Brazil

The town is filled with colorful houses and cobblestone streets with outdoor restaurants and small bars. It is a bit touristy and there were tons of backpackers, mostly Israelis.

On Sunday, we hiked to the top of the highest waterfall in Brazil. It was good to get the legs going again. There is something about hiking that just expands the mind. I am not sure if it is the open spaces, the fresh air, or the monotony of stepping, but the most bizarre thoughts come into my head about people I have not seen for ages and things I have never thought about in my life. It is like your mind opens and random thoughts come galloping in. It is great thing - revitalizing. When we were doing the very painful Torres Del Paine hike in southern Chile, random thoughts and songs were my only inspiration. Most of my thoughts centered around coming to tropical Brazil so a song that constantly ran around my brain was..."Tall and thin and young and lovely, the girl from Ipanema goes walking..." And then I inserted my own verses, "Not tall, not thin, not young, but lovely, the girl from Flushing, Queens goes walking…" And so on with a million different variations. It sometimes is the only way to get my mind off my painful feet.

Anyway, back to Brazil…the waterfall was outstanding, falling 1,200 feet into a deep gorge. We climbed down the rock face a bit for a view and saw a HUGE tarantula which made me quickly scramble back up. YIKES!! We then crossed to the other side upriver and hung over the edge (with the guide holding my feet) to see the bottom of the falls. Vertigo and dizziness abounded but the sight was absolutely amazing to see. Best natural sight I have seen so far in Brazil.

So, we are headed to Recife tonight and will arrive at 8am tomorrow morning. We are looking forward to spending some time on the beautiful beaches in the north of Brazil. The north is supposed to be much poorer than the south. Brazil with all its possibilities for greatness has poverty on the level of some of the worst countries in Africa and Asia. Over 50 percent of children do not attend school and only 5 percent ever attend university. Half of the people do not have proper sanitation, fresh water, or electricity. But yet the people here are constantly smiling and singing and dancing. It does not matter where you go in Brazil, you are sure to hear music from some source all hours of the day. They must be the most musical people on the planet.

Ok, actually in a huge mall right now across from the bus station. A mall that would rival Roosevelt Field but only 10 percent of the people can actually afford anything here. But it is air-conditioned and they have a movie theatre and we need to waste 12 hours and have already seen most of Salvador.

12 hours of waiting...2 hours on a bus...then a proper bed and some real sleep!!

March 27 - Praia de Pipa, Northeast Brazil

All I have wanted to do since I have been in Brazil is lie in a hammock. People sell them everywhere but this is the first place where we have stayed that actually has hammocks, and believe me, we are taking full advantage of it. There is nothing quite so delicious as relaxing in a hammock, rocking back and forth slowly, and feeling the cool breeze wash over your body. This is especially good after a hard day at the office, ooppss, I mean the beach, working on my computer, oopss, I mean my tan.

Our days have taken on a sort of tranquillo routine. Tranquillo is the favorite word of all Brazilians and it means basically, Chill Out! Every morning we have a breakfast of fresh Brazilian fruit. The fruit here is exotic and most do not even exist outside of this country. I have tried all sorts of new, delicious fruit - acerola, goiba, ibu, mangaba. The best is the mango; they are ridiculously sweet and juicy and eating one is a messy affair. After breakfast, we walk all of six, strenuous minutes to the beach. The town is just a beach town filled with pousadas, which are the Brazilian equivalents of bed and breakfasts, bars, and restaurants. There is only one main dirt road. It is such a beach town that the police drive around in dune buggies which is also the car of choice of many people.