Rio de janeiro State to Bahia state

Well, back in Brazil, with mixed emotions after our unexpected month back in UK. One thing is for sure and that is that we still have plenty of time to explore this massive country. 16 weeks, or 3.5 half months sounds better.  We heard stories of cold days in England but we were roasting in 37oC once we got back and my then pale skin was feeling every degree of heat.  The heatwave was accompanied by wall to wall blue sky, great for our final pics of trendy Ipanema and even better for our jump off of a 10m wooden platform 300m up off of a jungly mountain top to the south, where we fulfilled one of our aims to hanglide over Rio. After a cable car ride up Sugar Loaf mountain too and a few caiprinhas watching Rios beautiful people playing around on Copacabana and Ipanema beach, we quickly fell back in love with Rio and Brazil. Its not dangerous as wed been told, Ipanemas streets are lined with tropical plants and orchids, boutiques and  outdoor sushi terraces, and the sillhouette twin cone shape mountains at one end with the sight of 20 footballs in the air at once on the beach is unique and so Rio. Many locals have said things like, welcome to Brazil, it is yours too, please feel at home. I think its my favorite Latin American city. If you want a good recommendation for a 2 or 3 week holiday somewhere really amazing, then I cant recommend highly enough a stint in Ipanema combined with a a few nights in one or all of Rio states other gems of Trindade/Ilha Grande/Buzios. Just a few hours outside of the city and you are on unspoiled paradise beaches with jungly mountains and views not unlike those I have seen in Seychelles. Brazil has so much coastline that I dont think they could spoil it if they tried. Buzios was like their equivalent of St Tropez with smart shops and seafood restaurants and pretty, rocky coves, so a nice addition to the itinerary.

After a fortynight in Rio, it was time to move up to much anticipated Bahia, an overnight 20 hour bus away (although I swear it could be 10 if they didnt bloody stop every 10m to drop someone off). We spent the usual 3 nights in 4 small towns and one island in the south of the state, Trancoso, Arraiail DAjuda, Itacare, Barra Grande and Morro de Sao Paulo. Although we spend a lot of time walking miles up and down the coastline (not a lot else to do here!), each beach was different and absolutely stunning in this area. Completey deserted with tall coconut palms and more of a Thailand look to them. The great thing about backpacking is that you cant really get to these places yet unles you are Brazilian or a backpacker as the distance make it difficult to get to. The freedom to just get up and go or stay if you like it is the difference from a normal holiday. Itacare was my presonal fave with more of an African feeling and spontaneous capoiera dances outside our hostel. Also, the photo below is of Itacares Prainha beach, the best ive seen in Brazil and joint fave with San Blas in Panama as the best beach in Latin America! We felt extra lucky with a continuing spell of cloudless blue sky too.

So far, apart from Rio, Brazil seems quite empty of backpackers. It defintely is more pricey. A room on average in the rest of South America was about $15 for both of us, whereas here the average is double that. Buses are expensive, food isnt too much at least (and a hell of a lot better). Its not on the typical backpacker route for this reason but OMG they are all missing out. Kind laid back people (usually quite fit too!), addictive snacks like acai (think blueberry sorbet with banana honey and granola on top), caipirinhas, stunning cities and beaches that compare to Maldives, Seychelles, Thailand or the Caribbean in different areas. Plus carnival, the amazon.. I could go on. Needless to say we like Brazil.

So we are now in Salvador which we half expected to dislike and get mugged at thats what we heard and even read, but on the contrary we like it! The centre is on a hilltop with some colourful colonial architechture. And today we spent on the clean beach, watched am amazing colourful tropical sunset then strolled along Barra districts promenade with an illuminated lighthouse and watched locals go crazy for footie champios Flamegos, from Rio, who we saw when we got back. Not a bad day really!

Next stop its back into the interior - Lencois national park for more jungle, waterfalls and hiking, then beach resort Praia do Forte before we hit the Northeast of Brazil and spend a no doubt sweaty Christmas in colonial Olinda and NYE in international party beach resort of Praia da Pipa. Hope you enjoyed reading, dont forget to leave either a hello or string of abuse (as on facebook pic albums) on the message board on here, we still check, but Jo Keller was the last to leave one back on 16th June!

TB continued...