Salvador - BRAZIL

Salvador - more soul and samba on the Brazilian coast...

We had heard a lot about Salvador, many good and many bad, excellent beaches, great culture and food but on the downside that Salvador could be very edgy and dangerous, so bad that our guide quoted that if you were going to get robbed in South America, Salvador would be the place! 

Salvador was one of the major ports where slaves from Africa were brought to Brazil, to be sold off to the rest of South America, and because of this it now has a real mix of African and Brazilian culture and ways of life. 

After our first successful couch surf we decided to do the same in Salvador, our host this time was Axl, a huge fan of English culture and good old rock and roll. He met us at the airport and took us to his neighbourhood and we spent the evening talking about rock bands and the English royal family. Pretty exhausted from our travels we decided to hit the sack and have an early night.

With us now located on the coast in the north, the temperature was perfect for a day on the beach, so we headed to Bahia to go and catch some sun. As soon as we get out of the taxi it starts to piss it down relentlessly, so our only option was to find a bar and have a couple of beers to kill time and wait for the sun to come out. Around 6 beers later, slightly merry, the sun comes out and we head to the beach located right off the main strip of the town.

The sea was glorious, crystal clear water with many locals taking a dip in the afternoon. Conveniently for us we had a chap selling beer and another selling chicken kebabs nearby, perfect for our merry selves! Once we've had enough beer and kebab we head off to have a walk around. This part of Salvador definitely had an edgy feeling about with some dodgy characters hanging about, but hey the sea, sand and sun far outweighed this.

On the beach called Porto de Barra

Michael diving into the sea

Fish caught

Traditional martial arts practised in Salvador called Capoeira

Main attraction  Forte de San Antonio de Barra 

Sweaty Samba in the old town Lively Pelourinhos

We head back to Axl's house and watch a few British comedies and then Axl's friend Angelo invited us to head into Pelourinhos, the old town of Salvador, literally meaning whipping post, for a couple of drinks and to dance to samba, which happens every Tuesday. We head into the area and immediately hear wild beats and many people drinking in the streets, similar to Lapa in Rio, and this is on a Tuesday night.

We head to one of the main squares and hundreds of people are dancing in the street to a live gig going on with Latino and samba music blaring from the speakers. Tuesday night apparently is as crazy as Friday and Saturday nights, only the Brazilians would add an extra night in the week to party!!! We also saw the dark side of Salvador here, a tourist was happily filming the gig on his smartphone, holding it loosely with one hand, sure enough someone decided to grab it out of his hand and do a runner with it! 

The gig finishes and we wander the streets, head to a local bar that brews different spirits with different flavours, so we order a couple as a takeaway. Angelo then took us to a huge samba party going on in one of the buildings. We climb a flight of stairs, the band playing gets louder and as we reach the dance floor we see a hundred or so people dancing the samba all completely sweating! They sure know how to have a good time. We join in and by the end of the night we are completely soaked with sweat but with huge smiles on our faces. Jo even got chatted up around 4 times! 

For the remaining days of our stay in Salvador we decided to stay in the heart of it Pelourinhos, so we booked ourselves into a hostel smack bang in the centre. Our hostel is a complete hippy retreat, with hammocks spread across the huge vast building. Located on a dodgy street of Pelourinhos, we had to stay safe and make haste when entering the hostel as we were always getting hassled by street kids and piss heads!! Nonetheless the area was still stunning, with colonial buildings, huge churches adorning the streets. 

At night we head out and eat some great local food, similar to tapas, with shrimps, fried potatoes and a meat stew with African flavours. Lovely stuff. We spend the rest of the days taking in the area, which we loved and preparing for our next adventure, our 6 day boat trip up the Amazon river from Manaus to Leticia in Colombia.

Popular free concert every Tuesday nights

Me, Michael and Angelo

The samba band at the free samba party

Where the samba party was

Pelourinhos, me and a lady dressed in a traditional bahia outfit

Sao Paulo- A wonderful experience! BRAZIL

This is where we had our first couch surfing experience. Couch Surfing is an online networking site, properly vetted and used by people all around the world to offer their homes to travellers and for travellers to find a place to stay during their trip. This way you can meet people all around the world and travellers can have a more enchanced experience outside the four walls of their hostels.

After sending out a few request we had a reply from a guy called Edilson who was happy to take me and Michael in for 3 nights during our stay in Sao Paulo. To tell you the truth arriving at the bus terminal was a scary ordeal, it felt like a blind date, we just didnt know what we would be walking into. Suddenly we were regretting not booking a hostel the conventional way.

But it worked out completely fine, Edilson met us at the meeting point and as soon as we met him we knew we would be okay. He had a lovely manner about him and kind eyes. He even went out his way to buy us a pre topped up metro card for the underground so we could reach his home without worrying about money. We were struck by his kindness. Edilson like many living in the megalopolis had to commute everyday for work as homes near the centre were only for the rich. It took us 2 hours to get to his home, consisting of 3 metros, a train and a bus. He kept apologising for being so far away but we assured him it was fine and we were really grateful that he was having us. For me all I could think of was poor Edilson, having to do this commute twice a day, every day!

As we were nearing his stop Edilson warned us that he lived with his family and lead a simple life in a ghetto. He actually even apologised for this which just shows what a humble, gentle person he was. We assured him that this was not a problem, a couch would do us just fine, we werent people with high needs either. He then showed us his room and offered us his bed while he slept in the sofa during our entire stay. A decision he would not let us protest. He even went to the length of getting Michael and I brand new toothpaste and soap to use.

Edilson had cleared his plans for the weekend so he could entertain us which was really sweet of him. On the Saturday he took us to the City Centre and showed us around the sites with a friend and her English teacher. Now this man was a character. He was German and his name was Reinhard and he had moved to Sao Paulo 13 years ago with his late wife. It was unbelievable that this man in his 50s was living in the middle of the ghetto and with little portugeese and was doing just fine. There with his bright red shirt, white skin and john lennon like glasses he stuck out like a sore thumb. He was teaching English for a living but come his retirement he had dreams of travelling South America. He told us of the curruption that cripples Brazil, such as bribes to process business deals etc. He had tons of stories which he would tell in a comical way. He was a very endearing man and Michael had even found a likeness of Stefan in him. Reinhard took us to a great chinease in the Japanese/Chinese quarter and we had lunch there before walking around the stalls. We were then taken to Campinas Avenue where all the large buildings stood tall. Here are some pictures of what we saw...

Alyn, Edilson, me and Reinhart

Reinhart explaining how stupid the metro system was, very comical

At the excellentChinese 

Japanese Quaters

Skyline of Sao Paulo

Campina Avenue

In the evening we were invited to BBQ by one of Edilsons friends who we had spent the day with. Happily we agreed to go, a BBQ with real brazilian locals was for us a great treat. Much like Edilson she also apologised for the house where the BBQ was, as it was very simple. Once again we assured her we dont mind all, we were rather looking forward to it. That evening Edilsons friends Chuck came around the house before the BBQ with a crate of beer ready for our Saturday night out at the BBQ. Edilson explained his name was Chuck as people thought he looked like Chucky, the doll form the Horror film. We thought this was hilarious and terrible at the same time as he looked nothing like the phyco doll. Now Chucky spoke no English but instantly Michael and Chucky got on like a house of fire. Once again the kindness overwhelmed us as Chucky would not accept any money for the beer. Then Edilsons gf and her friend Vivian came to the house and we all had a drink together. They also spoke no English but we got on fine. Before we went out for the BBQ , Chuck announced to Michael that he loved him, Edilson laughed and explained what he said then Chuck quickly corrected himself and said no, no, no, noo! I mean I like you, I LIKE YOU! haha that turned out to be the joke for the rest of the night.

Edilson warned us to not take anything of value to this BBQ as we were in the ghetto and there might be some unsavory characters there. So unfortunately we have no pictures of this night and in actual truth the camera would have been fine. We rocked up to the party full swinging in a court yard, the BBQ was sizzling and the beer was flowing. Reinhard had told us that people only left when the beer stopped at Brazilian BBQs, not when the food stops but most importantly when the alcohol is gone. Michael said quite proudly "That sounds like one of my family BBQs". We were met with kindess all around and given food and drink all night, we were told not to even bring anything, we couldnt believe it. The BBQ was amazing, so good, we told the man serving us (who would always make sure me and Michael had the first piece when serving up) that he was the Rei de BBQ - which means the king of the BBQ. He acknowledged this with a great big smile on his face.

We always had a drink in hand and we tried to speak to locals with broken Spanish that we knew. One man there told me "We might have nothing here but we are happy". I agreed with him, they did have nothing but they must have been the friendliest, happiest people I have ever met. We had a a lot of laughs with Edilsons friends and we all staggered back home together like a group of old friends, chatting and laughing along the way.We truly had a great night.

The next day we went with our new group of friends to a Chaurasco, which is a Brazilian meat house where you put a green card for more and a red card to stop. This has been mimicked all over the world now but this is where it orginated from. We went to this fantastic one in the ghetto which was only 10 pounds each per person. To think in  Leeds there is a Charasco that charges 50 per person, five times more the price! Once again we felt like we were with friends rather than just travelling. We ate good food and were in the company of great people. At the end we were horrified when the group split our bill between them and paid for us. It was a big bill too as we had drank a lot beer. I tried to give money but once again it was declined, they assured us that we were visiting them and they look after their friends. Once again it was unbelievable considering in England there is always a tight arse that whats to split the bill to the last penny.

The kindness continued as Chuck gave Michael a football strip of his favourite team Corinthians and Edilson gave me his teams shirt which was Sao Paulo. The day we were leaving Edilson had work very early so we asked if he could tell us what tube to get to the airport for our flight to our next destination Salvador and we would make our own way there. He wouldnt have any of it and volunteered to be late for work to take us there. Then Vivian and Edilsons gf said they would take us which they did, they met us very early at the tube station and even paid for our fare. She then gave me a present of a beautiful blue beaded cross and a beer cup for Michael from a local festival they have in Sao Paulo. The kindness was so great that a few times I had to stop myself from crying, they completely touched our hearts. This kindness did not have an interior motive, it was kindness in its purist form and this was what was so touching. We have exchanged details with all of them and told them we will see them again. We would like to show them the same kindness they have showed us. Edilson and his friends gave us an experience that money cannot buy and we will treasure the memory of this trip forever. 

Chuck and Michael and Michael is wearing the top he gave him

It was so yummy at the Chaurasco

Group shot

Last photo before we fly out to Salvador with Edilsons gf, vivian and me

Florinopolis - BRAZIL

Our next trip was to Florianopolis on the coast of Brazil. It had been a while since we had been to a beach so we were really looking forward to it, and plus we had heard rave reviews from fellow travellers.

We stayed at one of the best hostels here, called Submarino, it was situated right on a huge lagoon and within close reach of the small centre. We stayed here for five or so days, we mostly relaxed and took it easy. With it being low season we were the only ones in the hostel so most nights it was a bottle of red and a DVD, or some nights playing scrabble to pass the time ( I won by the way but Jo was very close to beating me!).

Our hostel had free kayaks which we could take on the lake, so as soon as the sun was out we headed to the lagoon and off we went. We paddle across to the lake, passing huge mansions on the shore, this place was definitely a millionaires neighbourhood! We get far enough with our arms  aching and lungs short of breath, take a breather and then decide to head back. At this point the weather had turned, with the wind now against us on the way back. What took us half an hour on the way there took us an hour and a half to gt back, with Jo winging pretty much all the way, so she told me, luckily I was too far ahead to hear! We get back to the hostel and it starts to piss down! On goes a DVD.

The next day the sun again is out and we hire some cycles and head to one of the many beaches. Brazil sure has its share of great beaches, amongst the best I have seen and this place was no different, here are some pics....

The beautiful lake where we went kayaking

Beach time

Brave surf kids waiting for the huge waves to calm down before jumping in!

The rest of the time was spent lazzying about and sorting out our remaining stay in Brazil.

Foz do iguacu - Wonderful Waterfalls - BRAZIL

Sadly we had to leave Rio, one of our favourite cities in South America and possibly even the world!, but with our souls filled with the beat of samba, carphiranis and the kindness of the locals we were ready to see our next supposed wonder of the world, the Uguacu waterfalls...
Located in the southern part of Brazil on the border of Paraguy and Argentina, are the 'must see'waterfalls consisting of 275 80m high drops across two of the three borders. We decided only to visit the Brazillian side  of the falls as my passport was now lacking the clean pages for the visa stamps for the countires we were still to visit over the next 4 months, so did not want to waste any pages going to the Argentinian side.

Off we headed on local bus 231, sun shinning, rge oerfect day. We arrive at what looks like the entrance to Alton Towers, obviously this attraction pulled in enough money to build a elaborate entrance to pull even more money from the tourists pockets. Luckily for us, with Brazil being very expensive meaning we were on a tight budget, we had come prepared with homemade sandwiches and snacks. We pay our entrance fee and get on a coach which will take us to the falls.

As we weren't seeing the Argentinian side we decided earlier that we would catch a speed boat that would navigate us to see the full falls from the river, and later by foot on the Brazilian side the falls from above from various viewpoints.

So we hop off the bus at stop one and onto a golf buggie towing carrieges full of people through towering forrests engulfing the banks of the river. We get changed into clother we dont mind getting wet, and start to walk towards the river down the bank. We pass people returning from the boat trip and NOW we see why we need a change of clothes as there was not a dry person in sight!!

We board the speedboat with around 12 other people, us being the only ones who are not adorning ponchos! We sit in the front seats with four more people perched along the front rubber sides of the boat.

Off we go at high speed against the current of the river jumping and steering across upcoming breaks and waves with each yielding small screams from the people sat around us. We can hear the thunder of the falls and around five minutes later the impressive collection of 85m high falls come into view, creating huge clouds of mist with many rainbows arching through them. 
Having seen many waterfalls on our travels this was certainly the most WOWing. our captain, clad in full rubber with only his eyes poking out, steered the boat towards one of the thundering falls. Screams get louder mixed with enermous laghter as the front end dipped in and we all feel the full source of the fall and get completely soaked.

No poncho in the world would keep you dry from that amount of water, and as the boat comes and the thundering water the two ladies infront of us were laughing hysterically as they empty their ponchos and realise that their designer sunglases which rested skew across their faces from the force of the water. i look over to Jo and she has a huge smile across her face with her being completely soaked.

We dart from fall to fall and then it's time to return. Now going downstream the speed of the boat was somewhat faster than on the way there, jumping over huge waves and rapids. The expert captain steered over one huge rapid slowly, as the front tipped over allowing the big wave to completely engulf and smash the front of the boat. The wave hit me square in the face, disorientated and soaked I found one of the ladies sitting on my lap placed there with the force of the water. Embarressed and a million apologies later she gets off my lap and back into her seat! We get back and get changed into our dry clothes, part one of the falls done and what a WAY!!!

We hop onto the bus and make our way nearer to the top of the falls. A 4mile walk and we get to see the full falls spreading across a huge panorama showing both sides of Brazil and 
Argentina. 

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We visit all the viewpoints and even see some local wildlife, i can only describe them as racoons but they are probably not, funny little things anyway!

An impressing day and back to the hostel with one more day before we head off to Florinopolis, the millionnaire island on the coast.