Monthly Archives: July 2014

Rio Carnival!!!

July 27, 2014Brazil, Rio de Janeirosouth america 2013leenamurgai

Thursday 27th February 2014

Carnival!

This is it! Our last few of days of travelling and Rio Carnival to see it out. Not only that but our last accommodation was a castle no less! Castelo Valentim is high up in Santa Teresa and we had views right over the city from the balcony. We had three days and two nights left when we arrived. We had woken at 3am to catch our flight from Natal so we were pretty knackered but managed to make good use of the day in any case.

We spent our last night before carnival on a bit of a bar crawl around Ipanema and Leblon. We found a bar on the edge of the Lagoa and celebrated our last unplanned evening out in South America with bottle of Prosecco and then headed home to get a good nights rest before the finale the following day.

Getting around Rio during Carnival can take some time. There are parades in the streets and road blocks all over the city as we found trying to leave the Santa Teresa which has few routes to the centre. That part was not unlike Notting Hill carnival, the Sambadrome though was much more organised and we had great tickets. I can’t think of a better way we could have ended our trip!

Palaphita Kitch

Santa Teresa

View from Castelo Valentim

Castelo Valentim

On the bus

Flatmates

Natal

July 27, 2014Brazil, Natalsouth america 2013leenamurgai

Saturday 22nd February 2014

Heading to Genipabu

Cactus Flower that lives for a day

Riding the dunes at Genipabu

Parque Dunas de Genipabu

Litoral Norte

Ismael

Lunch stop

Litoral Norte

View from our balcony looking over Ponta Negra

Worlds largest cashew tree

Root of the worlds largest cashew tree

Worlds largest cashew tree, yes that is one tree and not a forrest!

Tibaú do Sul

Seriously tanned bird?!

Lagoa Guarairas

Praia da Pipa

Praia do Amor

Natal (Rio Grande do Norte) was the last stop on our Brazilian vacation before returning to Rio. It was probably the most we felt on holiday for the whole trip. We stayed in a lovely hotel overlooking Ponta Negra beach, with two lounging pools and a bar (complete with underwater bar stools) at one of them (which we made extensive use of!) We ate the best shrimp I’ve ever had at Camarões more than once (recommend the shrimp salad in a big way.)

We did two excursions while we were here. On one of the days we headed along the Litoral Norte to see the dunes at Parque Dunas de Genipabu and on another day headed along the Litoral Sul along the Rota do Sol to see the beaches. Nowhere was the Brazilian passion for high rises more clear than it was looking towards Natal from the dunes at Genipabu. It looked like Manhattan with a desert in front of it. The difference was that in Manhattan those high rises were mostly offices in Natal they were apartments. High rise living in Brazil is very popular as it is considered safer and I can see why. Armed robbery of a house is not an uncommon crime in Brazil especially in São Paulo.

On one of the days we visited the local shopping centre to do some laundry and we spotted signs saying that sex tourism was not tolerated and the area was being watched. We had read about problems with sex tourism in Brazil and seen some pretty disturbing sights around Pelourinho in Salvador including a young pregnant prostitute. In the late 90s police estimates put the total number of prostitutes in Brazil at around one million. Like in the UK, prostitution in Brazil is legal, however it is illegal to employ prostitutes or run a brothel. Brazil not only has a problem with sex tourism but also child prostitution and trafficking of women. After failing to find the laundrette we ended up watching 12 years a slave (the only movie on at that time). All in all it ended up being a pretty sobering day.

Morro de São Paulo

July 27, 2014Brazil, Morro de São Paulosouth america 2013leenamurgai

Sunday 16th February 2014

The most amazing birthday ever!

Moonlight over dinner

Dinner

Cocktails Brazil Style

Beach 2

Around town

Beach 2

Taxi anyone?

Path to the beaches

Beach 2

Breakfast

Beach 3

Favourite dinner spot

Beach 3

Beach 2

Around town

Dinner

Beach Party

After the Beach Party

Beach 1

Beach 2

Beach 3

Beach 4

Beach 3

Beach 2

Beach 3

A Local

After dark

Our street

For my birthday, Ismael organised the most amazing surprise. I could never have dreamed that I’d be somewhere so cool for my birthday. I was almost too old to be somewhere this cool. The first time we stepped onto the beach I thought 17 year old Leena would have gone insane in this place. As it turned out it wasn’t just 17 year old Leena that could appreciate it.

Morro de São Paulo is a small town on Ilha de Tinharé in the Arquipélago de Tinharé, 90 minutes off the coast from Salvador. Vehicles with engines are not allowed there and when we stepped off the boat we were greeted by men with wheel barrows with ‘taxi’ written on them. The town has apparently only had electricity since the 80s. Now it’s a small but popular tourist destination with miles and miles of beautiful coastline. The beaches are sandy and there are two tides a day. The sea is shallow and rocks form natural pools between the beach and the ocean. Consequently the sea is as warm as a jacuzzi, something I have never experienced before. At first it’s such a surprise it’s almost unsettling but one soon gets used to not shivering their way into the sea.

There are four beaches within walking distance from the town; they progressively get quieter and larger the further you walk. The first beach is overlooked by some small hotels, the second is the party beach and feels like the heart of the town, it has restaurants, bars, little shops selling beachwear and much to my surprise even a couple of small supermarkets. The third beach is quieter, the bars and restaurants end and most of it is not accessible when the tide is in. The fourth beach is practically deserted, it takes the best part of a day to walk to the end of it from the first beach.

There is a beach for every mood. I had never really dreamt of being in the paradise beach setting that is so popular an idea, but this place certainly fit the description. The water was like crystal green-blue, the sky clear and blue all day. The sunsets were beautiful but even more astonishing was the night sky. The moonlight was like nothing I had ever seen before. We sat and ate dinner under it every night and every night I couldn’t help but leave the dinner table to try to capture it on my camera. On my birthday after dinner we went to a beach party. I had never been to a beach party before.

What a way to spend my birthday! With Ismael! What a lucky lady I am! Unforgettable!

Salvador

July 27, 2014Brazil, Salvadorsouth america 2013leenamurgai

Friday 14th February 2014

Sunset

Carnival Practice

Marcia Short

Pelourinho

A Cruz Caida

View from A Cruz Caida

Fundação Casa de Jorge Amado

Jardim das Delicias

Carnival Practice

We couldn’t leave Brazil without seeing Bahia. We split our stay in Salvador in half with a trip to Morro de São Paulo. The first part was spent in Pelourinho in the Centro Histórico which was a lot to take in, so full of striking contradictions; poverty and wealth, colour and darkness, restored and dilapidated, tourists and locals. We enjoyed our time in Pelourinho. We ate well, slept well, went to a concert, visited art galleries, made friends with local artists. There were street parties in the evenings for what seemed like no apparent reason.

We spent the second part of our stay in a less touristy part of Salvador, closer to the coast. Without the colonial architecture the place looked more ordinary but more at peace with itself as a result.

Rio de Janeiro

July 27, 2014Brazil, Rio de Janeirosouth america 2013leenamurgai

Saturday 8th February 2014

On the way to Tijuca

On the way to TijucaTijuca Forrest

View from Sugar Loaf

Sugar Loaf

View from Sugar Loaf

Botofogo

Ipanema

Near Ipanema

Ipanema

So… we barely had three weeks left of our trip by the time we left Iguazu . We had planned to be in Brazil a week earlier than we arrived but ended up spending longer in Argentina than we had anticipated. Brazil was going to be the relaxing part of our trip and we were looking forward to it. No treks, no expeditions, just good weather, beautiful beaches, good food and lots of relaxation before heading back home to London.

Our trip was due to end in Rio on the 1st of March, coincidentally the day after carnival started. I had never been to Rio before and didn’t just want to see it in carnival time, so we decided to head to Rio first for a few days before exploring some other parts of Brazil. As an added bonus we got to leave all our trekking gear and… I got to go clothes shopping!!! From here on in we were officially no longer travelling but we were on holiday!

We stayed in Botofogo for the first couple of nights and then moved to Santa Teresa. Rio is a beautiful city. The beaches, the landscape, the weather, the food, the fruit, papaya every morning, the laid back and friendly people.

From here we planned the rest of our trip, Salvador, Morro de Saõ Paulo, Natal and then back to Rio for Carnival. We decided to stay on the coast for this visit to Brazil.

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