When Wade and I stepped off our overnight bus in Fortaleza after a 24 hour journey, we had no idea where we were going or what our plan was for the coming days. We had booked a flight from Fortaleza to Manaus in the Amazon in five days time but didn’t really know what to do with five days in Fortaleza. Twenty four hours on a bus is about as thrilling as it sounds so the two of us were pretty keen to find somewhere to sleep and discuss our plans while in Fortaleza. Originally, we had planned to go to a small beachside town, only accessible by 4wd, called Jericoacoara however in our haste to book a bargain flight to the Amazon, we had left ourselves short on days and had to make a decision to do a much shorter trip to Jericoacoara or skip it and just see Fortaleza instead. Before leaving Australia, I began to write a bucket list of places, events and activities that I want to see and experience during this trip. I asked Wade to do the same however he simply went to the laptop, opened mine and said “Yeah, that looks good”. A few weeks into our trip, Wade actually started looking into a few places and one he came up with, which also happened to be on my bucket list was Jericoacoara. A 24 hour bus trip gives you a lot of time for thinking and as soon as Wade and I stepped off the bus at Fortaleza, we turned to each other and simultaneously stated, “We should go to Jeri!”. So even though another long day on buses was the last possible thing either one of us actually felt like doing, we went straight to the ticket office and organised to go to Jeri first thing the next morning. “Jeri” as it is known, is a small beachside community that began as a fishing village on a remote stretch of coastline 300km north of Fortaleza. The area around the town was made a National Park in 2002 which has restricted the infrastructure in the area surrounding Jeri. This means that neither Jeri itself nor the areas within the National Park have any sealed roads and can only be accessed by dirt bike, quad bike, dune buggy or 4wd vehicle. To get to Jeri, you catch a 6 hour bus from Fortaleza, then the last one and a half hours are done by 4wd over sand dunes and across beaches until you arrive in sleepy Jericoacoara. Now, one week after being there, I can confidently say that not going to Jeri would have been the biggest mistake of our trip so far. The last one and a half hours of the journey made up for the previous six, as we jumped in a door-less 4wd bus and jiggled, bumped and bounced our way through tiny towns and across sand dunes to get to Jeri. The trip was fairly silent because every time we tried to speak to one another there was a risk of biting your own tongue off thanks to the severe lack of suspension in our sweet ride. We passed around 50 kite surfers up a 20km stretch of beach and dodged countless quad bikes and dune buggies, some of whom had found themselves bogged in the soft sand, but eventually we pulled into Jericoacoara. After asking around at 5 different guesthouses, we eventually found one with a room available within our price range. At the time, I was a bit skeptical because I usually like to read reviews and see photos of our accommodation before booking in, but this little chestnut turned out to be exactly what we were after! While the room was basic, I did a bit of exploring of the guesthouse that afternoon and discovered what I think is one of Jeri’s hidden treasures. As I snuck up a staircase, not sure where I would end up, I found a magnificent rooftop terrace. As I looked out over the town and beyond that, the ocean, I couldn’t see another single place nearby with a similar view. There are some seriously expensive places in Jeri, and not one of them had a rooftop like ours. It was pure heaven! After settling in, it was almost time for sunset. One of the main attractions at Jeri is the massive 50m tall sand dune just south of town. Almost every tourist in town makes the nightly pilgrimage to the sand dune to watch the sunset over the ocean. Being that Brazil is on the East coast of South America, seeing the sunset over the ocean is quite unique, but due to the fact that Jeri is on a small peninsula, this sunset attracts plenty of tourists from all over the world. We climbed the dune with plenty of time to spare, so sat down with a cold beer (thanks to the dude who lugs a 50kg cart up the dune every night!) and enjoyed the last of the day. It’s a unique feeling knowing that with an almost exact 12 hour difference between us and those of you on the east coast of Australia, when Wade and I watch the sunset every night, it is almost simultaneously rising on your side of the world. Some might call me a tripper but I think that's pretty cool. So anyway, as we waited and watched the sun slowly creep towards the horizon, we almost jumped out of our skin when the crowd erupted in applause as it finally made a touchdown. While it’s a nice gesture that apparently happens every night, Wade and I couldn’t help but laugh. It's as if they thought the sun wouldn't quite make it today so they felt the need to congratulate it for finally reaching the horizon. In any case, Wade and I joined the crowd and threw a few words of encouragement in for good measure. "Good on you Mother Nature! You’ve done it again you little champion!" Every night after the sunset, the crowd migrates to the Capoeira circle that forms on the beach. While I have been hard at work practicing my hand stands, cartwheels and back flips of late, I decided not to show up the locals with my talent so instead we watched on and clapped along with the always catchy tune. While Jeri has so much to offer, if you don’t go looking for it, there’s actually not much to do! So on day two, I decided that we would do what was supposed to be a one hour walk up to the town lighthouse and then go back down the hill to a different beach for sunset where we could watch the sun drop right in the middle of the famous “Rock Arch”. This particular sunset can only be seen between June-July because that’s the only time when the sun aligns exactly with the hole in the rock. We figured we were lucky to be here at the right time, so there was no chance we’d miss it! For those of you who have read my previous blogs, you may know that I’m not always spot on with my research when it comes to walking tracks. This walk was no different (cue angry sigh from Wade). In theory it was simple. Follow the beach north, walk up the enormous, cactus covered, sandy hill in 30+ degree heat, see the lighthouse at the top and have plenty of time left to walk down to the Rock Arch, go for a swim and watch the sunset…. Simple! In practice…. Not so simple. It turns out, that for starters, we walked the long way around the hill before realising that at some point we needed to head up, because generally lighthouses are found ON TOP of hills not at the bottom surrounded by headlands! As we headed up, we passed hundreds of cacti, which only made the walk feel hotter and longer than it already did. I’m pretty sure the heat didn’t actually increase but somehow Looney Tunes has convinced me that cacti only grow in hot places where you can die of thirst so I quickly guzzled our water and continued! By this stage, we also realized that we were quickly losing time to get to the lighthouse and get back down the hill to the Rock Arch for sunset. The higher we climbed, the sandier the hill became so for every two steps forward we slid one step back downhill. In short, this walk was quickly being added to my list of “Great Ideas That Actually Suck”. Eventually we made it to the top, to one of the least impressive lighthouses I’ve ever seen! As we laughed it off and sat down for a breather, we looked around and realized that while the lighthouse was nothing spectacular, the view was something else. To our left, in the far distance we could see Jeri and to our right, the vast stretches of sand and 20km of beach that we drove in on the day before. It was barren and beautiful all at once. Downhill was much easier than up, and before we knew it we started to see other people who had obviously also come to the Rock Arch for the sunset. We looked at the vast majority of them and wondered how they had made the journey over here without even busting a sweat, while Wade and I were ready for a cold shower and a nap. As we scratched our heads, and continued walking, we came to a different path to the one we took up hill. There, on the path, waiting patiently for the sun to set, were around 6 horses all hooked up to their own comfortable looking carriages! While I convinced myself that I would enjoy the sunset more, having deserved it after such a long, hot walk, Wade just became angry at all these idiots crowding around a small area trying to get their photo in the Rock Arch all at the same time. It was mayhem and we couldn’t be bothered battling with the crowd so we sat down on the sand and took a moment to chill out. We started discussing how the sunset would be so much more peaceful if one of the locals from town, made the effort to have some sort of system in place where they tell everyone to sit down and enjoy it rather than fighting to get into one another’s photos in the hope of getting the best picture. Just as we said this, a guy came up with a huge stick and drew a line in the sand directly in front of us. I couldn’t believe our luck! We had even sat in the perfect position just in case one of the fifty people in front of us moved for long enough for us to glimpse the sunset. This guy slowly walked around tapping people on the shoulder and telling them to get behind the line. It was awesome! On the downside, because Wade and I had somehow managed to score the best seat in the house, we suddenly had Go-Pro sticks and cameras poking us in the back of the head as everyone simultaneously reached forward for that perfect picture. While I think every sunset is beautiful, this one was one of the least peaceful I have ever experienced but Wade and I laughed the entire way through it and spent our time photo bombing as many people as we possibly could! Photo: Watching the sunset right in the middle of the Jericoacoara "Rock Arch" The walk back after sunset took around one third of the time, as we followed the horses back into town on the track that passes directly across the hill and straight into Jeri. Of course we convinced ourselves that this wide, flat, direct track didn’t exist before and our route was much better. We were just taking it now because everyone else was! In our two days at Jeri so far, we had seen plenty of groups or families heading out on dune buggy trips but Wade and I weren’t phased by the idea of some dude driving us around for the day. So we spent a few hours asking around to see how we could hire a quad bike for a day. We eventually found José, a local guy who would lead us around on his dirt bike, while we followed on a quad. Ahhhh heck yeah! We booked in for a full day touring around the sand dunes and the inland lagoons 20km from town. We visited all the local sights but spent most of our time at “Lagoa Azul” or Blue Lagoon. Blue Lagoon is well known for its water hammocks that hang a few metres into the water and conveniently dip below the surface when you lie down. It’s such a brilliant idea and I jumped into a hammock at the first opportunity! Blue Lagoon is such an idyllic place to hang out and relax for a few hours and was the perfect break from hanging on tight while Wade chased down insane José, who would race away on his dirt bike at every opportunity finding humour in the fact that we would struggle to keep up. Photo: The idyllic Blue Lagoon complete with thatched roof huts, kayaks and hammocks in the water.... absolute paradise! After a few hours chilling at Blue Lagoon, a noticeably more relaxed José emerged from the bushes smelling slightly smoky and we took off at a much slower pace than the hectic race earlier in the day. I took over from Wade and followed in José’s tracks as he bogged his bike 3 times in the soft sand. It was an eventful and hilarious trip back to town and José ended up taking the longest, slowest route possible, but Wade and I weren’t complaining, cause we were having the time of our life tearing around in the sand dunes when José wasn’t watching. The scenery around Jeri was incredible. You would be forgiven for forgetting where you are and mistaking the landscape for a foreign inland desert as at one point we stopped, completely surrounded for 1km on all sides by enormous sand dunes. Lucky for us, it wasn't a desert and we could cool down in the calm ocean at the end of our adrenaline-filled day with José! We capped off the day with a good meal and a few Caiprinhas on the beach. We’ve had some pretty awesome times in the past 10 weeks, but this was one of the best days we’ve had so far. Our final day in Jeri was spent chilling out on the beach and organising the next leg of our trip to Manaus in the Amazon. Overall, Jeri has this amazing chilled but fun and adrenaline filled atmosphere during the day, but then at night, it is fairly quiet with just a few pubs playing live music and a few street vendors selling Caiprinhas on the beach. There is something special about a town that has no streetlights and no paved roads, just long stretches of sand and cute little alleyways between shops and restaurants. The vibe in Jeri was awesome and I can honestly say that we would’ve missed out on a really special place had we not visited. For plenty more photos of our time in Jericoacoara, check out our "Brazil - Part 3" photo album and as always, feel free to leave comments, suggestions or just tell us what you had for breakfast in our comments section below! Photo:
One last incredible sunset in Jericoacoara and to this day, one of the most magnificent sunsets I've ever witnessed
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Quite often we find ourselves forming a basic opinion about a place prior to arriving. I personally, like to read about places but prefer not to look at pictures of it because I feel like it almost ruins a part of the excitement. Wade on the other hand, reads blogs, looks at photos, maps the route to our accommodation, stalks the governor of a city on Facebook and knows every dodgy part of town before we even leave the previous town! So when it came to Salvador, I was really excited about exploring the city. We had spent a good two weeks chilling out on beaches, away from any real hustle and bustle so having a city to explore for a few days was going to be a welcome change. I had booked us in to an apartment owned by an Aussie guy and his Brazilian wife, in the area known as the Old City or Pelourinho. All I knew about Pelourinho was that it had plenty of colourful historic buildings, winding cobblestone streets and was a real cultural hub of Salvador. The part I had conveniently overlooked was that Salvador is currently one of the worst cities in Brazil for violent crime. Wade didn't overlook this so my excitement was met by his poor attitude at the thought of having to protect my naive arse for the next three days! When we arrived by ferry, Salvador looked more or less like the biggest sh*t hole we have seen thus far. The lower part of the city is a panoramic view of crumbling old apartment buildings, broken glass where there once were widows and an overall grey and dull feel about it. We were with a friend we had met in Itacaré so we all decided to share a taxi rather than walking aimlessly with all of our belongings on our back. We were greeted at our apartment by the owners' brother who gave us a quick intro before leading us up to their rooftop patio to give us a better idea of the city. Dave, the owner had written a 6 page "Guide to Salvador" for any guests in his apartment and as we looked at his maps and listened to his brother, all Wade I were hearing was: "don't go there, it's dangerous". "Don't go there after 4pm, it's also dangerous". "Go down that street to the right but not to the left. Left is the dodgy end of town". "Don't carry more than $50 on you and keep some small notes separate so you can grab them easily in case you do get mugged". "If you go out after 5pm spend the extra money to get a taxi even if it's only a 5 minute walk. The same goes when you're coming home". Great! That usual excitement I get about exploring a new city evaporated in record time. We felt safe enough in our apartment as the family all lived in one big secure complex and had done for quite some time so it was just outside that we had to be concerned about! We had planned to meet some friends from our week in Itacaré that first night (read our Itacaré blog here) so we jumped in a taxi and took off. Unfortunately it was Monday, which in Salvador is the most eerily quiet night I've seen so far in all of South America. Almost every restaurant and bar in the apparently usually busy nightlife district was closed. We had dinner and a few drinks with our mates before saying goodnight and jumping in a taxi to go home. About 5 minutes after walking through our door we heard a gunshot that we can only estimate the distance of but Wade reckons it was within 500m from our building. And on that note, we drifted off to sleep. The next morning was absolutely miserable. Rain had been pelting down since early morning so we waited until it eased to head out. We went to the only two dry places we could think of. First a shopping centre for some basic necessities and then the Mercado Modelo which is the central market for art, handicrafts and souvineers. Markets are not usually on top of Wade's "to do list" but this one was fantastic. First up, we almost bought a massive two piece artwork before remembering that we don't have a house to put it in! We drowned our sorrows by stopping in at the next stall where a guy was selling a variety of local foods such as honeyed cashews, banana cakes and locally produced chocolate. He also had one of the biggest collections of cachaça we've seen in Brazil. Cachaça is the local liquor used to make Caprinha's. While I was tasting a delicious chocolate liqueur with a side of sugared coconut, Wade was given a shot of 70% cachaça that came out of a bottle containing not only the alcohol, but also a whole.... yes a WHOLE lobster. It smelt about as good as it sounds and while my shop keeper mate was pouring my second shot of chocolatey goodness, Wade pussied out, reached behind old mates back and quickly threw his cup in the bin without so much as a taste! Pffft soft! The rain continued throughout the afternoon and night so after a quiet night in, I was determined to do some sightseeing the following day, rain, hail or shine. We woke to a beautiful sunny day and headed straight into the historic Pelourinho district. Pelourinho is a large cobblestone area of town filled with more churches, museums and beautiful old buildings than you can poke a stick at. While there were certain museums I originally wanted to visit, we ended up going wherever was either free, had signs in English or offered an English speaking guide. Somehow this left us at the coin museum (about as fascinating as it sounds) and the Jorge Armado Museum which was actually quite interesting. We wandered the steep cobblestone streets for hours, taking plenty of photos, listening to live music, watching a bit of Capoeira and just really enjoying this historic part of Salvador.
On our last night we went to sleep to the reassuring sound of two more gunshots which we convinced ourselves must be a nightly ritual similar to a 12 gun salute.
There was so much more we would have loved to see in Salvador but we have decided to pick up our pace over the next few weeks as Brazil is starting to suck our bank account rather dry. Tomorrow afternoon we leave Salvador on a 24 hour bus straight to Fortaleza. This was a difficult decision as we are missing quite a few places by doing this but we both know it's just not possible to see everywhere. So with our phones charged, a bag of snacks packed and a good set of ear plugs, we are off to Fortaleza on a bloody long bus trip. The buses here can be quite hit and miss so I hope I won't have much to say about it in my next blog because I was sleeping soundly the entire trip..... yeeeeeah right!! For the first time, we don't actually have a plan once we step off the bus so I look forward to filling you in on what we did in our next blog! One of the difficult things about travelling at our age is that in the back of our minds we always have an invisible deadline. No one has forced this upon us but it is one that Wade and I discuss regularly. Whether it be our families, the idea of having kids, money (or lack thereof!) or a potential job opportunity, we both know that this dream we are currently living won't last forever. The fact that we also want to see as much as we possibly can within this imaginary time frame also means that even when we find that perfect place, we both know deep down, that like it or not, in a few days we will need to pack our bags again and move on. This was exactly how we felt leaving Itacaré. The people, the atmosphere, the stunning coastline. We could have spent months there. In fact I'd be lying if I didn't mention that I spent a solid afternoon dreamily crunching some numbers and deciding I would buy a restaurant/guesthouse there and never leave! Time, a hammock and a few beers can do wonders with the imagination. It would have been perfect except for one thing - Wade quite simply refused to accept the dreadlocks that I felt would be a necessary addition to my new lifestyle! Damn! As mentioned in my last post, after nine days in this blissful paradise, we reluctantly booked our bus tickets, packed our bags and said goodbye to yet another temporary home as we set off for our next destination. After a five hour bus trip (with both of us running on 3 hours sleep), a short taxi ride (where the driver's 4 year old son felt it necessary to poke me and stare angrily at me throughout the trip) and a 45 minute ferry (that smelt like we had our heads deep in a bucket of fuel), we finally arrived at Morro de São Paulo, or simply Morro as it is better known. From the small wooden jetty that we pulled up to, Morro de São Paulo didn't look like much. The mountainous coast we had weaved our way along for the past 15 minutes was unexpected and after hearing that there was no motorised transport on the island I was picturing some serious bush bashing jungle walks over the coming days. Where were the beaches?? After turning down the option of a porter with a wheelbarrow guiding us to our guesthouse, I slightly regretted this as we climbed a calf-burning hill straight off the boat. At the top of the hill was the town square. The lack of motorised vehicles means that a passing donkey, horse and cart or a fruit vendor selling grapes out of a wheelbarrow is completely normal and after seeing the quaint, quiet town square, we carried on through to find our accommodation. Five minutes later, we threw our bags down on our bed and sighed. Our new home sweet home.... For this week anyway. We had timed our travel to make sure we arrived in time to watch the Brazil Vs Germany FIFA semi final on the large screen in town square. Let's say that afternoon was the most awkward 2 hours of our entire trip and rather than partying the night away with the locals as we had hoped, we were tucked up in bed by 9:30pm! The beauty of arriving in a new destination late in the afternoon is that the following morning, I always wake up early with the excitement of exploring our surroundings. No lonely planet guidebook, travel doco or online reviews can take away the thrill of seeing and discovering a new place for yourself. Morro de São Paulo was an absolute treasure to explore. On that first morning, we walked around 10km of curving, stretches of yet more stunning Brazilian beaches. Just when you think you've seen enough beaches in Brazil, the next one is unique in one way or another and equally if not more beautiful than the last. The beaches on Morro are numbered - first beach, second beach, third beach and fourth beach. Original hey?! The further you venture down these beaches the more isolated and peaceful it becomes. On the downside, walking in the morning sun until you are 10km from the main beaches and realising it's suddenly midday, meant that after a relaxing swim and multiple applications of suncream, we were ready for the long, hot walk back. The first thing we noticed upon arriving in Morro from Itacaré was the crowd. Because of its proximity and easy accessibility from the major city of Salvador, Morro is a real tourist paradise. While we don't really enjoy the packed beaches or the prices that these places inevitably attract, Morro de São Paulo is big enough that you can easily escape both of these things with a small amount of effort. The town itself is full of tourist shops and small handicraft stalls along with plenty of icecreameries, bars and restaurants. Although it is touristy and busy, it's a beautiful little town in a natural paradise and definitely one of the places we have felt safest throughout our trip. After a day of rain, we were bursting to continue exploring this incredible island, so on day three, we headed up to the Farol de Morro (Morro lighthouse) first thing in the morning. The walk up the forest-covered hill was not the best idea after a day of pouring tropical rain. We played a game we like to call "Mud or Poop?" as we avoided questionable puddles along our route to the lighthouse - Wade wearing his hiking boots, while I was in thongs..... damn! After a sketchy walk up a slippery path, we arrived at the lighthouse which I was disappointed to discover is all locked up so you can't get right up close to it. However by following the path around the lighthouse we discovered two beautiful views. One looking north over the ocean where we saw a pod of dolphins playing in the water and the other looking out South over the first and second beaches of Morro. It was well worth the mud/poop that now covered my feet. Back down the hill, another track leads around the headland to the old fort. I'm not entirely sure of the history of the fort but it is a beautiful old building and hiding just behind it are some calm, protected natural rock pools where we spent hours just floating around while discussing just how lucky we are to be sharing this experience with one another. Photo: Morro de São Paulo Fort Another day of island life passes and yet there is still so much of this unique place to discover. Day four came and I convinced Wade that we could walk from the main town of Morro (where we were staying and the northern tip of the island) to the less touristy yet just as beautiful town of Gamboa on the Island's north western coast. Ferries run all day between the two towns but who wants to take the easy way..... Right Wade?? We left much later than planned after spending a solid 2 hours looking up satellite imaging on google maps to try and figure out a suitable route to Gamboa. We knew it was possible, we just didn't have a map or any real idea of what to expect. Meh, no biggie, it's just a steep, partly jungle covered island, with no motor transport to rescue us and no one that actually knows we've gone exploring for the day. What could possibly go wrong?? We set off South from our guesthouse and soon found ourselves in a very local area of town. In any other Brazilian city this could be considered a slightly sketchy "favela" but the people on Morro are so incredibly welcoming and friendly that we had no hesitations. We came to a steep staircase that looked like it led straight into someone's house so I stopped to ask three curious looking men who were muttering under their breath while watching us naively scratching our heads. My dodgy and previously unheard-of dialect of Spanish-Portguese somehow managed to get a smile and a laugh out of these serious looking men. They helpfully explained that yes, you could get to Gamboa by heading in this direction but most of the rest of the info was lost in translation. However, the one part that Wade and I both agreed on without a doubt was that the men said: "When you get to a three way intersection, don't go left, don't go straight, go right and there will be a beautiful view from where you can get down to Gamboa". Sweet! We held off on the high five until we were out of view of our new friends and then continued our climb. Soon the shops, houses and people became more and more sparse. The wide track became a sandy path and before long it was just us and the odd donkey or two lurking in the bush. Without even realising it, I began following a path around to the left before Wade stopped me and pointed out that this could be our intersection. Hmmm it did look like a three way intersection but there was just one problem. The track on the right led behind a peeled back barbed wire fence with a sign that, regardless of our poor understanding of Portuguese definitely read "Do not enter". I shrugged and took a swig of water before turning to Wade to ask what he thought, only Wade was gone. Apparently not understanding the sign makes it null and void! Wade was on a mission to find Gamboa and a small hurdle such as private property wasn't going to stand in his way! We came to an incredible view where we could finally see Gamboa and realised that we were a bloody long way up from the beach way down below us. After seeing our destination from this great vantage point, my doubts subsided and I willingly followed my always reliable husband. As our clear, open path disappeared and the bushes became thicker, I called out that I was going to wait while Wade saw if the path opened up again. Two minutes later a scratched and sweaty Wade returned. The path "kind of kept going, and it could be done. We will definitely get down to Gamboa but it was steep and not worth being scratched by all the trees" (* please note this is a direct quote from Wade Harris and will be referred to shortly). After a bit of searching, we found an alternate path that even had a wooden staircase and handrail built into a steep section of forest. As we weaved our way down the mountain we could feel that we were nearing the coast and hopefully civilisation when we came across a small cascade that had pipes running to a water tank. FINALLY! We continued down a more defined bush staircase and eventually saw a house ahead of us. After a short discussion on whether either one of us knew how to explain "Sorry, we got lost" in Portuguese, we decided to try and politely sneak past the house and out their front gate to the refreshing and relieving beach. As we walked through the front gate Wade jumped straight in the ocean while I made sure I was a good house guest/trespasser and closed the gate properly. It was while closing the gate that I noticed the large "BEWARE OF THE DOG" sign staring me in the face. Lucky for us, the dog must have been asleep today! So after a quick swim and an evaluation of where we were it was decided that we had somehow come out around 1 km north of Gamboa. Seeing it wasn't high tide, we could easily walk along the beach for the rest of the way and after seeing a family playing on the beach (the first people we had seen in around 2 hours) we were feeling pretty proud of ourselves. A few minutes later, and while Wade was blissfully strolling along the beach we came to this: (see picture below). This eroded and crumbling section of hillside just happens to be the end of the "path" that Wade specifically said "could be done". Hmmmm I don't know if it was the concerned and shocked look on my face or the realisation that this is what he had been bush bashing towards but Wade let out a giggle like he had just pooed his pants a little. After a silent moment of reflection on our near death experience, we both laughed it off and kept walking! C'est la vie! After such an epic journey, the reward was definitely worth it. While there were still tables and chairs lining the beach and a few people swimming or chilling at the tables, it was blissfully quiet, significantly less touristy and they had ice cold beer! We ordered a decadent seafood platter complete with lobster and four side dishes that totally blew our usual lunch budget at a total cost of $40..... and it was utterly worth every Brazilian Real! Our final reward for the day was an unexpected one. Just as we had lathered ourselves in suncream and bought a cold bottle of water for the return journey overland, our waiter asked if we were ready for a boat transfer back to Morro. I politely declined and told him we were walking back when he laughed and then said in a serious tone "No. You can't walk there. I'll tell the boat to wait". Wade and I exchanged confused glances before a slight disappointment but also relief came over us as we were given a free pass out of our return bush bash. The relaxing boat trip back was the perfect end to an awesome, slightly risky but hugely rewarding day.
A week earlier, we begrudgingly left Itacaré only to find ourselves in yet another amazing paradise where we could have stayed forever. And then just like that, six days had flown by and once again we had to begrudgingly pack up and move on. With the World Cup now over and the streamers being pulled down from the town square, it felt like a fitting time to board the ferry to our next destination. Our two weeks of blissful beach life in Itacaré and Morro were over for now as we headed to the original capital city of Brazil, Salvador. Plenty to tell about this interesting city of course but I'll leave that for next time. For now, I'll leave you with this image and hope that wherever you are, you're doing the math on how you're going to find yourself in your own private paradise because we only get one life and at one point or another, we all deserve to experience natural beauty such as this! Itacaré is a quiet, chilled-out town on the southern end of Brazil's Bahia state coastline. The town attracts a wide variety of travellers and although this is currently the low season, there was no lack of tourists throughout our stay. There are the Brazilian's on family holidays, the travelling surfers here for the much discussed surf breaks and even the frugal backpacker, all just looking for that perfect sleepy town to sit back, relax and chill out in. The calm lagoon style beaches on the northern side of town are suitable for families due to their lack of waves while also being perfect for activities such as paddle boarding; whereas the stunning beaches on the eastern side of town are a backpacker and surfers paradise, with excellent surf beaches a skate bowl and plenty of beach sports happening everyday..... Not to mention the thatched-roof huts selling water, beer, coconuts and variety of other concoctions. The eastern coast of Itacaré is a breathtaking coastline of beautiful palm tree lined beaches. The towns four main surf beaches are an easy 10 minute walk from town along a cobblestone street that rises to a small peak in between beaches and then drops back downhill as if the next beach is your reward for combating each hill in the stifling heat. Wade and I were lucky enough to snag a bargain room at a little family run guest house and upon arriving discovered that we had landed an absolute gem to call home for a week. Being that Itacaré is only 5-6 hours south of Salvador (one of the major cities on the coast and also host to multiple World Cup matches), the town booms during weekends when people escape the city for this atmospheric paradise. So when we arrived to our lesser known "pousada" we couldn't be happier with what we found. The people running the guest house were lovely and every morning we were greeted with a friendly "hello" and a delicious breakfast of fresh fruit, bread rolls, ham and cheese and an awesome home made quiche that I desperately wanted the recipe for however the old Portuguese/English translator didn't quite get my point across when I asked our host! We spent our first two days exploring the town and hanging out at the lagoon style beaches while also sussing out the many day trips available to travellers in the area. Many of them are available directly from town, either by boat or on foot and then there are multiple other activities such as zip-lining and day trips to other beaches that involve van transport or buses from town. We chose to do two of these trips during our week stay in Itacaré. The first day trip we did was to take a small boat from Concha Beach on the northern side of town, and after doing a lap of the bay area to check out the lighthouse and see where the ocean and river meet, we headed off up the river past coconut palm lined beaches and rocky points lined with fishermen. It was just the two of us and our guide in the boat which made for a super relaxed and easy going trip. Our guide was always encouraging us to tell him where to stop so he could take a photo of us or slow down to show us an interesting feature here and there. As we began to slow down and veer towards the mangroves, I was questioning where exactly we were headed because there was no clear path through the maze of trees lining the shore. We slowed to almost a complete stop, when a little gap in the trees appeared, just big enough for two small dinghy's to pass one another and high five on the way! We ventured down this small creek watching as bright red and blue mud crabs scuttled away at the sound of the purring dinghy motor. Around 30 minutes after leaving Concha Beach, we arrived at our destination where we were greeted by a Cacao Plantation that just happens to be naturally blessed with a beautiful private waterfall. We started by tasting some fresh Cacao, the fruit from which chocolate is made. The sweet, white flesh can be sucked off the individual seeds while the bitter seed is the part that is dried, crushed and mixed with water to create cocoa. Once we'd tried the fruity part, we hit the real stuff - the delicious chocolate that they hand make on the farm. The chocolate has no milk added to it so it is almost the consistency of a brownie or a crumbly biscuit as it is basically just pure cocoa, sugar and cocoa butter. Our guide led us up the slippery path towards the waterfall, the whole time hanging on to a dodgy looking rope/handrail that looked as if it was only providing false hope to us rather than any actually support! We hopped over rocks and continued up a rocky path until we arrived at our own private waterhole with a three tiered waterfall showering down over us. It was refreshingly cool and other than the yabbies nibbling our toes, it was a really lovely place to visit. Overall, I think the tour was around 4 hours from start to finish. We went in the middle of the day which was perfect because we were able to escape the hottest part of the day on the beaches by retreating to the much cooler, shady pools of the waterfall. I would definitely recommend this trip to anyone staying in Itacaré because while it isn't anything spectacular, it was a pleasant break from hours in the hot sun and was also nice to just be alone for a few hours away from the action packed beaches. The second guided tour we did while in Itacaré was a hike/bush walk from the fourth of the town surf beaches, Ribeira Beach to Prainha Beach, which is considered to be one of the most beautiful beaches in Brazil. We had read that it was necessary to get a guide to do this walk but had trouble figuring out if it was a safety concern (ie. would we get mugged along the track?) or it was because it was difficult in one way or another. As it turns out, the walk is more or less safe during the day, however if you didn't know where you were going, you could be headed in a myriad of directions as there were around 8 different forks that we encountered along the path we took! We asked our guide a few times and he didn't even know where the other fork went! I won't go into too much detail about the walk itself as I will be writing an informative blog for another website, that goes into more detail about this particular walking track as it is one of the most popular walks in this area. I will also post it here on Following The Sun once it is written. Basically, the Ribeira to Prainha Beach walk is a stunning combination of rainforest, grassy hills and steep forest tracks with steps made of split coconuts and fallen trees, and it all culminates in a spectacular finish as you spend the last 10 minutes following the coastline down to Prainha Beach. And all of this within a 45 minute walk from your starting point! Photo: I'd say a view like this is worth the walk..... wouldn't you?? We enjoyed this particular walk so much, that we went back a second time to explore it a little more on our own, it's such a beautiful, natural part of this chilled-out town.
So after extending our stay in Itacaré from the three days we initially anticipated to a total of nine days, I think it is fair to say that this has been one of our favourite weeks so far. With a good combination of chilled out days, bustling nightlife, live capoeira shows and more natural features than you can throw a stick at, it ticked all of our boxes and I can see why so many visitors have ended up staying here forever! |
AuthorEnthusiastic but Useless Traveler. Archives
July 2016
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