Salvador da Bahia

Salvador da Bahia was a huge let down. We came here knowing that it was a dangerous place with a lot of petty crimes and insecurity. In fact our guide book said: “If you are going to be pick pocketed or mugged in Brazil, it is likely to happen in Salvador.”

But we still came because the old historic centre is supposed to be very beautiful and boasts some of the best examples of colonial architecture in Brazil. This city is said to the have the best preserved African culture in the whole of the Americas. The descendants of African slaves here still practise a lot of African rites and cuisine as well as a rich Afro-Brazilian religion which is a mixture of Catholicism and old tribal customs.

We flew into Salvador from Rio and took a bus to the old town. We drove through one of the main religious festivals of the year here. It took the bus 2 hours to cover a strip of 1km! We then took a taxi to the hostel and on our way there we saw our first scuffle. A guy appeared in front of us, chasing another guy who apparently had tried to rob him. The whole street got involved and before we knew it we were in the middle of a big fight. Our taxi driver told us to pull our windows up and lock the car doors.

When we got to the hostel we were told that there were riots going on in the city where people had sacked a supermarket, a few local businesses and had even stopped a bus and robbed all the passengers of their possessions! Despite the guidebook’s warning, surely it could not be like this everyday here.

We learnt soon enough what the problem was: the police were on strike over salaries and benefits. Obviously they had chosen one of the most crucial moment (just before Carnival) to put maximum pressure on the state governor who was not ready to negotiate. And some of the rotten apples of Salvador decided they could ransack the place unpunished.

The response was inadequate. They sent in the army in heavy vehicles and armed with M16s but those kids looked like 15 and were not a strong deterrent. In the meantime because of these events, all businesses were shutting down at night and all the concerts and music festivals supposed to go on at night were cancelled. A couple of nice restaurants we had planned to go to had also decided to close their doors at night.

For that same reason I did not once carry the camera with me in town, while only bringing a small amount of money, half of it tucked away in my shoe. Was that being over cautious? I hardly think so judging on the sad experience of some co-residents of the hostel: a group of some 10 youngsters got mugged just meters away from the hostel by some up-to-no-good kids. The next day a few other guys from our hostel were surrounded by a gang on motorcycle but they were saved by a bus driver who saw what was going on. He drove into the gang and opened the bus doors so the guys could jump on the bus and leave!

The experience of Salvador was also tarnished by the fact that cash machines had not been replenished because there was this police strike, and we spent a whole day trying to find an ATM with bank notes in it. In the process of trying my card everywhere it got blocked by my bank for security reasons. The last day we had to take a taxi to the ferry to go to an island and there were no taxis in the morning at the taxi stand, another sad consequence of this state of affairs.

The only thing we actually did in Salvador was to visit the Afro-Brazilian Museum. They had an extensive collection of African art in the form of sculptures and paintings. They also had a very didactic exposition on African religions as well as the history of slavery in the world which they linked to Salvador.

When we actually got away from Salvador we were relieved and a little bitter to have lost three days there. We will try to forget this wasted time as soon as possible.

Rio de Janeiro

I say Rio and you think beach, half naked women (at least I do!), the statue of the Christ, Copacabana, beach football, carnival, endless parties and favelas. And you would be right. Rio is nicknamed "Cidade Maravilhosa"  (Marvelous City) and it is well deserved. 

Photos of Rio de Janeiro

The Christ emerging from the clouds - very symbolic

You might not think of rain though but when we arrived in Rio it was pouring and you know how it is in big busy cities with warm climates when it rains: it's hell. There are puddles, more traffic jams and generally more commotion.  We managed to get to our hostel which was at the end of Copacabana beach (yippie!) but just at the entrance of a Favela (oh oh!). But they say it is a "pacified" favela which makes it safer... at least that's the theory.

Astounding views of one of Rio's bays from the Sugar Loaf

And the Sugar Loaf taken from the Christ Redeemer

At first glance it looked good, there was a police car at the entrance, and another one 400 metres up the very steep hill. Right opposite our hostel was a community centre and the police, we were told, stay there 24/7. The hostel looked very nice (Lisetonga Hostel), nice open space, friendly staff, good size TV room, clean kitchen and bathrooms and a central patio where breakfast is served weather permitting. It used to be a mansion but with the expansion of favelas in the 50's and 60's many of the wealthy people living in such mansions moved somewhere else. We were supposed to move to another hostel for the last 2 nights in Rio but we immediately decided to extend our stay here and cancel the other one. Experience had taught us to grab a good hostel when we found one.

We had a lot on our plates for this city.

What we did

Birthday Party

Beautiful decor

Where best to celebrate my birthday than Rio? After all this is the place to party. After extensive research on the Internet, we decided to go to the Rio Scenarium downtown. The neighbourhood is called Lapa and that's where many of the trendy bars, restaurants and night clubs are. Rio Scenarium opens at 8pm on Saturdays but when we got there at 7.40pm there was already a queue of about 50 people to get in!!! Unbelievable. It starts as a nice bar which also serves food. Then it features live music from 8.30pm to 11pm on the ground floor while there is a live DJ in the extension. It is huge (3 floors + the extension) and each section is differently decorated. It is a great place to spend a birthday.

Archanna and William came that evening and we started getting the Caipirinias in. We ordered some snacks and caught up on the gossip. Then we went to the live music and the DJ section. By then the floors were very crowded with locals and tourists of all ages. It was an excellent night out and we went back home tipsy and knackered.

Enjoying the party

Favela Tour

The little kids having fun in the streets

It always seemed odd to me to actually do a Favela tour. What is the point of it? To go out there to see some poor people and houses with no running water nor electricity that were illegally constructed? How dare I do this? But the truth is that much of what we think about Favelas is only part of the big picture and there is a lot of stigma associated with favelas. We met this American guy in our hostel who actually lives in a Favela (recently pacified) and who said he would bring us there for us to make our own opinion.

We followed him into the favela named Vidigal and took a moto-taxi deep into the favela. These moto-taxi bring people up and down the huge hill for 2 Reals. When we got there, first thing that catches your eyes is the number of satellite dishes on roof tops. The main street up the hill was properly built apparently with the drug barons’ money. We then had a snack in one of the small eating places and enjoyed an amazing view of Ipanema Bay. The view was amazing.

We also saw some kids with a football and started to play with them. The youngest of them had great skills and was dribbling and doing all kinds of tricks with the ball. These Brazilians do live up to their reputation. We were also explained what a pacified Favela means. Basically the authorities announce that they are going to come into the favela on a given day to "clean up". The drugs and arms barons either move out or fight. When the day comes, the army and police actually moves in with tanks, helicopters, elite strike forces and take the favela. After that they post a specially trained police division in the favela to make sure law and order is respected.

The thing is that in all those favela the overwhelming majority are simple honest hardworkers. But it is true that some of the worst organised crimes are also run from them. All in all it was an eye opening visit and we were glad to have done it.

  

Carnival rehearsal

First school getting ready to parade - 800 participants!

Rio is synonymous with Carnival. And it is a BIG deal here. There are several dozens of samba schools in Rio preparing all year round for the big party. These schools are even ranked in divisions and the best ones are featured in the famous Sambadrome during the carnival. Each school meticulously rehearse the songs, the choreography and each of their members (up to 800 people parade for each school during carnival) must know all the lyrics and moves very precisely. In the months leading to the event, the schools hold open rehearsals where you can dance all night. And as from December, proper technical rehearsals are held in the Sambadrome for the schools to have a chance to practise in the venue.

Some of the youngest participants looking their best

We went to one of those rehearsals and there were 3 schools that evening: 2 of them from a lower category and the 3rd one from the first division. The latter school was Salgueiro which is currently 4th in the Samba school ranking! The Sambadrome can hold up to 90.000 people during the carnival parades. For the technical rehearsals they open up only one side of the stands and an average of 35.000 spectators show up. Imagine, 35.000 people attending the rehearsals only, that's how big a deal it is here.

Even without the full package of chariots and lights the show was great and people were on fire. We spent the 4 hours there and had a glimpse of what Carnival in Rio is. We are not going to be there but in Recife for the Carnival which I'm sure is going to be amazing too.

This is how big the Sambadrome is - and this is only one side

A caipirinha vendor - they look yummie

Museums (Arte & Cachaca)

Cachaça labels on show

The two museums we went two could not be further from one another. The first one was the museum of modern arts in the city centre while the other one was the Cachaça museum in the boheme neighbourhood of Santa Teresa.

The latter one was more original for me as they explained the origin of this sugar cane spirit. I love the Portuguese classification for this type of drink: Aguardente which literally means Burning Water. They also had a special work on the different types of labels that have been used over time.

A depiction of an episode of Brazil's history

Escalera & Santa Teresa

It was a great outing despite the rain

In that same neighbourhood of Santa Teresa we climbed the superb Selaron stairs. Selaron is a Chilean artist. Those stairs were amazing and all the ceramics are either made by him or nowadays sent to him by people all over the world.

He then makes sure that each and every ceramic sent to him is inserted somewhere in the stairs. He is always replacing older ceramics with new ones which makes these stairs a perpetually evolving work of art.

Sugar Loaf

It was impressive especially on a clear day

The sugar loaf is this superb piece of rock standing in the the bay of Copacaba. Those of you who are James Bond fans will know that this is the rock from which Roger Moore glides down in Moonraker pursued by the villain Jaws.

We got up there by taking two cable cars that cost a lot (25€ per person). That afternoon the sky had cleared up and the view from up there was spectacular. We could see the whole of Copacabana and its beautiful bay.

Christ redeemer

The statue is humbling. 

The 30 metre statue of the Christ is one of the most recognizable landmarks in the world. It has been voted as one of the 7 new wonders of the world in 2007. We took the tram up there which is not as spectacular as people say. It goes through dense vegetation most of the time which makes it impossible to see anything of the bay. For a few extra Reals, prefer the car services that bring you up, and you’ll also avoid the long wait for the two-wagons tramvia.

The mysterious statue on a cloudy day

Botanical Garden

Giant Lily pads

This botanical garden was a pleasant surprise. It was a welcome break from the hustle and bustle of the city. Set on 140 hactares this is one of the largest botanical gardens in the world and one of the most diverse. There are ponds with all kinds of fish and Japanese gardens, alleys lined with the famous Pau-Brazil tree (from which the country got its name) and a superb collection of Orchids. There also was a very interesting section on medicinal plants and their use in traditional medicine.

The orchids were fascinating

What we did not do

Maracana Stadium

We could not visit the legendary Maracana stadium which initially could hold 200.000 spectators and which later was transformed in an 84.000 all-seater. The reason was that extensive works are being done to get it ready for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The Maracana is going to host the World Cup final game just like in 1950 (Uruguay  2- Brazil 1)

Favela Party

There are favela parties going on during week-ends where daredevils can go for high adrenaline very dangerous entertainment. Have you seen the shooting scene when they kill Benny in “City of Gods”? Well we prefered to see this in a movie! 

Boat tour in the bay

We missed the boat tour because unfortunately we did not have enough time.

Football game and horse racing

Off season – snif!

Paraty

Life is very calm in Paraty

Paraty is in the State of Rio and is the second seaside stop for us. This is one of the places from where gold coming from the interior was shipped to Rio de Janeiro. The town has a long history of fortification, piracy and rumoured hidden treasures. Nowadays it is a very charming old colonial town with a lot of small shops and delicious restaurants.

Paraty is also a very well known place for Cachaça, a special kind of white spirit made from sugar cane. There are more than 1300 different types of Cachaça in Brazil and we’ve been to some shops there carrying a selection of 600! We obviously had a few tasting sessions and we really liked the different declinations of the drinks : white, barrelled matured, or flavoured (chili, fruits, coffee, etc).

Matching bike and wall

Beautiful cobblestone streets in the micro-center 

What a selection!

We stayed in a nice hostel (Backpackers House) only 100 metres from the bus station. The welcome was very warm and the breakfast was amazing. Pablo, the boss is Argentine.

Paraty has a lot to offer and we decided to do one of the traditional boat tours to see a dozen spots on different islands and actually stop at 4. The boat (Rei) was very comfortable and Giselle was adorable. She really added a cultural and historical taint to the explanations and that’s a plus for me. The lunch on board looked amazing although we did not have it since we had brought our own sandwich lunch. Thanks to a lucky draw we got a free Caipirinia. We chose the Orange, Mango, Passion fruit one and it was the best we’ve had so far.

A family enjoying the day out at one of the islands

Amazing summer rain

The stops were very nice and the islands were very peaceful. If the sun had been out I think it would have been absolutely perfect and the colours would have been astounding. But it was not to be. It actually started raining very hard and they had to zip up the protection around the boat so that we would not get wet.

One of the restaurants we went to was a beautifully decorated eatery with live music. We each had a local sea food specialty. Roxana had camarones (shrimp) accompanied with stuffed vegetables while I had grilled fish, tapioca and rice. It was delicious. There was also something that reminded me of Mauritius: pickled chili in oil (piment confit). There were three kinds of chili, the small red and green and a small berry shaped red one. No need to tell you that only a few drops of that oil is enough to spice up the whole meal.

This oil will burn skin, mouth, tongue and
God knows what else tomorrow  morning

Everything looks and tastes good!

One of the very picturesque features of Paraty are the street vendors selling all kinds of home made cakes. They push this big cart full of all kinds of goodies: passion fruit flans, chocolate fudge cake, tapioca cakes with coconut topping, manioc pies with cheese and sugar baked on top and my favourite: grated coconut cooked and crystallised in sugar and then coloured. We have the same back in Mauritius (gateau coco).

One evening we were lucky enough to stumble upon a carnival band rehearsal. While walking on the main street we heard the feverish rhythm coming from a primary school and we went in. The band, about 10 of them, were busy rehearsing for next month’s carnival. They had all kinds of trumpets, saxophones, drums and cymbals. It was great to see and hear them and that gave us a small taste of what is to come soon.         

For more pics of Paraty  

Florianopolis

Roxana  finally enjoying the beach 

Florianopolis is the first seaside resort we came to in Brazil. Roxana is happy! It is on an island called Santa Catalina less than 500m away from the continent and linked to it by two bridges. The island, roughly the size of Mauritius has 43 beaches, most of them surf spots.

We were to spend 4 nights on the island and went to our first hostel (Tucano House) for the first 2 nights. It was really nice, with extremely friendly and helpful staff, great common areas and a small swimming pool. In Brazil so far many hostels also propose dinners at night for a small sum and we signed up for both nights there. Good Irish stew the first day and excellent BBQ (called Churrasco here) the second.

The breakfasts as well in Brazil are a marked improvement on Argentinian hostels. Here there are fresh fruits, fresh fruit juice, ham and cheese and all kinds of breads. In Argentina most hostels serve a “continental” breakfast of bread, butter, jam and seldom pastry.

That is a huge meal even to share

We spent a day on a beach called Açores. We had to take 3 buses to get there but it was worth it. It was a nice beach with much less people than on the beach we went to the first day. We rented a couple of chairs and a beach umbrella and settled down nicely. We dipped in the cool water whenever we felt too hot and had a wonderful lunch of shrimp in cream. It was accompanied by rice, salad and chips. It was supposed to be for 2 but could easily have served 4.

The hostels here in Florianopolis also organise loads of activities during the day such as outings to the beach or treks and in the evening, going out to bars and clubs. On one such organised outing we went to Ilha Campeche, supposed to be an amazing island (a bit like Ile aux Cerfs in Mauritius). We took a 1hr boat to the island and were happy to get there because a little boy had been sick all the way in.

Spending a quiet time on the beach

So far I had been unimpressed by the beaches and the sea. Rather coarse sand, rough seas open to the ocean, and dull milky colours. But I had seen only a dozen beaches thus far in a huge country blessed with 7500km of coastline. So I’m sure many of them must be breathtaking.

The best beach so far - (blue filter on)

And this island was nice, the best beach we had seen in Brazil. But it was only the one. A 500m stretch of fine sand which unfortunately was being blown in our faces by the strong wind. There is a time limit to stay on the island as well as a limit on the number of visitors per day. And there were in my opinion too many people on that beach. So  much for the peaceful deserted island beaches you see in movies. We nevertheless had a good time and took the boat back home mid-afternoon.

On the way back the sea was rougher and many more people were sick. About a quarter of the passengers threw up and the boat staff were constantly washing the deck. They did an okay job although I could still see on the floor pieces of apples, bananas, rice and other stuff those poor sea sick people had had for lunch! 

Reminds me of Mauritius

That evening we unfortunately had to change hostels because the Tucano House did not have availability. We went to another part of the island for the last two nights. This hostel (Share House) was really disappointing especially being equivalent in price. The staff did not have a clue and the place was dirty. As there were water shortages all the time, the toilets stunk and the bathroom floors were disgusting.

We were supposed to share a bathroom with about 10 other people but it turned out that we were the only bathroom linked to their water reserve tank, so we ended up sharing the bathroom with all 50 guests! The common area there was relatively ugly and again dirty. And the whole hostel was set on 6 or 7 levels which always made it look cloistered and small as opposed to if the total surface was on one level.

To add to the discomfort, we were not in tune with the crowd there either … they were mainly surfers, usually from the USA or Australia and they were, hmmm, how should I say that … way younger than us. They were really nice kids but all they were interested in was surfing during the day and getting drunk at night. And I must have heard the word “awesome” a hundred million times! We did feel like out of touch oldies there.

Only helping to get things done. 

Anyway we made the most of it and still signed up for the churrasco on Sunday evening. There was pork (expertly marinated and stuffed), chicken, sausages and beef. Now beef is very good in Brazil too. There was tender Picaña (Sirloin Cap) and Tim, from Australia and the owner’s son in law, was the main man. He was grilling away and I loved it. The BBQ was delicious and we had plenty to eat, again.

After those 4 days in Florianopolis we headed out to Paraty and where we hoped to enjoy less crowded beaches.

For more pictures of Florianopolis

Again I leave you with a funny message this time in the street : A lady who has been robbed sending a message to the robber : "Mr Robber, on the 4/1/12 you robbed 4 suitcases from a car. We can negociate! I am not going to call the Police because they are not going to do anything anyway. Sabrina (tel no ...)"

Lusophones will appreciate the message!

Iguazu Falls and Itaipu Dam

A part of the huge complex of waterfalls in Iguazu

After Buenos Aires we headed to the north of the country, to Iguazu where Argentina shares a border with Brazil and Paraguay.  The 18hr bus was 3 hours late and when we arrived there we were broken. The Argentinian side is called Puerto Iguazu and it is a small town living on the tourism that the mighty Iguazu Falls (Wikipedia Iguazu Falls) attracts.

With 275 falls, the Iguazu complex has the widest cumulated curtain of water in the world, although Victoria Falls between Zambia and Zimbabwe has the widest single curtain of water in the world. It has the second average water flow rate in the world after the Niagara falls although the maximum water flow rate ever recorded in the world was here in Iguazu.

We're going to go under the falls on the left

We took a bus to the National Park and started walking. The Argentinian side holds about 80% of the waterfalls of the Iguazu complex. They were amazing and we went down to a quay where we boarded a RHIB (Rigid Hulled Inflatable Boat). That boat with its powerful outboard motors brought us all the way up to one of the big falls. Then the captain asked us to put our cameras, bags and anything else we wanted to keep dry in heavy duty watertight bags. He was going to bring the RHIB under the waterfall.

As we came even closer, the noise was deafening and you could even feel the vibrations created by the tons of water falling in your chest. Then we actually went under the falling water and we were completely soaked. It was nothing like I thought, it was so much better!

Then we walked through the park along the footpaths where you could admire at very close range some of the biggest falls in the world. We made it to the “Garganta Del Diablo” (the Devil’s Throat). This is a gaping hole about 150 metres in diameter in which the raging torrents just fall. It is amazing and frightening at the same time.

That afternoon when we came back we got our stuff and took a local bus to Brazil – just like that! The bus took 15 minutes to take us to the border and I was let into Brazil without a hitch (muito obrigado!).

Brazil is going to be the most expensive country in our trip by far. But coming to Brazil the same week the Credit Rating Agencies degraded several Euro zone countries is butchery. We have to face 6^th largest economy in the world with a Euro that just lost 17% of its value against the all too powerful Brazilian Real.

The border town on the Brazilian side is called Foz do Iguazu and is more developed than its Argentinian counterpart. In the streets you can find tour buses, cars and taxis from Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay.  After a short bus ride we arrive at the park and buy our entrance tickets.

From the Brazilian side a full panoramic view of the waterfalls may be enjoyed as opposed to be directly on or under them in Argentina. And the spectacle is grandiose. We walked a few kilometres taking pictures from every possible angle.

We then rushed back to the city to be able to squeeze in a visit of the Itaipu Dam. This dam is a bi-national project between Brazil and Paraguay. The total length of the dam is 8km and the retention lake it created is enormous : 145km long, 8km wide and 160 metres at it’s deepest.

Some fun facts about the dam (source Wikipedia) :

• ·         The course of the 7th biggest river in the world was shifted, as were 50 million tons of earth and rock.
• ·        The amount of concrete used to build the Itaipu Power Plant would be enough to build 210 football stadiums the size of Maracanã (for those who don't know, 200.000 paying spectators were crammed in to watch the 1950 World Cup Final).
• ·         The iron and steel used would allow for the construction of 380 Eiffel Towers.
• ·         The volume of excavation of earth and rock in Itaipu is 8.5 times greater than that of the Channel Tunnel and the volume of concrete is 15 times greater.

One of the three spillways letting excess water out

The project is a true 50-50 between Brazil and Paraguay in terms of investment, manpower and energy production. There are 20 turbines (10 for Brazil, 10 for Paraguay) and it is the largest operating hydroelectric facility in terms of annual generating capacity, even ahead of Three Gorges Dam in China.

With a small population of only 6 million people, Paraguay only needs 2 of its 10 turbines to sustain almost its whole energy consumption. So it sells the electricity produced by the other 8 turbines to Brazil. And the 18 turbines feeding Brazil (population 192 million) cover 16% of its energy needs.

The huge tube in which water falls to the turbines

The whole tour of the dam is made in a bus and part of it is actually on Paraguayan soil! Imagine, after making it sooooo hard for me to get in South American countries with a valid passport and visa, now they just drive me into Paraguay! WTF man!!! Anyway I got two countries for the price of one!

For all Iguazu Falls and Itaipu Dam

And finally an amusing note posted in our hostel in Foz do Iguazu. Pay particular attention to the order of reasons for not doing drugs! 

They have a sense of humour in Brazil