This is a lovely colonial town in Northern Brazil. Much of it is dilapidated but there are visible efforts at preserving the beautiful Portuguese facades. Walking down the streets I felt I was transported to happier richer times where colors and sounds beamed loudly through the thick hot tropical air.
Mandacaru, Brazil
View from the lighthouse out on the river and further on the ocean..
PERGUICA RIVER
Life on the Perguica river
Faint signs of a more prosperous past: abandoned large boats, unfinished or abandoned brick buildings slowly being eaten by the jungle. Small urban bastions resisting the siege of the ever hungry trees.
The people live in resigned tranquility. Happy
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Lençóis Maranhenses, Pt.2
It is so hard to pick my favorite or representative photos out of the 400 on file. From afar this scenery may seem similar to once you've seen one you've seen them all but upon closer look one finds surprising diversity and each photograph has its own magical mystery that captivates me and pulls me in.
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LENCOIS MARANHENSES NATIONAL PARK
BARREIRINHAS
Over night bus took us from the modern city of Fortaleza to the colonial Sao Louis from where we immediately took a taxi (3hr ride that we shared with our two new Israeli friends) to a small town of Barreirinhas, which is the gateway to the national park Lencois Maranhenses. Here you can observe the traditional north Brazilian rural life with a caveat: poverty moderated by tourist income.
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Lençóis Maranhenses, Brasil
One of the most stunning places on this planet, (on par with Salar de Uyuni, Chilean Patagonia, the Galapagos, San Blas Islands, the cascades of Hierapolis, and the Yukon Territory) this national park is located in the Northeastern Brazilian state of Maranhao. It encompasses about 580 sq miles and is a seamless mixture of Sahara-like sand dunes with crystal clear sweet water lagoons.
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FORTALEZA
We took an over night bus to Fortaleza. There we stored our back packs at a safe storage at the bus station and took a local bus to the city center beach. We had an amazing time eating, sleeping, swimming and simply enjoying a full day devoid of worries. The following night we hopped on another bus and started our journey to Sao Louis.
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LA TERMINATOR
The taxi drivers stripped La Terminator of all her coverings. Looking at the van it makes me feel it's naked and in a strange way violated.
NATAL - TERMINATOR'S END
On the way to Natal from Pipa we encountered the ever returning problem with our vehicle's acceleration or lack there of. All parts that could have been replaced were replaced, our budget was shrinking fast and so I made the call to sell it... and continue the trip by bus/boat/foot. Right outside of the hostel where we stayed was a taxi hang out and I quickly negotiated a sale of our beloved La Terminator. Although it was a huge relief that we won't have to stress waiting where we will get stranded next, it was a melancholy feeling partying ways with a "companion" who was with me for 50,000 km and is inseparably intertwined in my memories of the myriad of exciting experiences gathered over the course of the journey. I picked the most essential things and fit them into my backpack, sent a box filled with some important items to Chicago and left the rest behind. Nicola and I purchased an over night ticket to Fortaleza and thus began new adventure.
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PIPA
The Pipa beaches are some of the most famous in Brazil. We didn't take the direct route, that would be too easy. We took a dirt road rolling up and down hills and ultimately crossing a river delta on a small wooden ferry pushed by just one ...guy wading through the water. The trek was worth it for we discover a few pristine beaches with clear warm water teeming with fish. And it seemed all the crowds missed these beaches, settling for the famous Pipa beach about 20km farther up the coast.
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BAHIA
Here are some miscellaneous photos of us slowly making our way north through Bahia, Brazil.
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SALVADOR - BAHIA
The drive from Belo Horizonte to Salvador was long and challenging. The roads were in various state of disrepair and the truck drivers in the opposing lanes didn't think us a worthy adversary and would overtake other trucks expecting us to ...veer out of the way by driving on the shoulder.
Bahia has a distinct culture from the rest of Brazil. It is more laid back, lazy, colorful, musical, vibrant and perhaps violent than most other regions of this great country. Even though our hosts warned us, we ventured at night to see the carnaval where we were assaulted multiple times. This episode was described earlier in our blog. This city has a rich architectural heritage easily comparable to Rio de Janeiro yet no one seems to be taking care of the old houses, palaces and churches and they are slowly falling apart. We loved the food and the music. I purchased a carnaval compilation that I listen to in my car regularly.
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SERRA DO CIPO - SWIMMING IN THE WATERFALLS
A few hours driving from Belo Horizonte there is a river with many waterfalls and cascades where people cool off in the hot summer months. We spent one long day there swimming, goofing off and resting before resuming the drive north to Salvador through the states of Minas Gerais and Bahia.
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PRE-CARNEVAL IN BELO HORIZONTE
The night before the carnaval Dani (my long time friend who lives in Belo Horizonte) and I went to pick up Nicola (the Swiss traveler I met in El Chalten in Argentina) at a bus station. I was very excited to have a competent and pleasant travel companion to be a final part of the Know No Borders expedition through Brazil. After getting some well deserved rest at night, Dani took us to see what was a "low key" pre-carnaval preparation. From the distance we could hear the party buses blasting the currently popular MPB and Pagode songs, dancers on top of them were performing choreography relevant to each song and people in the streets were moving along the music, drinking and having a blast. This appeared to be a very liberal crowd as many of the photos portray.
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MINAS GERAIS
One sunny afternoon in Minas Gerais.
Ouro Prêto, Brazil
Our vehicle (La Terminator) was repaired for the last time in Belo Horizonte and by this time I was skeptical of any local mechanic's competency that I felt it prudent to test the van by driving 100km to a nearby town called Ouro Preto. It is an old 17th. century Brazilian colonial town would make you think you were back in Europe. Ouro Preto was a focal point of the gold rush and a golden age under Portuguese rule. The town was an artistic playground for Aleijandinho, the Brazilian Michelangelo.
It was an amazing one day's journey and one of the highlights of my South American travels. La Terminator drove back to Belo Horizonte without any technical problems.
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BELO HORIZONTE
Late Evening in Belo Horizonte: Pampulha: The House of Dance designed by Oscar Niemeyer.
RIO DE JANEIRO
Rio de Janeiro is a marvelous city of extremes: opulence vs. poverty, pretty colonial buildings and modern villas vs. run down favelas, laid back atmosphere of the beaches vs. non stop energy of the night clubs. One day all the rich people are relaxing on Copacabana beach, then suddenly the whole favela descends down on them and everybody is running for their lives. Here is the penultimate place where we had our vehicle, La Terminator repaired. I was weighing selling the van and continuing on the bus, but gave it another chance. That chance got us as far as Belo Horizonte.
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SOUTH OF BRAZIL - CURITIBA TO SAO PAOLO
I was tremendously excited to have finally arrived in Brazil! And having done so in my van that I drove all the way from Chicago made it so much more special. The southern part of Brazil is very similar to Argentina or Uruguay, both demographically and culturally. What is very different, of course, is the language. Even though I felt comfortable speaking Portuguese in Chicago, it took me some time to get my brain cooperating when I had to speak and understand it all the time. Curitiba (the home of Anderson Silva) was a very pleasant and welcoming city. On the other hand Sao Paulo was imposing by its humongous size, chaotic and full of energy. I hope that next time around I will have time to explore this megalopolis.
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