Pipa

I couchsurfed in Pipa the first few nights with a girl named Rafaela and she had an awesome apartment in a complex with a pool. I stayed there 3 days and the Her boyfriend Jack set me up in a room in a 4 bedroom house that a Norwegian woman named Marette rents out for R$100 per week. It was nothing fancy but the price was right. Marette also runs a community non-profit project for kids in town. It's in the vicinity of Cavalo Marinho Pousada on the same street as the Rose Hostel. I hung out a Cavalo Marinho a bit and definitely recommend that place for a pousada. Laz (from Chicago) and Ed (from NH) are still holding it down. Watched the final four with Laz which was fun cause he always bets a lot of money on sports. If you know the right
people you can rent a surfboard for R$100 per week, maybe even R$150 for a month. The best beach for beginning surfing is Praia do Madeiro it takes about 30min to walk there at low tide from the main beach which is cool because you walk along Praia do Dolfinhos where there are often dolphins swimming very close to shore so you can swim with them. You can catch the collectivo back to town from Madeiro for R$1.50.

Leaving Pipa I took the collectivo to Goianinha for R$3 then you walk across the main road, turn right and walk 200 meters to a restaurant that sells bus tickets (R$58). They have a sign outfront. The bus company website is www.progressoonline.com.br for the schedule. My bus was suppose to leave at 8am but it stops for 30min at the restaurant because of this, I almost caught the 7am bus. The bus is really nice.

Recife

From the airport it's very easy to catch public buses to anywhere in the city. There is a good info office that has maps but There's no free wifi at the airport. I stayed at the hostel Piratas da Praia in the Boa Viagem neighborhood for R$37. The staff isn't that helpful but the location is good and there is free wifi and a mediocre breakfast. Hostel options in Recife are limited. I stayed at the HI hostel before and it was ok, a little cheaper and it would have been better probably but there were lots of mosquitos. I got a ride up to Pipa with Bruna so that worked out well.

Coming back from Pipa when the bus comes into Recife the first place it stops is a park in the center. It is best to get off here if you are staying in Recife because the main bus station is very far out of town. From this park I easily caught a bus to Boa Viagem for R$2. Back in Recife I stayed at Piratas da Praia hostel again and this time I was able to get the student price of R$32 for a fan dorm room. On Saturday I went to Praia da Calhetes with Aline and Bruna and the family. It is about a 45 min drive south or Recife and it's a really cool little beach that is
really pretty. We also bought 15 mangos from a guy for R$3! And they were delicious. I don't know how you could get to the beach by public transport but it is a cool area. I couched surfed a couple nights with a girl named Mariana Ochoa which worked out great and it turned out she knew all my Recife friends too! She lives in Boa Viagem and getting to the airport was really easy, just caught a bus marked "aeropuerto" from Ave Domingus Ferris for R$2. Buses start running at 5am.

Itacare

Itacare: I stayed at Che Lagarto hostel on the main road to the beaches. I got a special price of R$24 in an 8 bed dorm with bathroom inside with hot shower, wifi, good breakfast, and 1 free caipirinha per night,for booking online. The hostel was in a good location and quite nice.

Itacare is a cool beach/surf town that has a mostly backpacker feel. The beaches are small but really nice. There is a "secret beach" that isn't secret at all but takes about 45min to get to by hiking through the jungle. The path is pretty windy and there are no signs so its easy to get lost. The hostel recommends a guide, I recommend going with someone who has been before. There are a couple places in town to get Pratos Feitos for R$7. Surfboards can be rented for about R$20 per day.

Leaving I took the 12:00pm bus to Bom Despacho (R$31.25, 5hrs) for the ferry to Salvador. There are about 7 departures per day. The company was Cidade de Sol and the bus was nice but didn't have AC. Then took the 6pm ferry boat to Salvador.

Morro de Sao Paulo

To Morro de Sao Paolo I took the ferry boat to Itipairica for R$3.95 (45min) from the Sao Joaquim terminal (every hour I think). The ferry docks right at the station with buses to Valenca (R$13.50, 2hrs) and finally the boat to Morro (R$6.70 slow boat, 90min, R$13.50 fast boat, 40min). In Valenca the ferry dock is in the center of town. I took the slow boat and they first drive you in a bus back out of town for 30min to a different dock and then you take a slow boat across. WARNING the boat stops at the village of Gamboa first before continuing to the village of Morro de Sao Paulo. I accidentally got of at Gamboa and had to wait for another boat and pay R$3 to get to Morro. At Morro there is a R$10 entry tax. There are lots of touts at the dock and I let one of them take me to Pousada Caminho de Praia on the road down to the beaches. They had a single room with a big bed for R$40 which was nice but I wanted cheaper so I got a very small room with a set of bunk beds for R$30 with private bath and breakfast included. Breakfast was excellent with a large buffet including scrambled eggs, cheese, breakfast hot dogs (popular in Brazil), bread, fresh fruit, cake, juice, coffee, etc. I checked the Che Legarto hostel which looked pretty nice but they said $22usd for a dorm bed!

Overall Morro is a very pretty place with gorgeous beaches but it's also VERY touristy and expensive. There are also hardly any backpackers around or anyone who speaks English for that matter. There was a place to surf and some board rentals but it didn't look very good.

Leaving I took the same slow boat/bus combo back to Valenca but for some reason it was R$7. There's also a R$0.62 port use tax leaving Morro. My boat left at 12:30pm. I think I just missed a boat at 11:30 but I'm not sure. Then walked about 1km or 10-15min to the main bus station. Valenca actually seems like it could be a pretty nice town with a pedestrian street but NOTHING is open on Sunday. From there I caught the 15:10 bus to Itacare (2.5hrs) for R$18 on the company Aguia Branca. The bus was really nice with a bathroom, aircon and very comfy seats. They have a website www.aguiabranca.com.br

Salvador

Salvador
Arriving in Salvador there is free Internet from one of the taxi companies in the departures hall but the zipper Internet isn't free. I took the aircon bus to Barra for R$3. It continues on to Praca de Se in the Pelorinho if you want to go there. Bus runs every hour I think. There is also a non-aircon one for R$2.50. I couchsurfed with a guy named Ludimar. He was really friendly and I had my own room but his house was very far from Barra and pretty far from the Pelo.

The Pelo is the historic area of Salvador and it is pretty cool with lots of colonial buildings and a rich musical scene. Going south in Bahia from Salvador the best way is to take the ferry boat to Itipairica for R$3.95 (45min) from the Sao Joaquim terminal (every hour I think). The ferry docks right at the station with buses to lots of places south.

When I came back to Salvador from Itacare I came by ferry boat. At the terminal in Salvador it is easy to catch city buses to either Praca de Se (the Pelorinho) or Barra for R$2.50. Barra isa nice neighborhood and I stayed at Alpha Hostel (Rua Eduardo Diniz Goncalves #128, tel:+55 (71) 3237-6282) for R$17. The hostel was fine but hard to find and the breakfast wasn't very good but the price was right. Che Lagarto hostel is near and it faces the ocean. It's easy to catch a bus from the beach road in Barra to the Airport (R$3, 40min).

The rest of Brazil

I totally slacked on the travel journal but I'll try to recall the essentials.

Recife: Stayed mostly at Piratas Hostel in Boa Viagem for 40 reais a night. Staff was unfriendly and the hostel was run of the mill. Pretty hot though. They had AC in the rooms but didn't turn it on until 9pm and off at 9am. Stayed at the other hostel in Recife the Hosteling International one, but it had a ton of mosquitoes.

Pria de Pipa = AWESOME. Stayed at Cavalo Marino in a 4 bed dorm room with bathroom for 25 reais. Had a swimming pool with swim up bar. Took the bus back to Recife and it was kinda a pain but got there. THe bus station in Recife is really far away from the center but luckily Bruna came and picked us up.

Rio de Janeiro = best city in the world! flew there from Recife. Flew into the city airport which is really convenient then you jump on the Real Bus (big nice blue one) and it runs through Rio. Stayed in Ipanema at Ipanema Girl hostel for 25reais w/ breakfast. Its in hostel ally and there are about 7 other hostels. The first time i stayed there my room was in the kitchen building and that's the best one. 2nd time i was in a very small 10 bed room and i was in the top bunk of a triple bunk. We took the bus to Argentina. Make sure you check one kind of bus you're getting. Ours sucked and its a LONG ride.

May 27 Leaving Jericoacoara.

This morning we got up around 10. I went to the main street to get an acai smoothy for breakfast but the place was closed so I walked down to the beach and bought 2 coconuts. I brought my camera and took some pictures of the picturesque village. I walked up the bluff at the east end of the beach and on the way back started talking to a Brazilian guy. He spoke no English but we actually managed to have a convo. My portugeuse consists of about 7 words mostly becuase there is the occasional cross over between Spanish, not that I have any real Spanish skills to speak of but I know a few words. Anyway, turned out that the guy was also from fortaleza but had moved to Jeri a year ago. When I told him I was from "Estados Unidos" (the united states) he said "oooh, Micheal Jackson!" haha.





I walked back to town and ran into Aline and we looked for a couple other places for acai but none were open. We t back to the hotel, jumped in the pool and then packed up and jumped in the back of truck for the ride through the dunes back to Jijoca to pick up the mini bus back to Fortaleza.

I've diagnosed myself with strep throat. I got an email from my mom saying that my brother might have it and my throat has been killing me for 5 days with pretty much nothing else feeling wrong. Today my throat is worse too. Before it only hurt when i swallowed but now it hurts all the time. Ramine is a nuero surgon and his sister Sara is an ER doctor so I'm in pretty good company. Sara took a quick look down my throat and said it looked red with some white splotche, she had a technical term but can't rember it. Oh it's Exudate. She's got some Azithromycin back in Fortaleza and I'm going to start taking it tonight. Hopefully it works fast cause I'm sick of this illness and we've got a concert in fortaleze to go to saturday night and a giant reggae beach party to go to Sunday night.

Tonight Aline's dad, Alvaro, is flying back into Fortaleza for the weekend and wants to take us out to dinner tonight. I think we're going to a restaurant on the beach for a special crab night with live music so that should be awesome and delicious. We're going back to stay Marina Park hotel in fortaleza which is alright but it's kinda expensive at about $35 per person per night uand we have 4 of us in a room. But I guess that's the easiest thing to do now since we have a big group.

Dinner was awesome! Live music at a place called Coco Beach at Praia de forturo. The crab was delicious too. It seemed kinda similar to dungeness crab and was about the same size but it was cooked in a delicious sauce that I can't really describe except that it was kinda like a curry but not spicy at all, just that kind of consistancy. We didn't get back to the hotel until 1am. Aline's dad Alvaro is awesome. I'm planning on going down to Recife next week which is where Alvaro and Aline's sister live. It is about 10 hours south by bus on the coast. Alvero has some award winning horses apparently and he wants to take me riding. haha he's pretty funny about too because he speaks about as much English as I speak Portuguese.

May 26, Jericoacoara.

We took dune buggies today to the Blue Lagoon. The ride was very cool. We probably went about 30k out there along deserted beaches and across rivers. At one point we had to put the buggies on wooden barges that could carry 2 buggies each. Then we went through a bunch of huge dunes and we stopped to do sand boarding again. This time the boards were more legit with bindings and looked like a snowboard. The hill was also much steaper and longer. I did it twice and actually was able to make some turns. The hike back up was gruelling though and the second time down I was exhausted and fell a bunch. Fun times though.





We continued on to the blue lagoon. It is a pretty big fresh water lake not far from the ocean and surounded by dunes. There were about 3 barracas on the beach of the the lagoon and we stopped at one and laid on hammocks in the water and had lunch.



Lunch at this barraca was the best I've had at a beach yet. We picked out a whole fish and the grilled it for us and served it with rice and beans. The fish was seasoned perfectly and was delicious and the rice and beans reminded me of central America. After lunch we got back in the buggies just as it started raining. We got cought in an absolute downpour which was pretty miserable. The storm was blowing rain and sand sideways and there was zero shelter offered by the open buggy cause the wind was coming from the right side and blew straight in the side. At one point we were trying to get up this huge dune and all the buggies made it up but ours kept getting stuck towards the top. It took about 5 tries to finally make it up. Our buggy was a total piece too. It kept stalling, the accelerater kept sticking, and at one point it just died and our driver had to go at the engine with a screw driver but whatever he did he was able to get it started. The downpour subsided for a little bit but we got cought in another downpour towards the end but made it home alive. I'm writing this on my iPod touch and it's awesome btw.

May 25 To Jericoacoara.

Today we left fortaleza for Jeri. The group was aline ramine, ramine's parents and sister Sara and dmitry Tony Jessie and I. We took a 14 passenger van that was very comfortable and had AC. The ride was about 4 hours and was pretty boring. It was definately nice to get out of the city though. During some parts there were some big mountains off to the west but the landscape was generally very flat and arid. We drove past what looked like some coconut plantations but they we kinda ramshackled. There were a couple cute villages along the way but we didn't stop in any for lunch.

At the end of the van ride we stopped in the last town before Jeri and swtched over to a 4x4 truck for the remaining 45 min ride to Jeri. This part was very cool. The road is completely sand and it twists it's way past huge sand dunes some probably 100 feet tall and remiscent of what you see in movies about the sahara. There were also a could lagoons in the dune area.





The ride was awesome and all off us except ramine's parents sat in the bed of the pickup. We got dropped off at our hotel Pousada de Norte which is very cool with lots of hammocks, nice grounds in a cute part of town, and a swimming pool. It is a little back from the beach but very nice. Upon arriving I fell asleep for 3 hours since I haven't been feeling very good and my throat has been extremely sore.



Around 730 Jessie sara Tony and I went to walk around town and get dinner. We first went down to the beach where there are little carts the make alcoholic mixed fruit drinks called caiperinia. The are made with the local Brazilian liquer cachasa which when drinken straight kinda tastes like tequila. Any way the drinks are very good and you can get almost any fruit you want. I got mango and orange combined which I figured would be a good combo and it was. They're also really cheap costing about $1.25usd each! We then found a great restaurant with the help of our van driver which had some live music. Tony and I split a filet mignon dish with sauted onions, rice, beans, mashed potatos and salad that fed 2 people and was delicious and only cost us each 12 bucks! I turned in early for the night becuase I really want to kick this illness. It's getting annoying.

May 24 Cumbuco Beach, 1hr north of Fortaleza.

Spent the day at cumbeuco beach at a barraca. There were some kite boarders but no surfers. There were alright waves for some body surfing but that's it. After tanning and swimming for a while we had lunch. I had some fish in a cream sauce with melted cheese And fried plantanes and some shrimp payeya type dish. Both were great especially the fish.



Behind the beach are a ton of huge sand dunes and aline Tony dmitry and I went on a sweet dune buggy ride and the driver took us over some pretty gnarly dunes. He asked if we wanted the ride "with excitement or without excitement" obviously we went with excitement. Half way through the ride we stopped at this sand boarding spot which was really cool. For about $2.50usd we rented boards which were pretty makeshift but they waxed up the bottoms and they moved pretty fast. You start at the top of this dune and ride the thing all the way down straight into a fresh water lagoon at the bottom. We started out sitting and then dmitry and I tried doing it standing up which was pretty challenging but I managed to make it down into the lagoon without crashing.



Dmitry got a Handle of it too but his board was too slow to make it to the lagoon. We took the buggy back to the beach and Aline dmitry and I got massages which were awesome. For about $13usd we got great 1hour massages which includede a facial cleanse and some sort of hair treatment. Very relaxing.

May 23 Fortaleza beach day.

Today we vot up before 10, ate breakfast at the hotel and headed to the beach Praiha de Forturo, the same beach we went to the first day. Today We went toa different barraca though. This one was giant and had a stage with live music, tons of beach seating and a swimming pool. Aline ordered 500 oysters from ioto and his brother came also to help with the shucking. They were so good again! I ate a ton but I think I may be allergic to oysters in large quantaties because I broke out in a bit of a rash of red spots on my torso and upper arms. Kinda weird but I did eat at least 30 of them and o had noticed it a little the first day we ate oysters too. Not a big deal and it went away quickly butt was kinda interesting because I didn't think I was allergic to anything. We spent the whole day at the beach. The 500 oysters only cost about $150usd which is awesome.




Dmitry Sara and I also got 1 hour massages on the beach which included a free facial and were only $10usd! Unbelievable deal and it was a great massage. The surf is not that great here but there are people surfing, I'd like to go but I didn't see any long boards for rent which is what I need at least at first cause I haven't surfed since Nicaragua in 2008.

After the beach we went back to the hotel to rest for a while and then at about 9 we went out to dinner at a restaurant that was really cool and had an outdoors jungle type them to it downtown.

May 22 Wedding Day!

Today we slept in late again and Dmitry tony and i just went to the pool to eat some lunch and relax. Jessie got dragged to the salon by the girls at like 7am which must have been miserable. Ramine met us at the pool later in the afternoon. Aroud 4 we went back to get ready for the wedding which was suppose to start at 515 but probably started closer to 630. That's 5:15 brazilian time, ha. The wedding was inside thank god because it was about 95 degrees outside. I walked one of the bridesmaids up the aisle and she was georgous but unfortunately speaks as much English as I speak portugeuse, which means zero. Aline looked beautiful in her dress and the wedding was great. Aline's little sister Manu, short for Manuella, was the ring bearer and whe w probably the cutest little kid I've ever seen. I think she's 7 and is like a mini Aline.




The reception was awesome and decorated beautifully. Dinner was served sort of buffet style so everyone was mingalling and drinking and eating sporadically which worked out really great. Eventually the dancing started and I ran up to my room and grabbed my neon orange and green sunglasses which Aline's dad, Alvaro, loved when he was at our graduation in Utah. The shades were a huge hit and pretty much everyone from Aline's grandfather to her little sister and everyone in between got a picture taken wearing them. It was hilarious.



After the reception a bunch of people went to the club we went to last night. That was a lot of fun and we stayed there very late. I think we got home around 4 and Tony Dmitry Jessie and I ordered room service which consisted of cheese burgers and this weird creamy spinach stew which Dmitry picked out and was not very good...

May 21 Fortaleza.

May 21 Fortaleza.
We slept in pretty late today and didn't leave the hotel until about 1. We took a cab to the main beach front road in downtown Fortaleza called Avenue Biera Mar to go to an ATM. The area is pretty cool with resaurants on the beach. The beach here isn't that popular for some reason though.

After walking around a bit we hopes in another cab to the main beach area called Praiah de Forturo. There are tons of Barracas (beach restaurants) and we went to one to meet up with Laryssa, one of Aline's best friends. She is great. She's a doctor in Sao Paolo and speaks English which was awesome. When we met up with her she found the oyster guy, ioto, and we had about 20 beers and 160 oysters between 4 of us. Dmitry Jessie and I paid for the oysters and it was oy $20usd each! The oysters were absolutely delicious too. Probably the best I've ever had! He shucks them r
Individually for you and sprinkles them with salt, lime juice, olive oil and if you want, a couple drips of hot sauce which was delicious too. When the sun set Laryssa give us a ride back to the hotel.

We showered and changed and met up with Tony who arrived today and then met up with Aline's sister Bruna and the rest of the family for a big dinner at a brazilian steak house. The food was amazing. The salad bar had everything a imaginable from carpacio to sushi to caviar! For dinner they brought all sorts of meats around on skewers for your choosing. I tried a chicken heart which was actually quite tasty. I sat across from Aline's oldest sister's husband who speaks some English and is hilarious. He is a big guy and enjoys his booze and we drank pretty much everything they had to offer! We had an odd but good sweet desert wine, caiperinias (mixed drinks made with fresh smashed fruit and sugar) and shots of cachasa (the local liquer which seems similar to tequila)

After dinner Bruna took us out to one of the biggest clubs. The place was absolutely huge and it had it's own credit card system where you just get a card and they swipe it when ever you order drinks and you pay the balance at the end of the night when you exit through the turnstyles. Entering and exiting felt like we were at a baseball stadium. I think we left there around 3am and walked back to our hotel which was just a few blocks away but bruna hired a security escort. I guess it can be pretty dangerous. Forteza is a huge city with over 2 million people and the slums are always close by so you need to be careful.

May 20 Arriving Brazil.

May 20 Arriving Brazil.
My flights to brazil were uneventful but VERY long. I was travelling
for a total of about 24 hours and the flight from Huston to Rio was 9
hours. Luckily no one was sitting next to me so I could stretch out a
bit. Ramine's and Aline met me at the airport and we waited for Jessie
and Dmitry and Ramine's parents to arrive. They were all on the same
flight from Sao Paolo and were suppose to get in 40min after me but
their flight got cancelled so we ended up waiting for 2 hours for them.

After picking everyone up we checked into the hotel and Dmitry and I
were able to relax for a bit. Aline was having a bridal shower so
Jessie had to leave right away to go to that. Around 9 Dmitry and I
went down to the restaurant for dinner and met up with Alvaro and
ramine's parents and aunt and uncle. We had dinner and drinks and
Aline and Jessie came back around 10 and we headed out to a club
called Orbita which had a live reggea band which was very good. Buying
drinks there is pretty werid though. You first enter this corrall type
thing and order and pay for your drinks. If you aren't. Ready with
your order they honk a big horn at you! Then you take your receipt to
one of the bars and have a bar tender make it for you. We stayed out
at that club until probably about... Actually I have idea what time we
left.

Sent from my iPod