Salvador-Take 2, then Porto Seguro and Arraial dÁjuda

We decided it was time to head to Rio de Janeiro so we had to head back to Salvador to catch a bus to Rio and so decided to stop off in Salvador again to spend a bit more time with Lobke and Elodie before they left, and to see Matan again, who was still staying at the Nega Maluca hostel practicing Capoeira everyday. Then after that to break up the 30 hour bus journey to Rio from Salvador, we looked at the map and decided to then stop at Arraial dÁjuda.

It was so nice to have a friendly greeting from Katryny, the receptionist at Nega Maluca in Salvador. She is a small Brasilian woman who taught me to dance some forro when we were out at Sakofa, a salsa/samba club and always smiled at us after that - probably remembering how badly i danced! We didnt get to Salvador until late due to road works between Lençcis and Salvador so we quicky got in touch with Lobke and Elodie and waited for Matan to get back from practice. We missed the street party and then unfortunately drove around in a taxi for 30 minutes trying to find Beto´s appartment in a Barra where everyone was hanging out but got there just as people were leaving Instead we spent the evening hanging out with Matan, playing the guitar and chatting to everyone.

We spent the next couple of days going to the beach (the one at Villa des Atlantico; a beautiful, quiet beach about an hour away from Salvador, and Barra; the locals beach) and remarking at how much more friendly and safe Salvador felt the second time around. Perhaps because we were a bit more accustomed to the vibe of South America and being away from the familliarities of home, and also perhaps becuase we felt happier.

Just off the bus at Porto Seguro, we met Oliver, walking away from the bus station with a local, so to save money we walked the 2 miles or so to Porto Seguro with them, with our packs on, in the midday heat - which surprisingly didn´t kill us!! We walked around Arraial trying to find a pousada and were guided to one which seemed like miles away which had a pool, friendly (maybe gay??) owners and a room just for the 3 of us for a good price. We headed straight to the EcoParque and spent the day acting like kids; on waterslides, in the lazy river and being ripped off for some disgusting crisp-like food which turned out to be off-cuttings of pastry, fried and then served at some astonishing price - yuk!!

(the view from the main road at Porto Seguro)

(the Ferry from Porto Seguro to Arraial d´Ajuda)

(Buganville Pousada - our room!)

We used the buses to and from the port a few times, aswel as the combi-vans and found out that the buses are ALL free for the local school kids, which was realy nice to hear. On our first night there Oliver and Josh met a drunk who told them that he had been to EVERY country and had 4 wives - crazy! But he also told them that the following day there would be a Capoeira show as i finale for the championships that had been in Arraial the few days before (that we were completely unaware of!). We eventually found the place as they don´t advertise anything here in Brasil, you have to ask or just fall across it! Anyway, it was AMAZING! It was the School - Sul da Bahia´s championships that happens every 2 years and we were watching the celebration of them all passing their transitions to the next level. There was dance shows of all kinds from tango to theater mixed with dancing and LOADS of Capoeira from people of all ages. We watched for hours and couldn´t believe how lucky we were that we had seen such an important event.

(drums at the Capoeira Show)

(salsa dancing at the Capoeira championships)

(traditional theatre/dance)

On our last of the 3 days at Arraial we decided to horse ride along the beach, but when the horses turned up we soon turned it down. They were skinny, MUCH too small for Josh and Oliver to ride, and when I brought this up with the man, he proceeded to show us how fast he (a tiny man) could gallop the horses along the cobble road and then pull them to a halt all of a sudden so that they skidded all over the place; as if this was some sort of proof that these souless looking creatures were fine for 2 big guys to canter around

We were sad to leave Oliver but caught the 20 hour bus to Rio that evening. It flew by for me as I fell asleep straight away after being ill and staying up late all of the week before. I woke as we reached the service station for dinner (pour kilo restaurant) and then fell asleep after!! In the morning after breakfast of fruit at a stupidly overpriced pour kilo restaurant (restaurants that are popular in Brazil where there is a huge buffet of different food and you pay per weight - the ones in Salvador were awful!) they put on a movie and to our happy surprise - it was in English!! After this we started driving into Rio so we watched as the scenery turned from greenery and hardly any signs of civilisation - to sky scrapers and billboards - very American. We took loads of pictures as we drove past the port, I now have a strange obsession with Cargo ships, and the excitement heightened as we saw that one of them was a Maruba and another an MSC!!!!!

(a car container ship - my new love and obsession - cargo ships!)

(an MSC container ship - we raced the MSC Japan at one point on our journey here - Udo and Daniel, this is for you!)

Rio - wahoo!!!!!!!!!