Second Day in Amazon

Bloody technology. Just spent about an hour updating this date and lost it all when I tried to post. I'll be dammed if I'm gonna try and update now. Here is a summary:

Early morning 'game viewing'
Centipede land on my foot
Find sloth
Long boat ride to village
Lunch is dodgy chicken and tapier meat
- I even went and a web site http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&um=1&hl=en&q=tapier&btnG=Search+Images
See how they make that horrible powder from 'Manyok' (sp?) root
Gringo's vs Brazilians football match. We loose 20 - 5!
Eat horrible piranha soup for dinner
Go spear fishing and find a black caiman.

This was some of the funniest stuff I have ever written. Seriously!

First Day In Amazon

This morning we said cheers to Pix. I wish him the best of luck as he was going on the boat for another 11 days. Thats a lot!

We then met up with the rest of the group going on the Jungle Trip: Anthony and Chloe (who were also on the Clivia with us from Belem), and J-Mike and Liam (who have both just finished Uni at Notre Dame - of Ruddie fame). Elso was to be our guide for the five days in the Amazon.

A taxi ride to a port and we were on the Amazon again to get to the south bank. We stopped off at the point where the Rio Solomains and the Rio Negro meet to form the Amazon River. Its a bit like where the flows into the .

From the south bank port we took another taxi to get to a tributary of the Amazon where most of our time would be spent. Once there we got onto another boat and travelled at a leasurely pace enjoying the forest and sights on either bank before we got to our first camp - a permanently floating house. We relaxed for a while there and then went for a magical boat ride through what I call the sunken forest (actually the flooded forest).

The feeling of being in this ancient environment was truely wonderful. Especially with the silence we maintained. You could hear every insect, every bird call and the splash of an iguana as it drops into the waters so as not to be spotted by us.

Later that afternoon after lunch we went piranha fishing! Yeah baby! I cant remember the exact scores but mine was around 4 catches. Its very good fun and in a way thereputic.

From the pirahna fishing we went and watched the sunset from behind an egret (heron according to Elso) nesting area. After that we went caiman hunting and found a little beauty (about 40cm long) which we all got to handle. It was black caiman.

Manaus - Operation Tour Operator Hunt

Mission: find the best tour at the cheapest price possible.
Code name: Cheap

James, Mianne and I went to three tour operators and tried to find the best deal we could. The third guy we went to see got our bid at 600 Reals a pop for a five day jungle experience.

His winning arguments:

1 - We get a jaguar proof mosquito net. My mosquito net back home is lion proof (tried and tested) but this one comes with an additional feature. A hammock.
2 - We get to build our own jungle camp ie we get to play with our own machete.
3 - This company goes the furthest into the jungle than any other company.

All lies:

1 - The jaguar proof mosquito net was not mosquito proof.
2 - The jungle camp was already built. And they cheated by using a plastic tarpaulin. No palm frond roof.
3 - We didn't go as far into the jungle as promised.

But I still loved the experience. We landed with, in my opinion, an excelent guide - Elso. But he could spin a yarn.

Manaus - Day One

We arrived at port around 23:30 the night before and walked through a ghost town looking for a hotel to stay at.

I'm not sure what we did all of today but I know Zack had to get on a boat at 14:00 or so... for another three days. What a brave man!

I think the day was a right off after all the beers we had the night before. Just to make up for beer not drunk on the boat. Everyone tasted real good.

Fifth and final Day on Clivia

On day two Pix decided to start a fitness regime. All in aid to kill the boredom. On day three it was implemented. On day four it was stopped. I hurt my abs (yes like a little girl), which were sore for the next week. No more medicine ball exercises for me (using a five liter water bottle). But the kids did enjoy it and some of them got involved.

Our "Last Supper" was horrendous. I think they fed us chopped up cows udder!

Fourth Day on Clivia

This is the mum that fed her baby all day every day. Good boob watching. She didn't mind... I hope.



Pix entertaining kids.



This little cuttie is actually a mogwie, a gremlin is disguise. She is the daughter in the family we befriended.



Great sunsets every night.



There were a load of kids that always tried to board our ship (in comparison). This kid got it right but had nothing to sell. He did it for the sport I suppose. But there were others that brought fruit and other things to sell on board.



This is our boat. The Clivia, on the day of departure. Sounds funny!

The Clivia Society
Society for those desiring to know more about Clivia culture, development and photo gallery.

http://www.cliviasociety.org/



Yum, dinner, or is it lunch. Not sure.

Third Day on Clivia

The pics aren't in date order. As I said it was one long day with nights between.

Here you can see one of James` past times. He actually got on the boat very sick (as well as hungover) so he was man down for a few days. But he perseverd and made it to the other side in good spirits.



We got off the boat twice. Once at a small town which is the only place we had a beer the entire trip. It was a drying out session... and the beer on board was very expensive. Here I`m selling shares on the market.



This is the meet we ate. There was a full butchers station for them to hack, yes hack, the meat into manageable portion.



This is a beef curtain! At the posh dinning table. Engine room on the left. Ha ha ha!



Why don`t pirates smoke?
Because they wear patches!
Arrrrgh Arrrrgh mee matey!

Second Day on Clivia

By this time the boredom had set in. There was absolutely nothing to do. So we played with the kids on board. Pix was a good hand at entertaining them with all his antics.

We befriended a family that hung their hammocks next to ours. It was a great set-up. Pix would entertain their kids and they would give us cheese and other goodies.

Sometimes the boat would doc at a town and the locals would jump on board with a million things to sell from knick-knack to food. I went fore the food: ice-cream, coconut fudge, coconut biscuit, fried salted banana, weird fruits, drinks, cheese and other sweets. The coconut fudge was my favorite.

First Day on Clivia

The days all seem to have melded into one. Every day had the same routine.

Up before sunrise

Wait for Breakfast two minutes after sunrise - sweet coffee and a roll or biscuit if the rolls ran out.

Lunch at 10:30am (no jokes) - meat, rice, spaghetti, beans, coleslaw salad sometimes, water

Dinner at 15:30 (again... no jokes) - meat, rice, beans, no spaghetti and no salad (thats how you distinguish lunch and dinner), water.

We had the same dish for every meal for five days... straight!

Dinner politics: the men sat next to the mens ablutions and the women next to the ladies. Dinner was served in rounds as there were more people than seats available. We always aimed to eat in the last round and I tried to always sit at the ladies table: it`s a lot quieter, better view (sunset and women breast feeding!) and I found the company a lot better.

The posh people (in cabins) ate with the captain below deck... next to the engine room. ha ha ha. No conversation but they did get better food than us that included fruit and dessert!

The pick below is sunrise from the stern. And yes those are showers. Great for when its hot during the day.

Boarding the Clivia

Be prepared - thats my moto. For anything. So with blinding headaches we made prep for the boat trip. The lady from Hotel Fortaleza advised us to buy water for the boat and to get there early to get a good spot (as the Lonley Planet advises).

We bought the equivalent of 10 liters of water each (for five days travel) and got to the boat at about 12:30.

Humph! - The boat has filtered water on board. As much as you can drink in a lifetime. Its from the Amazon. And our boarding time was 17:00. So we sat with all our baggage and ten big bottles of water for a long time.

But we did meet a Brazilian dude who helped us establish our boat boarding status and a German guy, Wolfgang.

At five we were first in line to go through the customs check and almost last to put our hammocks up. While doing so we made friends with Zack, an Aussie guy on his way to Bolivia to do some volunteer work in a National Park before meeting a friend of his.

And that was our gringo party: James, Mianne, Pix, Zack and myself. There was a gringo tour group on their way to Manaus and some other gringos in cabins but we were traveling peasant class so didn`t spend as much time with them.

As they day drew to a close more and more and more and more people started boarding the boat. Much to our surprise. We all thought we had the prime spot as there were very few hammocks around us when we put ours up. By the time we left we had the most crowded section. With the exception of James and Mianne. Good advice - hang your hammock next to the stairwell.

Then we were off. No dinner on night one, glad I had that scrumptious soup for lunch!

"Today we spent preparing for the big boat trip up the Amazon to Manaus for tomorrow. I'll be under the radar for a while. Cheers

As luck would have it the boat we were supposed to go on, the Santarem has problems with the propeller. So the only thing to do is get drunk and wait to bored tomorrow evening on another boat."

Updated - This morning we met a guy named Pix at the breakfast table (breakfast at Hotel Fortaleza is coffee). My first thought was "Whoa, this guys a wild canon". He had tatoos all the way up both arms, on his legs and you could see his entire chest was covered in tatoos. He was explaining to us how he had spent the previous evening drinking cognac with all sorts of exotic shamanic additions, including: jaguar blood, anaconda blood, natural viagra and a host of other additions I dare not think about. After that he was given a "magical" (my words) cigaret which landed him in a cop shop for a few hours. Once he was released he got "rolled" for a few items he had on him and somehow found his way home. I think he`d actually been out with another Aussie bird to a club before coming home. He then went on to explain he was studying a psychology course that included natural medicines and traditional beliefs (I forget the technical term). He was on his way to Peru, Iquitos, to a shamanic natural healers meeting that only takes place every so many years.

Then the bomb shell hit. "Can I join you guys on the boat to Manaus?" My first thought was how we gonna loose this guy. I`m glad we didn`t. Pix was and is such an awesome guy to travel with. A natural entertainer that somehow attracts attention to himself thats entertainment for everyone around him. Thanks Pix!

When I wrote the above I thought I`d be getting on a boat called the Santarem and on my way to Manaus. But not to be. James, Mianne and I went in a scout this morning to find the best price on the boat that leaves that day. As it would be Hotel Fortaleza had the best price and we wasted the morning trudging around in the sun. The four of us (including Pix now) headed to the doc for the Santarem, with tickets in-hand, to hang our hammocks up (as advised by Lonely Planet, to get the best spot). When we got there there was a lot of "Portlish" to establish that the Santarem would not be going that day as "the propeller was broke". I couldnt think of a more lame excuse myself! Bloody lazy crew is what I call it. So there was nothing to do but head back to town, have some lunch and drink beer until the sun goes down. Not later.

Yeah, right! But the sunset was worth it.



"Happy birthday to mom. I'll have a beer for you."

Update - this video was taken in Manaus but was meant for your birthday Mom.

It was a long bus ride from St Louise to Belem (11 hrs over night). When we arrived we cought the wrong bus an hour and a half in the wrong direction. I think none of us could be bothered to get off the bus but it took us to a cool resort town outside Belem. We wanted to stay the night but our indecision didn't help. The final straw was a bloody madman telling us not to walk along the coast road in our search for a place to stay (my motivation for a quick resolution and a place to stay was a turtle-head). So we cought the bus back to Belem.

A very kind couple helped us catch the correct bus to our hostel. They even paid our fare! I am in their debt.

That afternoon we went for a walk into town where a big artisan fair was on. I had a delicious chocolate cake (yes I had chocolate cake), a thirst quenching fresh mango juice, two 'meats-on-a-stick' and a can of guaranna (sp?).



Later that evening we went for a walk to find some dinner but only found a drunk who went from extolling all his problems on us to quoting Bob Marley and 'sharing the love'. The only think he was sharing was an even distribution of spittle in all of our beers. We eventually landed up having dinner at an expensive buffet (away from any madmen and drunks).

I went for a long walk around the old part of town and stumbled upon this old house. We had walked past it on the search for a hostel but didn't look in the gate. I'll buy this house when its refurbished.

Today we got to St Louise. I like the slow pace and the vibe this city has. There is a project to revitalise the old city to its former glory. I would love to see it once complete.

National Park of Six Cities - this national park is a geologists dream. A pitty I didn't understand our guide but hey, he didn't understand me.

Brazil: oops on its side

Long and very boring travel day! Except this morning James Mianne and I went to go see the fog (we actually went to see the sunrise but there wasn't one).

National Park Ubajara - The smallest park in Brazil. The main feature is a lime cave. Not as impressive as the Kango Caves but some cool formations inside. My favourite was the Breast Chamber.

Can you see the horse:



We also went to see the view from the escarpment:

A very long travelling day. Boring!

The sun and all the partying cought up to me this day. So I stayed at the hostel and read a book (pitty I couldn't keep it).

With my batteries recharged I had to go out and have that perfect Mahito (again):



Oops... part two:

This day we went on a buggy ride to fresh water lakes in the dune. It was great swimming in 'sweet water' and not scratchy salt water.

Beach day, dune jumping and sun set.

Beach day

At the bus station we met up with some other travellers: James and Mianne, a couple from the UK; Nattalie, half English half Brazilian (big help - she speaks Portugues); and Eran, Isralie. The bus ride out to Jeri was unevertful until we got to Jeri. The bus dropped us off in the 'town square' and left us to the sharks. There were about twenty people all trying to get us to stay in there accomodation (low season means slim pickings for them). Carnage I tell you - it was the nightmare of Salvadore all over again. I stayed with James to mind the bags while the other four went Possada hunting. They did very well at the end of the day. They decided to the best option was with Passada Senzala. A little more expensive but the best choice by far. The owner was a man named Itama who also owned and ran the local nightclub. Just to our advantage. The rest of the day was one long piss-up and I only got to bed just before the sun came up.

Most of the day in Fortaleza I spent walking around having a look at the town and walking along the boulevard. While in an Inet cafe Niall came online and co-incidentally he was also in Fortaleza. I hadn't expected him to be there on the same day as me. We agreed to meet later for a beer.



Later that afternoon I went to a big market (mostly for tourists). They had some weird things including crabs pickled in bottles of alcohol. The shop attendant told me it was very good. I believed him and left it at that.



At sunset I decided to go and catch the last rays from a stone pier that stretched about 750m into the ocean. It was the perfect spot to catch the shimmer of lights as they played on the highrise buildings on the coastline as the sun sank. While sitting on a rock this guy comes up to me and we start chatting in the small amounts of each others language we shared. I then began to worry about his intentions as he was asking me whether I liked girls, and how much so. I excused myself after he slanted that he likes men and winked at me. I made my way to the end of the pier where I noticed a few couples sitting on the rocks. On closer inspection some of the women could have been men. I then realised where I was. I gathered it was where gay men got together. A bit like Emmarentia dam. So I left them to it and said good bye to the chap trying to pick me up.



I found a spot close to the pier from where I could watch the sunset with possibly the same view as from the end of the pier. While sitting there in a daydream these two young girls came and sat along side me and we (as per usual) began chatting. They were very friendly and so I thought I could use them to help me learn some Portuguese. What they were trying to get me to learn was the gentle art of a Brazilian threesome for the handsome price of R$5. A bargain if you ask me but they settled for a photo of themselves instead.

I then met Niall for a beer (yeah right). It was good to catch up with him. Before we parted ways we arranged to meet at the bus station to go to Jericoacoara together.

From Natal I went on to Fortaleza. Most of the day was spent on a bus. There was an amazing Cathedral that reminded me of the Notre Dame with its flying buttress' and massive circular stain glass window in the front. It was started in the mid 17th century so is quite old.

After partying a little with the local kids the last night I spent the day on the beach just relaxing. But I did meet a guy with the biggest afro I have ever seen.



On the way home we came accross this cool graffiti. I dont think this picture does it any justice but it was cool.

The couple that ran the hotel said I could catch a lift with them into town. So after a lazy and filling breakfast we were off. As they live out in the sticks any trip into town has its errunds. This way and that. Giving people lifts from here to there. Chatting and shouting greetings through the window (I thought I was in Interlaken again - small town syndrome). I was wondering when they were going to drop me off at a bus stop so I could catch a bus back to Joao Pessoa. I'd seen plenty bus stops around, even the one I eroniously (but to my fortune) got off at.



Then we were off. After a brief enquiry they told me they wer going to Joao Pessoa anyway. Cool. No not cool. More errunds, here to there, this way that way, upping and downing. Then Piloe (I think thats his name) stops outside an appartment block and says "My childrens". Great, now what I thought, going to take them to boarding school in Sao Paulo before letting me off at a bus stop. I'd spotted them all!

The hottest daughter of anyone I have ever met climbed into the back seet along side me. Now I didn't mind the errunds we continued doing. She was cool to chat to. I told her of my time in 'Londres' and my guiding days. Then they bloody well dropped me off at the bus station. I knew I should have spent two nights at their hotel!

So I got a ticket to Natal and left that lovely lass behind.



I got to Natal fairly early and went for a walk along the promanade. At the end of which is a fort. I walked around the fort as it was closed and made my way back along the promenade.



By the time I got to the end it was dark with a full-on night time surfing competion. I stayed and watched that for a while where I met some local kids. They spoke very good English so I agreed to join them for a beer.



They then took me to a vantage point over the surfing competion. Not of the beat track or any place obscure. We were chatting and doing the general cultural exchange thing - my country, your country fact finding. All of a sudden this cop car pulls up, beams us with its search light and three giants of men come bounding on us.

A full body search on everyone (minus the cavaties). Wow, that was cool. They didn't find anything 'cause there was nothing to find. I told the other guys that was my first random stop and search by any cop. They broke into laughter and said "Welcome to Brasil!". High fives all around.

It was a peaceful night after that. They walked me home 'cause they wanted to make sure I got home safe. Very considerate of them.

I got up realy early to catch the sunrise from Ponte de Saixes. I packed mt gear in the dark and headed of for the long slog to the point. In half an hour I was there. Kicking myself for miss juging how far the point was from the camp I found a comfy spot and got another full hours kip.



I took this cheezy video to try and explain a bit more but the battery was running out and had to try a few times before it all came right.



From there I found my way on the road to Jacuma. My intention was to just spend the day there and then make my way to Natal in the evening. In Jacuma I jumped off the bus randomly. I couldn't have picked a more random spot to jump off than where I did. It was probably the furthest place from the sea that I could get. Even the locals looked at me as if I were daft. So I bought a bottle of water and started walking. I then realised how far from any sizable area of water I was when I crested a hill and saw the ocean wayyyyyy of there! So I picked up the pace.

About ten minutes into my swealtering mid-morning hike to 'I had no idea' a car pulled up along side and a lady yelled through the open passenger window "Praia?". "Si si" I replied. "Nome?" she enquired. "Tambarumbawamba" I replied, not knowing the actual name of the beach I wanted to head to. All I knew was it is the only regulated nudist beach in the whole of the North East of Brazil (according to the Lonley Planet - thanks Adrienne) and I was gonna go (the furthest place that I could possibly know anyone). To my reply the back door swung open and I joined the two occupants in the back. I did think for the briefest seconds that the four of them maybe a sadistic cult roaming the back street of Brazil looking for inoccent tourists to make shammy cloths from. But that disapeared after the name introductions. The rest of the 30 minute drive was done in silence on my part.

I landed in paradise.



The lady ran a resort with her partner as it so happens 200m from the nudist beach. Things were going my way. They agreed to let me camp for as long as I wanted. I only needed one night.

After charging the battery to my camera I was off to the nudist beach. Nothing could go wrong. I'd been psyching myself for day. I was going to walk up to the gate, pay my fare, go to the stripping area, take my kit off, layout my towel and go for a swim. FViews from the water would obviously be the best place to scope out the talent.

They only let you in in pairs. Phew! I stood no chance of getting in. I was off the hook. There was no way I was going to find anyone to go in with me there. I'd been told of the three kilometers of dessolate beach the other direction from the nudist beach. So I headed off there, found a secluded streach and formed my own nudist colony. That came to swift end when I could see a beach buggy approaching in the distance.



I spent the rest of the day walking along the dessolate beach at the end of which is a normal beach. I got some good perving time in there.

My last night in Olinda was a blast. It seems that Brazilians party on a Tuesday night (the same as Salvador). An Aussie girl (living in Canada), a Canadian girl and an Austrian girl and I all went with a few of the locals that lived at the hostel to a big party in Recife. We all got there at different stages but we hooked up with even more of the locals that the girls had befriended.

We partied in a square until that came to an end. From there we went to a street party where two superb bands were playing. Its a pity I didn't take my camera with 'cause they were great. We all stayed there until we had just enough cash to contribute to the 'get us home petrol fund'. 3:30am.

Martie (I think), the Austrian girl, shared the last of what she had to offer as a midnight feast - bread and butter. So I pulled out some hot chocolate sachets I had and we made a meal of it. This saved on the hangover to come later.

I left the hostel at 8:00am after a few hours sleep. From there I made my way to a town called Joao Pessoa (I still have difficulty pronouncing that one). The only reason I wanted to stay there was to go to Ponte de Seixas - the most easterly point of Brazil and South America. The plan was to walk there from my hostel the day after and from there go to a place called Jacuma for the afternoon.

It wasn't to be so simple. All the hostels were well beyond what I was willing to pay (why charge European prices when they are so far from Europe?). So I found a campsite in the town of Seixas and had my first night of camping in South America.

Whooo! Dinosaurs in Recife!!!

Museu e Oficina Francisco Brennand

This is a cool place. A gem in itself... if you can find it. I spent an hour and a half on a bus filled with students (side note: I read on the 'Metro' (free paper on the London Underground) a good way to while away youyr time while on public transport, amoung other things, is to find some 'eye candy' and enjoy the rest of the ride. I did just that... along with about twenty other older men on the bus. Lets say the female student population is quite high here. And they wern't to bad looking). At the end of the bus line its recommended to catch a taxi to the museum. Apparently its not safe and a long walk. I found it a very pleasant walk and not very far at all. It was a little frustrating as there is also and institute with a similar name. The locals couldn't tell the difference between a museum and an institute so I got the run around a little.

Mr Brennand inherrited the run down ceramic factory from his father in 1971 where upon he converted it into his studio. He has done very well out of the business that ensued and is apparently a well know ceramisist in Brazil.

I got up early this morning to get into town before the heat set in and I could to some decent sight seeing. I wondered the street for a good hour and didn't find anything of interest. I only saw urban sprawl and the nostril clogging hum of raw sewerage in the streets almost drove me to faint (some know about my week stomach to smells).





The actual part of the city of interest is on an island. When I came to a bridge I decided maybe the mainland was more interesting. Ha ha ha... I was on the mainland. I was surprised to find the 'Cultural Centre'. A prison that has been converted to a market. Each cell hold a stall with some very good upmarket handcrafts. There was a lot of tantalising stuff to buy (if I were a girl of course!).

I also stumbled on a brilliant market. The biggest I've seen yet. It took me about an hour and a half to work through and obviously came out lost on the other side. The rest of the day was spent checking out the remaining sights of the city. Nothing to note of any brilliance.

I got to Olinda OK. It's a small service town next to Recife which is a massive sprawling urban mess. They even have a metro but it runs overground. Olinda is quite bohemian and reminds me a lot of Melville and Yeoville in Jo'burg. There's a lot of good artwork available. You can also imagine a load of South American "carnies" running around.

I spent the day wondering around looking at the sights. Also wondered into a favella by mistake. There is a lighthouse set back against a hill and I wanted to see the view from there. It wasn't worth the slog up the hill but the looks I got were a story in themselves.



At the end of the day I was keen an a swim to cool down, but the sign bellow put me off:

Today I went to a place called Riacho Doce. This means sweet river. There was nothing sweet about this place. A smelly dirty small local fishing village. I went to go check out a hostel Niall and I had decided to stay at. When I got to the tourist info in Maceio they told me it costs between R$ 50 - 100 per night. They weren't wrong. Its a bit rich for my blood so I decided I'm not gonna stay there.

I spent about 30 minutes in that town and made tracks back to Maceio where I spent the remainder of the day sitting in the sun working on my tan. I did notice that the girls here aren't as fit as I first thought they would be. I'll report more on that in other towns.



Below is a video on the traffic light system. You cant see much but I hope it makes sence.

Maceio is great. What a difference it makes to Salvador. Its a lot calmer, cleaner and the people are 100 times more friendly. The guys at the hostel I´m staying at all joke with me because I cant speak Portuguese. They cant believe I´ve come all the way from Africa to see Brazil and cant speak any of their language. But I have gotten by quite fine. Maybe a lack of company to chat to over the past 2 days but I´ll survive.

I went on a tour at the Historical and Folk Lore Museum. It was just me and a middle aged milf as my guide. She too was bemused that I couldn´t speak any Portugase. None the less she still insisted I take the tour with her even though I didn´t understand a word. All credit to her she did try and teach me some of the language. Not sure how good a student I was but I must have impressed her some how. I landed up having ´cafe´ and ´busketa´ with her and all her amiga´s in the staff kitchen. We went through a list of everyday words and I´d give them the English equivalent. I cant understand why they laughed so much because most of the words were fairly similar to each other. I must admit, if they gave a word I didn´t understand I´d make one up for the English equivalent and blag my way through.

From the Museum I made my way to the Cathedral. It was closed so was stumped for ideas when all of a sudden I could hear the sounds of protest. "Not again!" I thought (I had to hi tale from a protest in Salvador when I tried to get an Entry/Exit card - another story. That was in the doc area so thought it not a good place to get caught. Plus they were all wearing read t-shirts. These guys were in white - assuming that's a lot safer). Apparently the student medical doctors to the local public hospital were protesting about something. Not sure what but I got a flier which I´ve included below (can anyone that reads Portuguese interpret for me please?).





I followed the parade for a while then got bored of it once I realised there was not much chance of any danger or violance (the sadistic side in me after being in Salvador for to long). I thought I´d wonder through the streets and see what they offered me. I found an open air shopping mall. It was great. Instead of being begged from I was offered a credit card (from citibank) even though I am not a Brazilian citizen. On hind sight I should have taken the offer. From there I found some magical buildings that must be several hundred years old, took a nap in a church (back to the good old days, just like Europe!) and got told off for not being careful about the non-existent dangerous and violent street kids. The guy had obviously never been to Salvador.

That afternoon I crossed to the other side of town. A stark difference. This is obviously where all the money is. There´s about a 8 km stretch of coasline being developed with high rise appartments. The beaches are good but polluted in the way of to much litter.

Salvador was not a good place. Niall, had met this local guy, Marcel, who has a lot of dealings in the tourism industry in Salvador. He explained how the street kids were all hooked on crack cocaine - which is obviously what made them such pests. They would go to any lengths to get money to organise their fix. I must admit I was conned out of a few Reals myself.

Niall and I were wondering the network of squares in Salvador. This kid approaches us and introduces himself as Junior (later he calls himself Mike so I don't think he really knows who he is). In his introduction he asks us in turn what our names are. When he gets to me there´s a big handshake and as big a smile on his face to go with it. Then only do I realise there is a small package in my hand. "Presensh. Quick put it in your pocket!" I duly obliged. You can see where this is going... Junior then gets to work on his magic (he´s had plenty practice). He goes from its a ´presensh´, to how much it costs (R$5/g), to how hungry he is, to how I owe him a ´presench´, to me getting very angry after buying him a hot dog and him demanding his ´presensh´ back unless I pay for it. It didn´t help that I threatened to call the cops. I think they would have taken his side. So he got his ´presench´ back. A good thing, it was probably only rat droppings!

That was a lessen to me. Never talk to street kids unless you saying "No obrigado" and thinking F-off. There were plenty more unrelenting beggars of varying talent, age and gender (some were ´trannies´).

I did see some good things in Salvador. The area I was staying in is called Pelourhino. This is the historic center and has a very ugly history. I gather most historic towns had a similar area dedicated to where slaves were beaten or hung. Areas of mass cruelty. Today its the center of all tourism in Salvador. The architecture must be the same as it looked 200 years ago. The pic below is taken from the square where all the beatings took place.



Tuesday nights were also quite festive. The streets come alive with a mini festival: beers, drums, bums, beggars, meet on a stick, cheese on a stick, beers, music, beggars, caiparhina (sp?), beers, music and bums.



When you start recognising all the beggars and actually cross the street to avoid them you know its time to leave.

This place is crazy. You cant go ten paces without someone offering you a good deal on drugs, a prostitute or random shit you´ll never use in a 1000 years. It´s time to go.

There are a few weird things I´ve noticed. An odd one is there cars. Xhibit can never compete with the wheels that have been pimped in this town. The bigger the mega blaster the better. I´ve seen cars with sound systems mounted that will put the Popes PA system in the Vatican to shame. Boom boxes of note.

A word of advice to anyone that does travel to this dump. Make sure you catch the bus in the right direction. You might just land up in a slum!

Landed in Salvador last night. The flight was uneventful but I did meet two guys who are old hands at travelling South America (Tinny and Prikesh). They were very generous with their advice and gave me some good tips and general advice.

I got up early this morning and was surprised to find breakfast was included in my hostel fee. Love the free stuff! I then spent the day crossing the bay on a ferry, cycling, drinking beer, sampling the local cuisine and generally getting sun burnt with an Irish guy named Nigel. Not bad for a first day I think!

Don't think I´ll hang around here for long. It is a tad boring and I´m keen to find an anaconda to tackle.

The idea was to post videos and pictures but that will have to wait until I find an inet cafe ´high tech´ enough to plug my camera in. So you´ll have to grin and bear the waffle.