What a fantastic city to visit- my hostel was just under Sugar Loaf mountain http://www.cariocahostel.com.br/ . The city is surrounded by water and huge mountains, and at night the illuminated statue of Christ floats freakily above the city. It is summer here and the heat (40C plus) makes me (and the rest of the people it seems too) feel so relaxed. I have not done so much- I have been enjoying taking things easy. My arrival (after 24 hours in transit!) was somewhat shaky. I managed to make my way to within two kilometers of the hostel by bus from the airport, and I needed to take a taxi the final distance. The taxi driver started driving me right to the other side of the city to the opposite side of the bay. I was terrified so I kept saying Casa Mi and pointing to the map, but he did not turn around at all. My journey was about 30 minutes long in the end ohmigod Have since thrown myself in to learning Portugeuse and have been enjoying some conversation with the friendly locals.I have paid a young girl studying at the university to teach me too, and she has taken me under my wing. Have just had lunch with her and her mother- shrimp, manioc and pasta. Food here is fresh, salty and very nice. Every meal seems to contain either cheese, steak or rice. The national drink is Capriosca- fresh lime and crushed ice with sugar spirits. I am sold. ps if this email doesnt make sense it may be that I had too many of them last night at a reggae party I went to... Used my shaky Portugeuse to negotiate a discount on a pineapple. It worked quite well because I ended up getting FIVE PINEAPPLES for 4 Reals= 80pence. Everything is loads cheaper than anticipated, which is good for me but perhaps not so for the Brazilians... People in Rio all seem to look like models. But many of the women are prostitutes as we discovered when sat outside a night club called Help. There was me, another girl and a guy and we all spent the evening musing on who could earn the most. From the attention the guy was getting though I think it could have been him! Managed to take the train to the top of the Christ the Redemer statue yesterday. It stands 750 m above sea level and is awesome. Felt quite emotional knowing that to be in Brazil has been a dream since I was about eight years old. Also saw an iguana coming out of the bushes and I nearly dropped my guarana drink. No one else seemed to bat an eyelid at such a curious creature- more of that to come when I get to the Amazon I guess Spent many days on the beach with the biggest annoyance being sand in my flip flops. Discovered the delicious CoCo - a type of coconut whose juice you drink with a straw. Had my first and probably last Brazilian as well if you know what I mean. Am heading up the coast today towards the Equator on a 26 hour bus ride for more freaky instects, the Southern Hemisphere night sky, and even less people who speak English! Will be spending the Carnaval in the town of Salvador. It is less commercialised and less showy than in Rio. The party there is wicked though and the music is bossanova and not samba as in Rio -The song the Girl from Ipanema is bossanova. Expected to see even more abanondonded VW vehicles on the road side- a tragic waste everywhere of Beetles and Campavans it must be said... Wish you were here (perhaps you do too?!). Let me know whats going on at home. How is Worcestershire now I have chosen ships and aeroplanes to come between us? Big Hug Nina xxx
After a mamouth 30 hour bus trip I made it 2000 miles north of Rio de Janerio to the city of Salvador. It is a lovely restored old town which used to be the capital in the days of african slaves and coffee trading The town has cobbled streets and brightly painted houses. On arriving the atmosphere here was totally different to that of the big city, and I was glad to be spending the carnaval somewhere more intimate than Rio. The poverty here is more marked somehow- there have been a number of children ask for left overs from my plate of food. The hostel I am in is a bit of a hole but now I have been here a few days I now I feel more confident that the hole in the wall next to my pillow does not house cockroaches currently. The carnaval here involves different parades around the city like a larged up Lords Mayor day! The preparations throughout the city were extensive- here the shops are boarded up for the FIVE day plus event, and they even fit loudspeakers and water sprays in to walls and floors. Tonight we were casually walking down the street when we met the first dancing troop. In front of the group was a flurry of entrepenures selling sugar cane or necklaces, applying henna tattoos, or cooking cheese on sticks. When the first dancing and singing troop arrived it took nearly half an hour to pass one spot! The vibe was something else- it put a huge smile on everyones faces! The rhythmn of the drums alone was fantastic. Forget Glastonbury- this is far more inclusive and enjoyable. Two swedish girls from the hostel were one of the dancers in the last float, so we followed them home just now. We danced behind them and whereas usually self conciousness would kick in- the idea of dancing in front of the 1000s in the crowd and on the stands did not seem to bother any of us gringos! I have never had to dance my way to bed so this was a first. Just as we approached the hostel a wind picked up and some rain came. But 26 degrees drizzle was a welcome way to wind down. Nice. Big Hugs- I wish everyone at home could be enjoying this with me! Nina x
What a week or so of ups and downs. It certainly was very odd arriving in Salvador for the worlds biggest party and having no friends with me. However I have left having met some wonderful people and some good memories. As the sun came up over the beach, I watched a man who collected aluminium cans for a living, scrape dirty sand into each of the used cans. What the hell was he doing I thought- wierdo! Then I realised that all he was doing was just trying to add some extra weight to his bag. As I thought about how tragic his life must be that he would go to such an effort to make a few centavos, I then watched as a new song started playing and he jumped up and danced with a huge smile on his face. He was as sober as a judge too. This was the peoples spirit throughout Carnaval. The biggest night of Carnaval for me was the Saturday, as one of the Swedish girls (well Danish actually) from my hostel said they had a spare costume so would I like to dance in their troop? It took me a second to decide yes and they dressed me in a multicoloured headress, bikini top and flowing skirt. I felt like a true African dancer! Thank heavens for step aerobic classes though! I would never have been able to pick up the dancing moves with out being able to do the grapevine. Three hours of prancing around on the streets did it for me! Great. The next night was a good un too- I THINK learnt to samba. As I put my head on the pillow at seven in the next morning, I heard the drums beating again for another day of music. Incredible! Now one week on it all seems like such a distant memory. I now have 32 mosquito bites on one leg alone, and my Portugeuse learning has reverted to shy little pees and queues. Am now in Maceio together with a fab Irish girl who drinks rather too much indeed. Maceio reminds me somewhat of Plymouth, and having been away from home for over six weeks, I am enjoying its familiarity (except here if it rains, the locals are surprised). We have got a lovely luxury air conditioned room by the seaside and today have gone out on Jangado- a souped up giant raft with a sail. The water here is really warm, unlike that of Copacobana which was as cold as Goran Haven on a good day. Will soon be moving on soon though to Olinda and then to Natal, Belem then Manaus, which may mean nothing to you at home but I am starting to realise the route is a well trodden one. As I surfaced from my dive off of the boat today, I came face to face with three lovely Canadians I had got on well with in Salvador. Funny! Will write more soon Big Hug! Nina xxx
Can I tell you I had a bit of a week last week? And I suspect it had the added element of the depressive anti malaria drug Larium, that I shiftily bought late at night from a Finnish girl in her damp and dingy guesthouse. Left Maceio, the home town of Pele last week, and moved on further up the coast to Olinda, near Recife. It was the most beautiful town I have been to in Brazil, full of multi coloured colonial buildings, 101 churches, and a couple of extremely steep cobbled hills. We arrived on the Sunday which is the traditional night for the locals to dance at the top of town over looking the sea and the lights of the big city. It was packed full of youngsters having fun drinking fresh fruit juices (packed full of the sugar cane spirit Cassasa!). Did quite a bit of swiming in the hostels pool- what a luxury being able to swim outside in the warm night air (squiging the occasionaly mossie that landed on my nose). Contined on, like the littlest hobo, to the village of Praia da Pipa, near Natal. The Lonely Planet guidebook has a habit of describing things as they might have been three years ago. The village had its charm, and hey! it was nice not to be stared at for being foreign and relatively shiny white, but it was a little bit too touristy for my liking. Did, however, manage to get a spacious room with my own private balcony overlooking the sea. Spent much time there in the hammock, studying my Portugeuse books, and watching the insessant rain piss down outside. The weather has been awful this week which is ironic, because from what I hear of England it has been sunny as hell! Found it difficult to sleep though. Discoved a cockroach in the bathroom squirming upside down, and not wanting to touch it, I tried pathetically spraying insect repellent on it to kill it. Not very animal loving for someone who vowed never to eat fish or meat ever again, just two days before! Anyways it did not work and had visions of him and his family seeking revenge on me, together with all the lizards, and wierdie flies that frequently came in through the typically Brazilian terracotta pot roof. Oh! And we went to the local night club too, which I have to say was cool as it had trees in it and an you could see the stars. The music was an interesting mix of familiar Carnaval pop tunes, and wonderful remixes of British and American music with Portugeuse lyrics. Had a muscley model of a guy approach me, and tell me I was beautiful. I dig compliments like that, but here they seem obsessively and unhealthily preoccupied about if a girl is beautiful (or not presumably). Big Bloody Deal! It has happened so often that I now quietly and arrogantly answer `I know´. Anyway this time I squeezed his cheeks and said `So are You´, and spent the rest of the night quietly giggling to myself! Am now in Fortaleza, which is a modern and proper city reminding me somewhat of Liverpool (but with more beaches and probably more rain at the moment). There is a lovely cathedral here, which compared to the Catholic gold leaf covered palaces I have been seeing, is kind of sparten, but it has fantastic stain glass windows. Am doing little more than buying a hammock or two, and recovering from my first proper bout of food poisoning. Actually in truth I should not be here at all, I was misinformed about which bus to take. Whoops only an additional 12 hours extra-thats nothing in the fifth biggest country in the world! It is typical here for people if they know any English at all, to slip it in to the sentence to help you out. Last nice I was asked if I wanted Ice and Laranja in my drink. What? Eh? I asked! Confusing indeed. With bad news at home, am realising that time is in short supply, so am making quick smart to take the 24 hour bus journey to Belem to hunt down my boat. By the weekend I should be swinging from a hammock on deck for five days going down the Amazon! I think I have deliberately saved the best bit til last- I cannot wait! Got rid of my last dictionary as it did not have translations for many of the words I was looking up. I now realise that I tended to look up the names of fruit and vegetables that did not ever have an English name! I love Acerola whatever that is! And if you have heard of papaya it is truly delicious. Will be trying even more of these fruits in the Amazon. Looking forward too to being home- the only person I knew from before who was also on this continent, missed me by 25 minutes, so I am looking forward to seeing my friends! Big Hug Nina xxx
After 168 hours, 1600 kilometers, and one time zone, I arrived yesterday by cargo boat to the heart of the Amazon. My strongest memory will be standing at the bow of the boat, and the feeling of space it provided- the Amazon was so wide that only a thin line of trees circled us on the horizon for 360 degrees. Slightly stoned, we watched three lightening storms surround us. And later as I went to bed in my hammock, I watched not only the fire flies but also the fluroscent lights glow with the electrical surge around the boat. It occured to me though, that I could not have been safer there, what with being suspended mid air by two cotton cords. The boat, I was warned was an old wooden one, but it managed to break down three times and be towed twice by another vessel. The captain had no compass, no map, no radar, navigated at night with just a search light, and altered its speed by a simple series of bell ringing. The night of the storm, the noise was so intense- the torrential rain on the tarpaulin, and also thunder overhead, the engine sounding literally like a lawnmower mowing stones, but every two minutes a ring to stop the boat and then a ringringringring to speed up again. The strong smell of deisel, sleepy sweat of the people nearby, insect repellent, and cigarettes is still lingering in my nose too. The trip took seven days and nights, and not the five as promoted by the company. Onboard the Brazilians did not seem to mind- there was a girl with a kitten, a business man visiting clients, it was just the tourists that were in a hurry- in particular two japanese who were having their last escape before commiting to their professions, and an isreali boy who had to be in Peru by the fourteenth or something ridiculous. It made me think a lot about time- what is two extra days when you are happy as you are? There seems to be here a dual attitude to time though- you frequently have to wait ages to be served in a bar or restaurant, yet the bus will not wait long enough to let you walk to it. The pedestrian crossings have a countdown on it such as 30 seconds left, but the boat was four hours late in departing the port. I was very frightened when I arrived late at night in the departure maritime city of Belem (the bus took 30 and not 26 hours as advised). I was exhaused and chose the quietest of the taxi drivers hassling me for business. The hotel was in the commercial district which by day was thriving, but at night scary as hell. Dingy cobbled streets with very strange looking characters indeed on the street corners. I fell out of the taxi and bumped in to a Canadian guy who said that the hotel across the road that he was in was much nicer than the hostel I was going to. I was so relieved to have company. But can you imagine how it felt to walk in to a place with lingerie adverts on the wall, no glass in the windows, dead cockroachs on the floor, noise of rats under the bed, water dripping in through the ceiling-this was supposed to be better than the other place? The Canadian was so smart he seemed to be playing with my head- talking about religion etc, and I was seriously begining to question my sanity, not only for coming to this country alone, but in general. I could not work out if it was the city, the hostel, or the canadian that smelt, so I ended up lying on my towel on the dusty matress, with clothes and shoes still on me, the lights on, listening to the vocal couple next door, and praying for it to be light again soon. I left by 8 am. The whole episode gave me such a fright that I needed to think long and hard about it all. It is not without basis that I have been worried- I know four brazilian people now who have known a friend be killed. I have had two minor thefts, and I watched a young guy run and grab the gold necklace off of the neck of a companion. Anyway to cut a long story short, the next day I stopped being terrified and had a bloody good time in the smelly smelly city. I ate food sat on a plastic chairs in the middle of the street, went to the theatre, and listened to some great live music on a static boat. Saw sloths, toucans and manatees in the zoo, and watched the water engulf the city twice a day and pour down the massive drainholes that exsist here. Tomorrow morning I am leaving Manaus for a three day trek in the jungle, but will the jungle keep me away from the Foz de Iguassu waterfalls? I have a feeling I will want to spend as much time here as possible. Hey! Sorry this is a long one. You can bend MY ear when I get back soon Nina x
Manaus, three degrees south of the equator was FREEZING. If you weren't being rained on, you were chilled to the bone by over enthusiastic air conditioning units. The capital of the rainforest had a couple of fantastically luxurious colonian buildings, including the opera house, which were all out of place really seeing as it was a pretty industrial city. But I liked it- especially knowing the only road out of it had been destroyed by the power of the trees about 20 years ago! My jungle trip was short (given the boat delays etc), but when we went aligator catching by night, pirana fishing in the afternoons (yum), and tarantula spotting in the mornings- the animals were most obliging and prompt. Made me realise that humans really are the top of the food chain being able to just play about with such dangerous animals... until I was eaten by those at the bottom of the chain like the fire ants and mossies. The first night I was woken up by a pet monkey landing on my hammock, and the second by falling down from my hammock! It is strange to compact the rainforest in to two paragraphs, but it was difficult to really capture sightings of many animals. Although we did see flying cockroaches the size of your hand, beautiful blue butterflies, and two toucans and a sloth. The trees all seemed to be very big and often twisted up to the light in strange patterns, and they all seemed to have a magical property according to the guide Ildo who would cut open a tree and make us taste, smell or burn it. I took a flight from there over the capital Brazilia, which was an architects dream in the 70s, and designed to look like an aeroplane from above (it did I thought). I was sat next to a man who managed the port in Manaus and he told me some harrowing stories about crime and corruption there. The government personel had 100 percent salary rises to go and move to Brazilia when it was built. Arriving back in the gorgeous city of Rio was a relief- things seemed more familiar. Sightings of fashionable denim, lack of potholes, the appearance of municipal spending, and paying four times the price for a coconut. Went to a football game in the Maracana stadium which certainly was a zillion times better than the Grimsby-Argyle match I saw in 1994. I plunged myself shortly into another mamouth bus trip (this time only 48 hours return) and to a land of people that spoke even more funny. Iguassu waterfalls on the Argentine/ Paraguay border are supposed to be biggest and the best in the world- even better than Victoria and Niagra and they were - especially so as I have not been to either! It was cold there too though with the millions of gallons of water being sprayed all over me. During this trip I have travelled 18,000 miles, one third of which has been over land and sea. TWO WEEKS SOLID have been in transit, and home will be a place without a travel toothbrush, with a wider variety of pants, sofas, fresh semi skimmed milk, and long sleeved tops. But I will miss the heat, by the kilogramme food restaurants, people doing randomn handstands on the beach for fun, coconuts, and I have even gotton fond of the cockroaches. This trip has taught me that getting where you want is more to do with tenacity than luck or skill or style. And that life just is not fair- in England you have more than you can imagine if you feel at ease walking down the streets, or if you know you will probably always be in work, or that someone will help you get better when you are sick. Hey I am back on Thursday, so save me from a fate worse than massive holiday comedown with a phone call... See you soon. Tchau!!! Big Bug Hug Nina x