The Last Post...

I decide to stay and have breakfast at Jeri, I'm always missing decent breakfast thanks to early starts !  In Brazil you nearly always get brekkie included though what you get varies widely. This bit of tight-fisted economising costs me a lot later, as by the time I get to Forteleza (9pm) all the direct buses to Recife have just left. I then have to take an expensive night bus to Natal, and another morning bus to Recife (serves me right...). Recife is a surprisingly large coastal metropolis, I only want to visit Olinda, the old colonial city, and after a bit of drama finding the right local bus, I get there. Nearly all local buses in Brazil have a narrow gated turnstile inside the bus, operated by the "conductor",  just try getting through one with a large backpack, with the usual Ayrton Senna driving the bus, it never looks less than embarrassingly stupid !!! you always get stuck and have to "wiggle" through.

I'm not staying for long, but really, there's not too much to see, preparations for the upcoming carnival are well under way. There's a nice selection of crumbling churches and buildings and, walking around, you can see it all in a few hours. There are plenty of tourists from cruise ships in the harbour. At sunset time I take a few shots of the sun setting over Recife, as you may have noticed, I am loath to do...

And so to the last over-land leg of my journey, a 13 hour overnight bus to Salvador. This bus is nice and empty and I can stretch out. Going for a pee at a night time stop brings on the same drama, when I return outside the bus has gone ! and I am alone!!  It was, of course, re-fueling round the corner, I really wish they would not do that !!

Salvador is another big noisy dirty city, and one-time capital of Brazil. A long local bus ride takes you to the historical center, the Pelourinho district. It spooks me slightly because I've read in so many places how "dangerous" it is !! it really does not seem that way but it would be stupefyingly ironic to get mugged here (for the first time) with just a few days left on a 16 month trip. (n.b. Places, to me, on this trip, that genuinely did seem dodgy were central Guatemala City, Belize City, Tegucigalpa (Honduras) & Managua (Nicaragua), i.e. nowhere in South America). There are plenty of tourists in Salvador, hardly surprising, there is a cruise ship terminal and we are in range of European charter flights (the very reason I'm getting a cheap ride back to Europe from here). The local population is predominantly black, all with roots back to Africa & the slave trade no doubt, there is a distinct African feel to it. I stayed at a noteworthy hostel, the Hostel Cobre, a great little hostel right in the Pelourinho. I've no idea why most people head to Barra, it's completely souless, and expensive, out there ('cept it has a city beach).

Another bloody sunset picture !!   Biopeba.

After 3 days in Salvador I decide I've seen the significant stuff, large scale preparations are underway for the annual Carnival in 3 weeks time (some rate it higher than Rio !). I've got time to explore around a bit. I was going to Morro tomorrow (sic) but the hostel guy said don't go there, it's super touristy, go to Biopeba instead. And he was right !!  (well as far as I could tell, I never went to Morro). I had 2 days
in a perfect beach side village with deep sand streets.

Transport on the island, just this and horses...

I read books, swam in the warm sea, with black sky nights lit by starlight (probably how Jeri once was). Only issue was that restaurant food was very expensive, so lots more Pasta !! The overland trip (the cheapest way) to and from Biopeba, from Salvador, was a bit gruelling and took a day each way, but it was worth it. And once again I find that communities who have not adopted the motor car (no cars here) have a significantly better quality of life.

On the way back to Salvador, in Valenca, I find what I've been looking for, for quite a while (months), a hammock shop. The ones that I want are unfortunately too heavy (3.5kg), and I need to buy 3 of them as presents, so I have to go for lighter ones. I'm soon back in Salvador.

In Salvador, Tuesday night is party night !!, it's a mini Carnival (left) of street music and drinking. Next day I typically find a hammock stand at the market, I could not find one before! and this place is better, so I have to buy another hammock. This means I now have to squeeze 5 hammocks, somehow, into my pack.  My last night in S.A. and I sit on the beach at Barra, watching ships go by, eating grilled cheese on sticks (delicious, from beach vendors with portable charcoal grills) and drinking cold beer.



16 months and it's all coming to an end !! I manage to sqeeze all 5 hammocks into my big pack (which weighs in at 19.6 kg, 20kg is the limit), and that's with all my small heavy stuff (6kg in all) in my small pack, to take on the plane. I have to wear much more clotheing than I need (plus walking boots) as it won't fit ! I get to the airport 5 hours early, and typically, as I'm flying on a German airline (Condor) I'm not the first in the queue !! 10 and a half hours on a Charter Flight is a little cramped, but it goes quick enough, and is well worth it, this flight is only costing me 399 GBP, one way, a bargain. During the night I get up for a pee and directly below us is one of the Cape Verde islands, here the weather is beautifully clear and the lights on the island twinkle charmingly.

My Dad surprises me by picking me up from Heathrow, and very soon I'm back in ye Olde Blighty,  London is shockingly cold and grey. There was not room in my pack for my well thumbed Lonely Planet so I gave it away (left).

And that's it from me ! If you've read the whole thing, you deserve a medal ! I think writing a blog, while travelling, is a worth while discipline, how else could I remember 16 months ??
Anyhow, I hope it has been worth the reading.