The return - over and out ...

I had to wait several weeks before mustering the courage to write again about our trip. To be honest I had even decided several times not to add this last entry to the blog. I guess I did not want our trip to be over and writing this last entry would mean that our great adventure had finally come to an end.

We flew back from Recife to Rio and spent several hours in Rio waiting for the night plane back to Europe. We locked our suitcases in safe keeping at the airport and wandered away in Rio. We wanted to get some Cachaça and so we went to a shopping centre. We found what we wanted and also did some window shopping. I finally managed to taste "Bob's Burger", a Brazilian burger joint, but it was awful (I should have listened to you Will).

We then came back to the airport, where Jean-Yves and Stéphanie were waiting for us, got some last minute duty free items (what's a Mauritian without a bagful of duty free wines & spirits!) and boarded the plane back home. We still had not quite realised what was going on. We had a reasonably nice flight, during which we did not sleep much.

When we landed in Paris it hit us! We were back on the old continent. Everything seemed so familiar, and I did not like that! We took a high speed train to Brussels and took the public transport back home. It was cold... and grey! We were back, our trip had ended.

I had read that we would go through a low point (a mild depression if you will) 3-4 months after returning. That is why it is important to book some more vacation around that period to have something to look forward to. I must say that I did not have to wait for that long as the first week we spent at home before going back to work seriously dented our morale! We found ourselves all of a sudden alone at home, finding again familiar habits (the bus 95, the Delhaize supermarket, the UGC cinema) but yet it seemed so strange to do those things again.   

People ask us if we see life differently now, if this trip has changed us in a radical fashion. I don't think so. Does it take a trip like this to see things differently or does it take one who sees things differently to engage in such a trip in the first place? Chicken and egg kind of thing ... 

I think if we had done a trip like that right after secondary school, like a first big trip abroad, it might have changed our insight on things more. But we are in our early 30's already left our home and country of birth and living abroad for over a decade. So the impact of such a voyage is somewhat diminished. 

But what I know is that over the past 6 months we have seen some extra-ordinary things, lived incredible experiences and met some amazing people.

View Our trip in South Amrica in a full screen map

We have been in the natural miracle of the Galapagos Islands, climbed the mythical Machu Picchu, seen the astounding glaciers in Patagonia and walked on deserted beaches in Brazil. We have been charmed by the Easter Island and felt humbled to trek in Torres del Paine. We walked and swam in the lush Amazon rain forest basin and  experienced carnival in Brazil.

We have visited amongst others Quito, Lima, Nasca, Arequipa, Cusco, Santiago, La Paz, Sucre, Ushuaia, Buenos Aires and Rio, cities filled with past history and modern individual character. Bustling centres and quiet residential neighbourhoods where people are simply getting on with their lives.

Amazon Basin, Ecuador

Galapagos Island, Ecuador

Punta Union, Peru

Machu Picchu, Peru

Endless sea of white, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia

Garganta del Diablo, Cafayate, Argentina 

Best meat in the world, Argentina

Amazing diving, Easter Island

The trek of our lives, in Torres del Paine, Chile

The three "towers" - Torres del Paine, Chile

Perito Mereno, El Calafate, Argentina

  

Ushuaia, Argentina

San Martin de Los Andes, Argentina

Buenos Aires

Rio de Janeiro, cidade maravilhosa

Paradise beaches, Brazil

For A selection of the best pictures of the trip
There are a little under 600 pictures in this selection, which may sound like a lot but it is actually only an average of 3 pictures per day of travel ...

Then there were the people we met. Everywhere, fellow travellers, locals or old friends alike made this trip so very special. But every time we learnt a lot bout the way of living and the realities of the people living in the regions we visited. We met many other travellers each having different stories and life paths. With some of them we spent only a few hours while with others weeks. We stayed with old friends and relived some of the old times. 

There are so many people that I dare not start enumerating. Maybe only a special mention to Cecilia with whom we stayed for several weeks and who opened her home to us. We had such a very special Christmas and New Year with Cecilia, Pedro, Juan and the entire Arribere and Antonino families. Muchas gracias a todos!

This voyage taught us a great deal about ourselves too. It exposed some of our flaws of character but enhanced our strong suits. I learnt how to let go of small vexations quicker and look towards the future. It also showed us a whole different way of travelling. Backpacking, bus and hostels ... I wonder why we never did this before.

Many people ask us if we would go again given the chance ... the answer is YES! Absolutely. Sometimes we regret we did not do 1 whole year. We would have done a round the world then, including Africa, Mauritius, Australia, New Zealand, South East Asia and perhaps India and some Pacific Islands. But on the other hand this feeling of not having done enough gives us the motivation to do a similar trip to some other parts of the world in the future. In the meantime I keep buying lottery tickets!

Carnival in Recife and Olinda - Music, colours and folklore

 

In Olinda, close to the Skol house

 

Participants in the street in Recife



The whole gang

The last leg of our trip… we have big expectations for this final week. First of all it is carnival in Recife, then we were to meet up with Stéphanie and Jean-Yves our friends from Belgium. We will share a flat that we rented in Boa Viagem, a quiet neighbourhood of Recife some 8km away from the centre. Will and Archanna, our other friends whom we’ve been seeing in every country since we met in Cusco, Peru are also part of the gang renting the flat. Archanna’s sister Amruta is also here for the first 4 days.

The flat is old and badly maintained and for the price we’re paying we were hoping for better, although in hindsight, the rent we’re paying is not as high as most of the other options we’ve seen online. The problem with where we are is that from our flat we need to take 2 buses to the centre or a taxi. Taxi actually works out cheaper if we all 7 get in it.



Notice the cigarette!



It's important to be well stocked in beer



That first evening started very well with a nice dinner and champagne to kick-off this week in style.

The costumes in Olinda were fantastic - here the Spartans

The following day we went to check out the party in Olinda, a smaller town about 10 km away from Recife centre opposite from the direction we live. Olinda is a cute little town with a lot of colonial town houses and a few beautiful churches and cathedrals. The day we went there was still pre-carnival and preparations were still going. They were painting the houses and setting up the vending stalls. TV crews were checking out the best spots to film from. 

The bands in the street were fun and the rhythm was great, percussion and trumpets make for a great combination. People were already dressed up in very colourful outfits and their faces were all painted and glittered. After a great few hours there, we decided to return to Recife and went into town for some more party. There were many more street vendors and food stalls in Recife and we tried our first Caipirinhas there. We also got some much welcomed food. 



Child in Superman's costume ...



... and the real Spiderman


There was this other night when we went out and it was simply pouring down with rain. We were soaked to the bones but the rain was warm and even at 2 a.m. we were feeling in the party mood.  



The girls also taking part in the fun



Night party in Olinda

Over the course of the week that followed we went to Recife and Olinda quite a few times using 2 taxi drivers that we had come to know and who had 7-seaters. They would come pick us up at the apartment. The parties in Recife or Olinda were different each day. And we managed to do some shopping too! 

The carnival in Recife and Olinda is different to the one we see on TV at Rio. In Rio (in the Sambadrome) it is much more grandiose and lush. I would like to see that one too some day, which probably gives us the perfect excuse to come back in a not so distant future...


For more pictures of Recife and Olinda



The priest with the beer can



The security police squad




The Recife main stage beautifully lit at night



Porto da Rua - empty beaches and juicy fruits

Patacho Beach

Deserted beaches are something else

Fishing boats at low tide

After the treat at Ilha Moreré it was difficult to come back down to earth. It was a bit unfair on Porto da Rua, a picturesque fishing village 70km away from Maceio. The best thing about the pousada we stayed at was its garden. It was huge and filled with fruit trees. The first thing that strikes when you enter the garden is the number of mangoes that litter the ground. There are hundreds of them. They were ripe and juicy and I readily started picking the least bruised to eat later.

Biking on the beach

Praia Patacho

The beaches in and around Porto da Rua were absolutely amazing. One of them, Praia Patacho, was even voted one of the top 5 beaches in Brazil and that’s saying something. We really enjoyed the empty beaches and the feeling of being all alone. The lagoon was so warm that it felt like a bath.

Anyway we had a quiet time there before going to the hustle and bustle of Recife for carnival, the calm before the tempest if you will.    

For more pictures on Porto da Rua

Ilha Boipeba - Paradise Island

Moreré beach, Boipeba island

All of this is covered at high tide

This is our taxi to the other side of the island

If Paradise exists then this is it! I am not easily impressed when it comes to beaches, coconut trees and lagoons but this island struck a chord in me. And one must earn it too: a ferry from Salvador da Bahia to Bom Despacho, followed by a 2-hour bus journey to Valenca, a taxi to the river port where you catch a speed boat. After one hour of battering you get to Moreré Island and it’s not over. You need to ride 20 minutes in a tractor (I kid you not) to get to the other side of the island where our Pousada was.

There we were welcomed by Gary, a very nice South African, who has lived in England and Spain before buying this superb estate on this island. It is an orchard rather than an estate, filled with mango, jambo (zamalac for the Mauritians), papaya and banana trees and all kinds of orchids, hibiscus, and bougainvillea.

Deserted beaches

All alone for kilometres

This calls for laziness

Apart from Gary’s house, there were 4 villas hidden amongst the trees. Each villa could accommodate a family of 4. The living space outside was amazing, there were reading areas, 2 dining tables, 3 hammocks, a couple of long-chairs and another bed outside! We definitely loved this bed sitting outside filled with cushions and pillows. We would just lie there and listen to the birds singing.

The island was extremely safe and everyone greeted you with a big smile. We soon visited our first beach and it was magical. White sandy beaches and beautiful coconut trees slanting forward as if trying to reach for the warm water of the lagoon: it was a postcard picture. On top of that there were so few people on the island, you could look either way on a 2 km stretch of beautiful beach and see no-one for hours.

We also made a short list of the restaurants we wanted to eat at and what we were going to have in each. The Alizée restaurant had a different choice on the menu every day so we would go up there around 5pm to see if we fancied anything on the board.

Delicious Robalo fish at Samburá - a local favourite

Yummie

The breakfast at the Pousada was incredible: fruits from the garden, along with fresh fruit juice, homemade jams (the jambo jam was excellent), tea, coffee, bread, rice cooked in milk, cooked bananas, cakes, and eggs (omelets, scrambled, sunny side up or boiled). That was the best breakfast we’ve had thus far.

Enjoying the quiet life of the island

Brazil = Football ... anywhere

There were very few things open after 9.30pm and that suited us perfectly. We have not slept that well in a very long time and we needed it. Our big problem there was: what kind of egg to choose in the morning, to which beach to go to during the day and at which restaurant to eat at in the evening! After a hearty breakfast, a long day at the beach and after dining on exquisite sea food we would generally return home exhausted.

A visit to the natural pools at low tide

The only regret we had is to have to leave after 4 days. We would have gladly stayed longer had we not already planned our next move. But who knows …

For more photos of Ilha Moreré

Ripe, sweet and juicy jambos (zamalac)

The view from Pousada Alizée 

Full moon rising on the bay

Having some fun on the beach

Lost in thoughts - we hope we can come back some day