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What an amazing country..

with nothing but naivety, and a few books, I planned my trip roughly from home and included Brazil solely for attending one of the world’s largest events, Carnival. In hind site, I could have spent 6 months, if not the full year in Brazil..

One of the beautiful things about traveling is that it’s full of surprises. Some good. Some bad.. But for me thus far, it’s been incredible., Brazil has shown me so much diversity and has proven a number of things - such as quality of life is more than just an income. The people of Brazil have shown me a different approach to life, as the large majority of soles seem to be happy and (largely) stress free compared to people back home. People always seem to be smiling, and there’s been a minimum of “worry lines” apparent on the foreheads of the locals. With more than 40 million people living under the poverty line, it’s amazing how it actually works. But it does. People get on with their lives.

Through out the parts of Brazil i traveled, I met some amazingly hospitable people who have really helped renew my hope in the human race. Perhaps we’re not all completely fucked after all.

So with some new friends for life, and the need to return to Brazil in the future (after learning Portuguese or Spanish..), I Left Brazil prematurely to head to Peru after partying all night with about half a bottle of vodka and 2 hours of sleep, my flight out meant another 4.00am start.. This is begining to turn in to a nasty routine..

The following is a selection of photos from my travels in Brazil. But go and see the gallery for the more complete selection:

Things are beginning to become clearer now. Being organised and NOT leaving things up to the last minuet has it’s meritt.

Been FRANTICALLY trying to organise intricate flights with local Brazilian travel agents using my Portuguese 10 word vocabulary, and a series of tiring games of charades… Think i need another bottle of pirate rum (I’ll explain later..)..

Well I’ve had my Haviana thongs on for pretty much the whole time I’ve been in Brazil, and I’m starting to understand the reason for wearing “real” footwear..

I now have calluses between my big and second toes and i think me feet are about to fall off..

…Currently in a little town called Olinda, near Recife (pronounced Hecefe), - you know.., “Linda” in Portuguese means Beautiful.. But what the locals think is beautiful, can sometimes leave plenty to the imagination.. Olinda is a very historic and cute little place, everything is about a million years old, but has had some incredibly bright paint slapped on top of the crumbling walls etc.. It’s really very cute - very arty, if that’s what you’re into.

Flying back to Salvador this arvo to go to an island for a few days for more much needed relaxing - supposedly there are sea turtles, whales and dolphins to swim with.. - GAWD DAMN it’s tough..

Been planning Central America for April, (after the Inca Trail and Galapagos Islands to finish off in South America) .. Active Volcanoes, cheap Scuba Diving, Mayan ruins, the Worlds second largest Reef (after The Great Barrier Reef in Aus.), .. - and will be making some special trips to the Caribbean just to taste it a bit.. Really not enough time in the year..!!

The Language barrier here has been kinda interesting.. So far been getting by with hand gestures and now have a killer Portuguese Vocab of about 10 words.. Feel so rude and stupid not being able to converse. But on the bright side, I should be really good at Charades by the time I’m home..

(more photos soon.. . )

Well It’s a miracle that I survived the last 7 days.. Carnival week was unrelenting. Everywhere you turned in Rio was just crazy with people and music and general mayhem. There were street parties that mingled with overspill from every club, bar and restaurant. The beaches were a litter of people, stalls and stands selling everything you couldn’t possibly need at 4.00am (along with some stuff you did need at 4am such as some of the strongest and cheapest drinks I think I’ve ever tasted, and assorted “food” stuffs that tasted incredibly good at that time of night) - along with pumping music which varied in style as you progressed along the beaches.
The samba clubs, most of which could hold around 50 patrons, spilled and echoed around the streets all night till past sun up. These were a real treat as the music was an incredible experience - I just wish i could Samba… On the last night of Carnival, a few of us from the hostel managed to skip about a kilometer of cuing to get into a club where the winning Samba school from the Carnival Parade were playing.. There was about a 50 piece band playing on stage, and it was amazing how energetic it all was. Unfortunately I had to exit and find a cab back to the hostel early (around 4.30am) to shower, change and get on a plane to Salvador at 7.00am, which, in many ways, was a hard thing to do.

Somehow I avoided getting overly sick from the street food consumed, perhaps it was neutralised by all the strong alcohol and beers drunk. I later heard the delicious hot dog thingies that were covered in everything you could possibly think of, were appropriately named ‘Garbage’ by some of the locals… Gawd damn they tasted good but

I also sampled a number of traditional Brazilian meals in restaurants (mostly not too sure what i was eating, but i think a few of the dishes involved hoofs & snouts etc etc.. Interesting to try once I guess.

In between all the partying, I still managed to do a number of touristy things and take lots of photos.. (some I’ve uploaded already, so go check ‘em out - but it takes forever so more to come later). Some of the highlights were Sugar loaf Mountain, The Statue of the Christ, seeing a football match at the famous Maraçana Stadium and a beautiful hang glide over Rio.

What an amazing city Rio is. Such a beautiful place, yet so dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing. Luckily i managed to stay out of trouble, even met a local who claimed he killed some people.. Really nice guy apart from that, and strangely we got on really well and hung out at one of the beach parties for a number of hours..

So I’m now in a little beach town in Salvador recovering from the whole experience of Carnival in Rio. Feels like I could sleep for a month or two.

I’m planing a few bus trips over the next couple of days to find some nice beach spots up the coast, and then my next major adventure will be in Peru for the Inca Trail on the 20th of March.

Check back over the next few days - I’ll try get more photos up for you all to see..

arrrgh… 6 nights of parting in Rio.. earliest 4.30am….

Soo drunk right now — I t’s 5aM.;;;;..!!!

Plane to catch to Slavador in 2 hrs..

my head hurts… (just slightly)