The third Thursday in January – the 12th in 2012 it is the annual celebration here in Salvador of the Lavagem de Bonfim.
We knew about this event before we arrived here but were told that it was no big deal..just people walking to the Church – Bonfim to cleanse both themselves and the church – sounded a little bit Catholic and a lot Candomble – the Bahian – African culture.
The view of the crowd at the start of the procession - Lavagem de Bon Fim
A few people that we’ve spoken to over the past few days said they were going and that we’d probably see them there.
They recommended getting to the ‘Elevador’ before 10:00am to see the best part of the procession – and to wear white.
Salvador is built on two levels – the upper level is where most of the old city is located and the lower level where the business district and the port is located. The Elevador – 8 lifts that at one end of the city and a cable car is at the other end of town. These are the only access points for pedestrians to commute between the upper and lower levels.
So, we were up early, dressed and ready to go at 9:00am. We were surprised to see a very long queue at the Elevador when we arrived but it seemed to be moving along quite quickly, so we joined the end and waited. Lots of people were entertaining the queue with their antics…selling caps, overpriced ribbons, beaded necklaces – all souvenirs of the day. After about a 30 minute wait we boarded the Elevador down to the action!
To say the place was PACKED is a bit of an understatement – it was TEEMING with people!!
Sound System that filled the Van!!
There were trucks loaded up with bands and their sound systems blaring so loudly our internal organs were vibrating….People were dancing and singing along with most of the songs dancing along behind the trucks.
African bands with lots of drummers and trombones and trumpeters were playing while their followers were dancing along – some in perfect formation – following the rhythm of the music.
Looking back at the crowd - Lavagem de Bon Fim - Salvador, Brasil
There was a real carnival atmosphere and people were having a great time.
Remember that we joined the procession at around 9:30 am – and people were already drinking beers and vodkas.
Clearly everyone was having a great time and they had a long day ahead of them!
We ambled along with the crowds for a couple of hours until we came across some cabana’s set up on the side of the road that offered snacks and some shade so we took the opportunity to sit down for a while and watch the passing parade.
Can holder anyone?
The parade just kept coming and each time we thought it had come to the end another big truck appeared with more people atop and surrounding it – singing and dancing along the street, so after about 45 minutes we decided to head back rather than walk the remaining 5 kms to the Church. I have no idea what happens when the millions (literally) of people and all the trucks and sound systems arrive at BonFim, but we decided that we would rather get home safely in daylight than take our chances a long way from home to get a taxi back.
The Queen of the Parade 
The walk back to the Elevador was just as much fun – we were going against the crowds and many times we were sandwiched between so many people we couldn’t move forward or backwards! We eventually got back to the start of the parade and were amazed to see even more trucks arriving and filling up with revellers getting ready to set off.
The recyclers were having a busy day – collecting huge bags of empty cans.
There were hundreds of beer and Smirnoff and Capirinha and Capiroska sellers as well as food vendors selling everything from cheese and meat sticks to fairy floss and chewing gum. Everyone was happy and smiling and it was a lot of fun to be able to join in with the revelry when we wanted to and to watch and listen to it all.
All in all a very enjoyable day and as this is considered a ‘small’ event, how much bigger will Caranaval be…
and I wonder how many people will be absent from their J.O.B’s tomorrow….
*
Posted in General Interest Location Reveiws Ray & Deb's Excellent Adventure by .
Thanks for stopping by and please spend some time having a look around! We believe that life is for living and we are determined to live the best life we possibly can! We left Australia in May 2011 and we're travelling around South America - working our portable business to finance our adventures. We will share the highs and lows of our adventures here and would love it if you felt inclined to comment or share your experiences here. If you would like to find out more about our LifePath Unlimited business or the product range that gave us the courage to follow our dreams, fill in the form at the top of the page and Deb will call you within 48hours.
Ray & Deb Hocking
After four and a half months in Pipa we finally packed up our stuff and headed off on our next adventure.
We loved our time in Pipa – we made so many great friends, attended a wedding, birthdays and Reggae parties, took a boat trip into the lagoons of Tibau do Sul, went horse riding through the rain forests and experienced one of the most enjoyable New Year’s Eve Parties we’d been to in our lives…. in all we had an amazing few months and really didn’t want to leave…however, our intention has always been to see as much as we can while we’re in South America so after lots of farewell drinks and hugs we set off to Olinda…a couple of hundred kilometres south.
Now normally you’d expect that we would have caught a bus, taken a short flight or even hired a car. But you have to think outside of the square sometimes when travelling because the obvious ways of getting from A to B aren’t always the best. While having a few farewell drinks it was suggested to us that taking a taxi might cost nearly the same as the bus but be a whole lot more convenient. And after a few phone calls this is exactly how it turned out – so at 8am on Friday morning we hopped into a taxi for the three and a half hour trip south to Olinda.
We arrived at our hotel around lunch time and headed off in search of food, and did a bit of exploring along the way.
Olinda is a little village on the coast, made up of so many beautiful houses and huge mansions built in the late 18th and the 19th Century – UNESCO listed Olinda as a world heritage site in the 1990’s so many buildings are protected and cannot be knocked down…however, the result of this order is mixed, as the owners of the buildings are either unwilling or unable to maintain them. So many of the most stunning buildings are deteriorating and will eventually rot away – thus defeating the whole purpose of the heritage listings.
Olinda - UNESCO World Heritage listing - doesn't necessarily save the most beautiful buildings..
We enjoyed everything that we saw and took lots of photos, but there are two things that we really, really loved about Olinda and I’d like to share these with you….
Tapioca
One of the staple items of food in the north west region of Brazil is tapioca root and it is common to see the white couscous like powder or the vegetable on sale everywhere.
My previous exposure to tapioca was in my childhood when we were served a white mushy ‘goop’ that tasted disgusting and my Mum said it was Tapioca pudding.
Throughout Olinda we came across ladies in little Barracas selling Tapioca ‘pancakes’ with all sorts of fillings…sweet and savoury.
Rather than me trying to explain here is a video of a gorgeous lady called Maria who clearly makes every tapioca pancake with love and care….
Metres of Beer
Now, if you know Ray and I even slightly, you will probably know that Ray is very partial to a cold beer on a hot day…or any day really, but I, Deb on the other hand, had not had a beer for years until we arrived in Praia da Pipa…
We’ve been drinking a lot of beer and one of the issues with it is that it gets ‘warm’ before you can finish a bottle or can….One of the bars in Olinda has created a solution for the beer drinkers here….a metre long tube of beer….check out the photo below…. We’re not sure how it works – probably the steel tube is filled with ice…but these tubes are a popular choice among the clientele in this beachside bar!
In Olinda they drink beer by the metre..
We were at the Bar on Saturday night and the lad sitting next to us went through one of these on his own…and surprisingly ordered another one…..big drinkers in Olinda obviously….(we didn’t have one because we didn’t think we’d be able to drink 2 litres of beer between us)
We also came across what looked like an abandoned house that was full of cans of Skol – one of the beers of Brazil – and we presume is being stockpiled in preparation for Carnivale which winds its way through the streets of Olinda on “Mardi Gras” – Fat Tuesday – the day before Ash Wednesday – and in 2012 will be the middle of February…..but maybe the cans will be all gone by then…who knows…Olinda is an interesting place and we realise that things are done a little bit differently here, which for any small town is a really good thing!!
Main Street of Praia da Pipa - heading south
We’ve been in Praia da Pipa for longer than we’d planned, and we will be here for a while more. The reason we’ve decided to remain here is the environment, the community spirit and the friendships we have made with the wonderful people who live here. We have also met many people here on their annual vacation who have become friends too!
Within a few days of our arrival, we’d found a great restaurant/bar right on the water’s edge – Pipa Beach Club, and met a group of expatriate Norwegians and Dutch people as well as a number of Brazilians who are all working and living their dream life here in Praia da Pipa.
Praia da Pipa is one of the most popular beach resorts in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande de Norte and on weekends and the many public holidays, it becomes a bustling town filled with bikini clad women and smiling men all soaking up the sun and enjoying the incredibly laid back atmosphere.
The Rainforest stops at the edge of the Cliffs in Praia da Pipa
From my untrained eye, it seems that the town has evolved, rather than being a planned growth, buildings are perched on the edge of cliffs, crammed into tiny spaces and are a multitude of styles. Roads are laid with uneven cobble stones and are just wide enough for cars to pass – as long as there are no cars parked on the side! There is a one way system that is ignored for the most part, which creates chaos on busy weekends. No-one seems to mind about any of it!
Day time
Pipa Beach Club is located a short walk from Praia Centro, and the line of sun beds and umbrellas along the front are always filled with people taking advantage of the facility – being close to the beach – without the sand! Having drinks and food available is an added treat!
The rain forest stops at the cliffs above Praia da Pipa beach and this creates a magnificent environment and many stunning photo opportunities! The abundance of wild life in amongst the buildings and on the beach adds to the appeal. Tiny capuchin monkey’s scoot through the trees in many of the restaurants in the town and they are always ready to take a bite of banana from any one who’s willing to share.
Feeding the Monkeys
Very rarely do they bite. Huge green iguana’s languish in the tree branches or on the warm rocks blinking nonchalantly as tourists gawk at them camera’s clicking furiously….Hummingbirds flit around diners poking their long beaks into plastic flowers filled with sugary liquid, oblivious to the humans only a metre away!
The main beach of Praia da Pipa at low tide.
The main advertised attractions of the area are the Dolphins that live in the waters just north of the main beach around the point. Every day dolphins can be seen close to the shore chasing fish or just swimming around in groups of two or three. The only access to the beach is either, walking around the point at low tide (and returning before high tide) or by taking a ride on a tourist boat and spending a few minutes spotting the dolphins.
The Dolphins seem to enjoy the attention and I have experienced a couple of close encounters that have made my heart race and an overwhelming feeling of joy rise up in me – and remain for hours afterward! It’s an incredible experience to be so close to a beautiful wild animal in its own environment, especially when you can see it looking right at you or hear it coming to the surface to take a breath!!!
Praia da Pipa really is an amazing juxtaposition of wild animals making the best of the urban development that has appeared in their natural environment. But really the weather is its main attraction. I think it boasts something over 300 days a year of sunshine. The temperature very rarely goes above 30c or below 25c. But best of all is the fact that the humidity is nothing like what you’d expect to experience this close to the equator – think Bali without the oppressive humidity!!!. And with a gentle cooling breeze blowing most days it makes for a very enjoyable place to hang out.
Night Time
Praia da Pipa comes alive at night time – with its main street pulsing to the heavy beat of the many different music venues from around 11:00pm.
Tribus Bar / Brown Sugar Caffe is our pick – with seating outside under cover it provides a great vantage point to watch the passing parade. Drinks are regular bar prices and the jellyshots pack a serious punch! Brown Sugar Caffe serves great bar snacks to keep you going to the wee small hours if that is your want!
There are many good restaurants in Praia da Pipa serving an extensive range of culinary delights. We haven’t been to every restaurant but our picks (not in any order) of the one’s we’ve tried are
X – Saturday night the chef creates a themes degustation menu, thoroughly recommended for a great dining experience
Aqui – the most delicious meat we’ve tasted in South America so far
Tranquilo – Everything is delicious, the menu changes regularly and the chef scours the region for the best/freshest ingredients every day! YUMMM
Caverna – Thai green curries, to bruschetta and nachos all good!!
Café Central – ‘the best pasta and sauces available outside of Italy’ (as told to me by an Italian lady!) The Bolognese sauce is awesome!! They also bake different types of bread every day and make the most delicious iced coffee I’ve ever tasted – no milk or cream!!!
da’italliano - thin crust pizzas cooked in a woodfired oven. If you pick the right ingredients these pizzas are great…
So, there you have it…our subjective totally biased overview of the popular seaside village of Praia da Pipa in Rio Grande Norte in Brazil. We would love to hear your thoughts about this post and if you would like more overviews of the places we’re visiting, let us know.
Posted in Location Reveiws Ray & Deb's Excellent Adventure by .
Nov 11
15
Cashew Rain…
Over the last few days we’ve had a lot of rain and we were speaking with a local guy – Marco - and he told us how important the rains were – and that they were late this year and it was looking like there wouldn’t be a cashew harvest this year.
It is usual for the rains to come in October, and the rain is referred to as “Cashew Rain” because the few downpours that occur provide the water necessary for the fruit of the cashew to grow.
Pierre Angelo harvesting Cashews with a very ingenious tool!
Now, I have to admit, I had no idea where cashews came from – only a packet or a plastic container in the supermarket – and I’d never really thought about it, so it was quite a surprise to find out that the beautiful shady trees next to our house here in Pipa are Cashew trees! Very cool..
Cashews are really strange looking things when they are growing. They are in two parts – a bulbous fruit grows above the kidney/cashew shaped nut and once the fruit changes colour and becomes almost red, they can be harvested. A few days of heavy rain is all they need to ensure this happens.
The fruit is edible and is sweet and squishy and tastes nothing like a cashew! It is an acquired taste – which we haven’t acquired just yet. Marco told us that the flesh is used to make vege burgers…interesting. The shell of the cashew is very hard and needs to be baked in a hot oven for a few minutes so that it cracks open to reveal the softer cashew. It is no surprise to me now that in Australia anyway, cashews are a luxury item.
Just shake and drop in - clever
The tree next to our house is drooping under the weight of its fruit and of course the ripest fruit is on the highest branches. So, one of our neighbours, Pierre Angelo has created a cashew harvester and every morning he scans the tree and using his ingenious invention manages to pick the ripest fruit, which he then puts in the fridge to cool down for his afternoon snack.
I hope that I am not the only person in the world who didn’t know where cashews came from…but, I do now!!
Ripe Cashews
Posted in General Interest Ray & Deb's Excellent Adventure by .
This post is by Ray as he wanted to shares his experience of our visa extension trip to Natal. Feel free to comment or ask any questions about Brazilian Visa’s (for Australians).
Today was the day that we took off to Natal (nearest big city to Pipa) to extend our Brazilian visas.
That’s right we’ve been in Brazil close to 3 three months. How time flies etc etc.
So after some help from our good friend Krista, one of the owners of Pousada Enseada Dos Golfinhos, who arranged for the taxi to pick us up from our front door at 7am, we set of for the Federal Police Offices in Natal.
The day could have gone either good or bad – you see we had heard rumours that the Governmentt had changed the rules on visa extensions so we didn’t know what to expect.
Little did we know just how bizarre this exercise was going to be.
Sure enough the taxi turned up on time. Prior to this there was the usual discussion between Deb & I about what she should wear and I responded with something that was comfortable.
After a pleasant drive into Natal confronting for the first time in a number of months … peak hour traffic. Yuck what a concept – glad I don’t have to do that every day.
We arrived at the Federal Police building just as it was opening. Excellent!!
I thought we’d be through this is a couple of hours leaving the rest of the day for a leisurely stroll around a Mall and head for home before dark.
As Deb & I walked through the front gates, as we were passing a couple of security guards, one of them indicated to me that I couldn’t go into the building how I was dressed. You see I had also dressed comfortably in shorts, T-shirt and crocs, however I needed to have long pants on!!!!!
After a moment of shock and disbelief that this could be the case in a hot, humid country like Brazil, I was resolved to head back to the taxi to find a store to buy some long pants (possibly to wear them for just one time!!!!).
Now at this point in time I could have got a bit shirty and expressed myself in a way that maybe I might have regretted later. But after travelling quite extensively in our lives I’ve come to realise that not every country has the same rules and customs that I’m used to in Australia and so I accepted that maybe I should have considered this possibility and just find a way around it.
As we turned back towards where the taxi was parked, the other security guard started to point me in the direction of a parking lot across the road…and he gestured at his trousers, indicating that maybe somebody might be able to help me out. We didn’t really understand what he was trying to tell us (we still can’t talk much Portuguese), so we got back to the taxi and after a quick charade, the driver understood what we needed to do.
As he was starting to move the car out of the parking space, the driver asked a parking attendant if he could recommend a store where I could find some long pants.
As it turned out, the parking attendant was in fact the person the security guard was directing us to – you see this guy as a pair of long black pants for rent for 3 reals – about $2.
Ray was very happy to meed this guy!
We followed him back towards the Federal Police building and he headed off into another building and emerged shortly with the said pair of dacks. I couldn’t have been happier and I slipped them over my shorts and off we went into the building.
All was going well and fairly quickly once we entered the building, howver we were directed to another room where we were to present our papers/passports to renew our visa.
The Federal Police office is open from 9am to 12pm and then 2pm to 5pm. As we’d arrived before 9:00 and had all our papers in order, we were confident we would be ‘done’ before 12pm as there weren’t many people waiting ahead of us. This was not quite the case as it turns out people can setup appointments at specific times and they obviously, get preference over those of us that just turn up on the day.
As the minutes and hours ticked by we started to think that we wouldn’t get served before the 12pm cutoff.
I really didn’t want to have to leave the building, find somewhere for lunch then wait around until 2pm to get back into the queue – which resets and we wouldn’t necessarily be first after the break!
We read our novels and watched as those clever people with appointments went through the process. Each person took almost an hour to get their visa completed and we were beginning to think we would only see the inside of the Federal Police building this time in Natal!
Ray - looking very stylish in his rented pants!
Eventually, we were invited to sit in the chairs at the counter while we waited for our turn. It was 11:40 and we were feeling very happy and knew we would make it through before closing time.
Finally it was our turn, but a woman pushed in front of us and engaged the officer in a lengthy discussion which seemed to be unresolvable. At 5 minutes to 12 the woman accepted a piece of paper from the officer and left.
We had our hearts in our mouths as we placed our passports and all our documents on the counter in front of him and smiled expectantly at him – hoping that he wasn’t too hungry and would help us.
As soon as he saw our passports, the guy’s face just lit up and spent a few minutes looking at Deb’s new passport. He was so impressed and kept saying beautiful, beautiful and moving the pages to see the kangaroo holograms… It was as if he’d never seen anything like it – he even said that not even the good ole USA has passports like ours.
Well that made us feel very proud to be Aussies.
After this, it gave us the courage to suggest they extend our visa for another 90 days even though we may not need all of that time.
We were granted our full visa extension and the officer took a great deal of pleasure finding a page with a picture of a Koala on it, and took great care to place the stamp and add his signature with a flourish. He happily shook our hands and waved us on our way at 12:30pm!
As we walked out of the building the parking attendant/trouser guy was waiting patiently for us – and I was so happy with him that we took some photos of me and my rented pants and paid him handsomely for the privilege.
We were now free to enjoy the rest of our day having lunch with a friend and checking out the shopping malls of Natal!
Oh yes, it appears that the rumours we may have to leave immediately our 3 months were up – were false.
Posted in General Interest Ray & Deb's Excellent Adventure by .
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