It's been much too long since I have updated my blog - a month now, and I'm not even sure where to start. Since my last post, I have went travelling to the south of Bahia (Porto Seguro, Ilhéus, Itabuna and Barra Grande) and also been to the interior (Irecê and Lapão) for part of my research project at school. I'll start with a description of my travels to the south.
It took me an enormously long time to get to Porto Seguro, as I decided against the direct bus trip, which was much too expensive - and decided to spend a night in Itacaré instead. Itacaré is a beautiful surfer's paradise which must be visited, but since I had already been there twice before, I used it as a layover and was back on the bus the next morning. The timing worked out perfectly for me to catch the sunset and have some delicious 50cent ice cream. I also got a chance to see the now 'famous' guy who does headstands on his longboard in front of the sunset (apparently a magazine wrote an article about him and now he is there every single day for the sunset on his longboard so people can take pictures of him). Here are a few pictures from my stop in Itacaré.
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| Arriving in Itacaré |
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| 2 fishermen |
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| Sunset |
I arrived in Porto Seguro the following afternoon, after passing kilometers of green valleys and rivers. Porto Seguro is where Pedro Cabral, the Portuguese explorer, first set foot in Brazil. Now it has become an extremely touristy city, with more souvenir stores than are really necessary. During the day there are several trips you can go on to nearby beaches, and during the night there are shows and beach parties to go to. Porto Seguro is famous for it's parties. There is even an exclusive island that opens only on Friday and Sunday nights, with a 50 reais (25$) entry fee, called "Ilha dos Aquarius" (Island of the Aquariums). It is filled with expensive bars and nightclubs. I think my favorite part of the trip was the tapioca - I had one (crêpe style) filled with 'carne do sol' (dried meat), tomatoes, oregano, and cheese - a complete meal for only 2$. It was at 'Tapioca da Neguinha'. Here is a youtube video of the very same person I got it from, that shows how it is made (in Portuguese).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjd9L8oaBwc. I've never seen Tapioca powder ('Goma') in Canada though, which is the base of what you need for making it.
These next few pictures were taken on a day trip to 'Praia do Espelho' (Mirror of Beaches). It was a beautiful but exclusive beach that stretched on for miles. The downside was the cost of the lunch - costing me 25$ to share a Moqueca (fish stew). A ridiculous amount when compared to the normal cost of a Moqueca (between 5-15$ for one portion). I met some nice Brazilians to share lunch with - several ladies from São Paulo, who loved to joke about the Bahian accent (to them it's as if you are talking through your nose, very nasally) as compared to the São Paulo accent (to Bahians it's almost as if Paulistas (people from São Paulo) are talking with an American accent - they pronounce their 'r's very strongly. (Ex. PoR favoRR). (Please in Portuguese).
On the van ride back we stopped at an Indian village. All the Indian children were dressed up in typical Indian attire - grass skirts and headdresses, and they held parrots on their fingers. This was obviously set up for tourists - as the Indians in the region all use regular clothes no different from the rest of us. It did make for a nice photo shoot though - which I would've done had the kids not told me that it would cost "1 real cada um" (One real (50cents) for each kid you took a picture with) - so if you want to take a picture with all of them that will cost you 5 reais. I think they made a lot of money with that, with several tour groups stopping by throughout the day I'm sure they made at least 40-50$ just in picture taking - and I didn't even have any change left, so no pictures of me with cute Indian children were taken. I did, however, take a picture of the 'berimbau' tree. The fruit hanging from it is what is used to make the 'berimbau' instrument used in Capoeira. I had no idea it was the dried shell of a fruit. Here is a picture of the berimbau instrument, and following is the tree.
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