than in any other large economy. (Source: The Economist)

The underlying reason is that even though the country as a whole is struggling, most families’ incomes are still rising fast. Unemployment is close to record lows and pay rises are comfortably outstripping inflation, partly because of big hikes to the minimum wage, but also because of that tight jobs market.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/05/economist-explains-why-brazilians-happy-slow-growth-brazil

Our observations

But apart from that, we have noticed some characteristics amongst Brazilian society. After spending 1 month in this beautiful country we noticed that:

• One of the most distinctive characteristics of the Brazilian people is their generosity, which they show liberally, even to strangers
• Brazilian people adhere to a much slower pace of life than what those from western nations may be accustomed to. There is basically a 'que sera sera' attitude -whatever will be, will be - and the people take things as they unfold, accepting the 'flow' of life with calm and patience. You can expect to spend a lot of time waiting, so just relax, take a deep breath, and enjoy the scenery of this beautiful country.
• they are very friendly and social. They will engage you in animated conversations and especially enjoy talking about soccer, family, and children.
• Do not worry about punctuality.
• Sunday is a hung-up day. It's a family day - as family is certainly in the center of their culture.
• Brazilians are crazy about lotteries. Otherwise, how can you get rich fast? :) Lottery sale in Pipa:

• When having a conversation with them, you may have an impression that they are impolite. They are just direct. !!! (personally I found it not bad).

•   When Brazilians play music - it must be loud. Either loud or no music. You have the impression that everything goes in samba or bossanova rhythm.

•   They are SO excited about the soccer. Especially that the World Cup is coming soon. They are ready. But what about do the stadiums? Not so sure about it...

• The food is religion. 

• English is a problem. They just don't speak English. However, they are willing to use hands and other objects to be helpful. They understand Spanish which made our conversations a great success.

• If you think you are gonna withdraw some money from ATM - think twice. Your ATM will probably not work. Many times we h ad to come back with nothing after 20km drive to the next bank. Cash is a king - as Basti says.

 Sunset in Salvador

...just a little sidestory from Salvador, a beautiful city with visible colonial history

...one night, actually tonight, ok, we just came back from it (and found it worth to blog about it straight away), we went to a restaurant, which tripadvisor recommended us as a must try!

The menu promised delicious food...and everything which I liked was also possible to get in one menu offer including 4 courses.

Karina chose a starter, main and desert of the "normal" menu (see plate de jour).

After a big while, we got served our glasses of wine...and despite ordering two glasses of white wine, we got served one white and one red (which was btw ice cold...why do people do this? :-) ). Changing the one glass back into white wine, we received our starters...but somehow they forgot about my ouvre bouche (my first starter). Oh well, no problem I thought...they just mixed the order of the dishes...easy.

But then, Karinas main arrived...leaving me with nothing but an empty plate...which was filled with my main dish 15min afterwards. OK, bye bye ouvre bouche.

Getting to the desert, the guys forgot about me, again, but kindly offered me half of Karinas desert. How nice is that! I insisted on my own...and felt a little challenged.

This challenge then truly emerged, when I tried to explain the waiter (meanwhile, we had roundabout 3 waiters randomly taking care of us) in my best Spanish/Portuguese mix (because English is a "dead language" here :-) ), that I don`t want to have my first starter now after having the desert, but he should apply a discount and get us the bill.

Not possible...! Karina and I smiled at him and kindly asked him to make it possible...what we got was then an invoice, with only the items which we actually had...meaning, that he calculated all dishes of the menu offer which I had separately...getting to a price which was even higher than the menu offer. Hmmm, someone didn`t quite understand the idea of a menu offer I guess :-).

Finally, the owner of the restaurant appeared and we explained him in English our issue...and then the clarification process started: he ran off our table and was shouting in Portuguese...we didn`t understand the content, but could feel the tension in the air! Then he ran back to our table...which one was it??? Which one of the waiters ("servants") did take your order...he asked very hectic. But we didn`t know, as they all had darker skin and were dressed in black and had similar looks. Also, we didn`t feel like pointing at one to blame him. "But it would really help me", the guy told and was shouting across the restaurant to get all his employees to us at the table.

The picture which we got then was absurd! The "white master" ordering his 3 "darkskinned servants" to our table, the guys were standing there heads down, and we were asked to point out the one which took our initial order (and apparently did the mistake; I guess that was the thinking). Honestly, we were quite embarrassed and somehow felt drawn back into colonial times.

And don`t get us wrong...this post does`t have any racist intention, but what we experienced was just so absurd and shameful, especially if you consider the history of the city.

End of the story was that one guy took over the responsibility, everyone rushed off, and the "white master" told us he is "sorry for the kids".

And we didn`t have to pay for the drinks.

And we arrived safely at the hotel without getting beaten up by the angry waiters.
 

Can traveling make you tired?

Life is not bad. Recife

 After almost 2,5 months of traveling we arrived in Nannai for well deserved 4 days of rest.

Indeed, intense traveling makes you tired. At the beginning, we were so keen on every attraction, every museum and so on. Within the time, we started to be more and more selective.

At the end, we search for some more rest :) :) :)

But of course, these are single days. We have quite a big schedule for the next week: Salvador and Rio de Janeiro are waiting for us.

It's a Mother's Day in Poland today. Mamo, zycze Ci wszystkiego Najlepszego! Mam nadzieje, ze kwiaty dojechaly :)

Next update to come soon from Salvador!

 

Pipa Beach lifestyle

Come and see the sunset in Jeri

 Sunset celebration

It's a tourist attraction of Jericoacoara to watch the sunset, have a drink and dance capoeira on the beach. Not a bad life, isn't it?

Travelling is .... waiting....

We are on our way somewhere between Natal and Recife. As it's Sunday - everything is calm and slow. No big movements, please.
Tonight we hope to get to one of beach resorts 50km from Recife.
Fingers crossed!!!
Below, Basti killig time with coca-cola zero and his phone.

Drive through the night, through the dunes and on 3 wheels

"Lets drive to Jeri!!"...this was the beginning of one funny adventure in the dunes between Prea...and Jeri.

But lets start over...after one long day which we spent exploring the area of Tatajuba with our driver Tibor, we came back to our Hotel (Kite Brazil Hotel; btw an excellent place to stay if you are in the area!). In the morning we already agreed with a Brazilian couple which was also staying in the hotel, to get some dinner together...so we waited.

After one beer, they arrived and we discussed our options for the night. As it was already late and during the week, all the gourmet temples in Prea had already closed...so the conclusion was..."Lets drive to Jeri!!".

Jeri ("Jericoacoara") is about 10 km away from Prea, but the special thing is that the connecting road is going by/on/through the beach and the sand dunes...of course with very good infrastructure like many signs and lots of streetlights...NOT!

Well, me telling before that I like to drive in every country I am as well as our Brazilian friend having a broken leg, I was the one to drive. We also took Stefan with us, a long time guest of the hotel who is building his house directly next to it.

Our vehicle of choice (or nor choice as it was the only available) was a beach buggy which the Brazilian couple rented.

Ok, lets roll...that what we thought until the ignition of the car fell in the dash board while turing the keys to start the car. Fail number one.

Getting all our flashlights out, after some minutes and unconstructing half of the buggy, we finally found the ignition and tried to get it back in place. After this was done, however, we found one part of the ignition in our hands...so not back on its place. Oh well, if it works without, we don`t put everything apart again...and yes, it worked.

The buggy running, the 5 of us finally climbed the buggy in order to keep going...and we went. Driving the buggy, you could clearly feel that the so called Marea (or sth similar)...thats the word used by the locals for everything what the salty air and water does to your car...meaning the rust, the loose clutch (finding the gears was an interesting adventure itself) and so on. The buggy was not the "freshest" anymore.

But we are not complaining...it drives.

Going through the dark night, it was quite hard to guess the right way...but with the help of all we managed to drive through sand, crossing a river by simply driving through (I was not tooooo shure, if the water was not too deep...but the advice was to just speed up and dont stop...great advice :-) ).

So we were driving through the sand, the beach at our right, until all of a sudden, an unusual noice had its star appearance of the night...yes, a flat tire.

We "chose" to have the flat tire in the middle of the dunes, so there was no chance to wait for someone to come bye or to help...and the guy who rented out the buggy didnt pick up his phone. It appeared, that the Brazilian Couple rented a buggy, which had already an emergency tire on...which was the one that got flat. What a surprise!

So with a minimum speed, we continued our travel, passing some donkeys having fun during the night, all the way to Jeri...where we parked and searched for a mechanic to help us.

(Below, the star of the night)

No mechanic nearby an me getting really hungry (breakfast was already far far away) we ended up finally going to get some food.

Getting back was the next task to organize...as the guy who rented out the buggy finally picked up the phone, he promised to send a guy for us to get back.

After waiting and waiting, a taxi buggy was driving by...we stopped it but the guy wanted too much money for the transfer. The Brazilian guy then started to discuss with the driver but the couldn`t come to an agreement. We thought already that the driver was gone, until he came back to road all the way reversing towards us...strange.

After a quick discussion again, he made us the offer, that we could have his tire for the night, if we return it tomorrow...for half of our potential taxi price. We agreed :-)...in Europe no one would have made us this offer I guess :-).

So after being half way through with changing the tire, the owner of the buggy finally arrived, with a spare tire. This of course meant drama, as the one guy helping us already wanted to have his money of course (btw, he told us constantly in Portuguese, that he is in some drugs (Benzol) and also part of a popular nationwide gang...hmmm, thats also a negotiation technique I guess :-) ). And if you are now wondering how these people get their drivers licence...well, most of the buggy drivers simply don`t have one (its easier for them as they can`t loose it then :-) ).

Guy gone, tire on, us back in the hotel, there was only the problem, that the buggy still made noices...appeared that the suspension somehow broke.

Not our business, as the sound was there even when we started, but of course this is also a "nice" way for the rental "companies" to renew their fleet...of course its always the client who broke the suspension and not simply the disastrous condition of the buggy itself...but thats another story :-))))...

Driving through lakes and lagoons

Jericoacoara National Park 

The word Jericoacoara comes from Tupi (an indigenous language) and means "house of turtles." It is a town and a beach of Ceará, as well as the name of the national park created in its surroundings.

 They say that Lago Paraiso and Lake Tatajuba is a must see in Jeri.
In general, the roads around are bumpy and sandy. (forget about asphalt here!). You need a good driver and a 4x4 vehicle to drive around. Many times we were surprised where can you drive with those cars.


At first, little rafting through the river - a big trust to the guys!

On our way to Tatajuba lake, we saw parts of salty mangrove forest.

Tatajuba Lake

 Some quality time in the hammock:

 Sailing through mangrove to search for seahorses and crabs.

Male seahorse:


 Female seahorse:

 

Lagoa Paraiso  - muito bom !

The name suits it well. Here, you get a clear water, silence and great seafood.

 

Our remarks:

To get those trips in a high season - you need to bargain with your driver. Brazil is not a cheap country and the prices in high season can get really crazy here.

This is still not the top tourist destination in Brazil - maybe due to difficult access. They  say - electricity was set up here only 10 years ago. Before there was no commerce here, no foreigners... and no police (our friend - Alberto was happy about it). The closest big city is 3-4 hours away (by 4x4). It's gonna be interesting to follow how they manage the world cup there next year.

Jericoacoara National Park imposes regulations on inhabitants regarding building new places. This means, there will be never big agglomeration there. However, it's relatively easy for foreigners to buy a property in state of Ceara.

Life goes slowly in Prea

Off the Gringo trail

Our beach hopping marathon has started in Province Ceara, Brazil. After flying to Fortaleza we took a 4x4 taxi which brought us 350km toward the north, to the small town of Prea, only 12 km away from famous Jericoacoara.
 The roads are pretty bad here so you need to have a 4x4 car to drive.
This can be the reason that the classic tourism has not yet arrived here.
People say that 25 years ago, there was no electricity here, no cars and not a single tourist.

Prea itself is a bit like a ghost town. Everything you have here is: sun, sand, wind and the ocean.
We stay at Kite hotel Brazil which has everything we need at the moment - bungalows, nice view and hammocks :)

 

Selling coconuts

 

Photo impressions from Sacred Valley and La Paz

 Folklore street performance, Cuzco

Streets of Cuzco

 A nap in La Paz ;)

La Paz  -  main square