Leaving Jeri...

Tonight we organized a beach buggy that will take us to the little fishing village of Camocim tomorrow morning. From there we will take the bus to Parnaiba. Maybe we will then take the night bus to Sao Luis or stay one, two nights in Parnaiba... depends on the connection but also on my different wounds and bruises ;-) Right now I am a kind of purple-blue and have scratches all over my body. Here is a picture Thomas took of me today. Show's the beautifull bruises on my legs ;-)

(And by now I already know how to explain what happened perfectly well in Portuguese as I have explained it to the girl in the internet place, a waiter, everybody at the pousada, my friends online and on the phone... ;-))

Crash Boom Bang

On Thursday night we went to book a quad tour with 'Trilhas & Dunas Jacaré' to two lagoons close to Jericoacoara. The girl at the quad place was really nice and told us, two other couples had booked the tour already and would be going with us. At that time she even spoke a bit English...

But when we arrived on Friday, we were the only ones to go on the tour, which was already a bit strange. So it would only be a guide on a motorcycle and the two of us on one quad. A guy explained to us how the thing worked (in Portuguese) and just before we took off the girl gave us protection glasses. Because of a little dispute between Thomas and me he refused to drive, so I had to (I should write about that later on ;-)) The guide took off on a motorcycle and we tried to follow...

After working out how to switch the gears etc. it went quite smoothly. We drove out of town, over the dunes and down to the beach. Our guide was speeding like crazy, showing off quite a bit, and we followed. Down at the beach we really had fun. The only problem was that the guide's motorcycle catapulted little stones right into out faces. So far this seemed the only problem and we enjoyed the ride - a lot! After some time on the beach we arrived at Prea, the next little village. We left the beach and followed our speeding guide on little county roads. etime we had to break for a cow, that was blocking our way. The road got narrower, then we went round one corner, another one - and suddenly the guide took another corner without giving us any signs. I tried to follow - and yep, landed us in a barbed wire fence. Or actually two.

From then on I don't remember much. The first thing I remember again was trying to get the water bottles out of my bag to wash off the blood from my face and eyes. The guide then grapped the bottle from me and I remember that I got into a kind of a panic that he would pour water over my camera which still was in my bag on the ground. I didn't feel any pain and couldn't remember what we where doing there. I had no idea in which place we were, how we had managed to go there, where we were staying... I asked Thomas lots of stupid questions. I only noticed from the look in his face that they must have been really stupid. At one time he told me about something that had happened the Sunday before which refreshed my mind a bit and made me very happy ;-) (Espero que voce vai leer isso - nao esqueci de voce ;-)) Somehow by then a group of people had arrived and took us to their home. They sat me down on some chairs and told us that somebody would drive us to the Posto de Sauda, the medical point. Our guide organized a doctor who turned out to be dentist but was young and nice and took good care of us. He closed the deep wound in my head with a couple of stiches, desinfected and cleaned all other wounds and gave me some antibiotics and painkillers. Somehow I had served as Thomas airbag, as he only had a few scratches and bruises. I only realized how bad I looked when Thomas showed me the pictures he had taken in front of the Posto de Saude. At that time I was still smiling and making faces as I didn't feel any pain whatsoever and didn't really realize what had happened.

Anyhow, after a couple of days in bed and in the hammock I finally feel better and we can continue our trip.

I am very greatfull to everybody at our pousada, the Pousada Ibiscus, as they offered all the help they could. They didn't complain about the bloody sheets and towels but gave us as much new ones as needed. They let us use the kitchen to make juice (the cuts in my face really hurt when eating solid food) and they even offered us a quieter room and gave me an ice bag to cool the bruises. I really felt at home there and therefore can recommend this place to everybody who's heading to Jeri. I hope, none of you will ever need the special assistance I got, but be assured, even without a hole in your head this Pousada is the perfect place to relax.

Not so perfect is the agency that organized the quad trip. We went there yesterday to talk to them and ask our money back. We explained why we thought they acted unprofession: first of all, our guide was going way to fast all the time, then he didn't make any signs where to go on time and last but not least, they didn't supply any protection. And even with protection, a narrow road fenced with rusty barbed wire doesn't sound like a good idea to any person not used to driving a quad!

But the owner of 'Trilhas & Dunas Jacaré' didn´t show any understanding or regret. He told us it was our responsability and we should have asked for protection, we should not have followed the guide's speed and we should not have taken this road. We were only waiting that he would say that it was our fault altogether to book this trip with him. Which in a way was true.

All the time that this guy was talking to us he was playing around with his... well, you can imagine. So before leaving Thomas patted his shoulders and told him in German to 'wash, don't scratch', which was really hilarious.

Anyhow, we will definately make sure to write about our experience in the Lonely Planet forum and others travel forums online. No idea if it will make a difference but maybe we can warn a couple of people of this unprofessional agency!

The long and winding road to Jericoacoara

After a kind of 'pitstop-day' in Fortalelza (relaxing on Praia Futuro, Thomas got his hair cut, I got my legs, feet and nails done as well as my laundry...) we took the bus to Jericoacoara on Wednesday morning. The bus took about 6 hours to reach Jijoca, where we had to change to a 4WD kind of truck-bus. The bus ride to Jijoca was interesting as the landscape changed from very dry, desert like to green, and full of Cashew trees and we crossed many little cities and villages. But the best part of the ride was definately the last 1,5 hours in the 4WD truck. We left the paved road shortly after Jijoca and went on dirttracks through farmland, little villages and right along the beach. In one of the villages I noticed what must have been the local night club. A kind of wall with a hole for the 'bilheteria', where you could buy the tickets, and a door labeled 'entrada'. The place was called 'Giga dance' and a shack beside it 'Giga byte cafe'. When we drove by I could see that there was about nothing behind the wall, just a patch of sand. But I guess when they turn on the music the place will be crowded soon - it seemed to be the only place of that kind for miles and miles.
When we reached Jericoacoara a crowd of Pousada owners came to the bus. After about 8-9 hours on the road we were kind of overstrained with the offer - especially as the prices where all very good and most of the pousadas seemed to be ok. We then picked one, Pousada Ibiscus, and it was a good choice - its colourfull, has spacious rooms and a little garden and the breakfast is fine, too.
Today we went walking on the beach untill the 'Pedra Furada', a kind of stone archway right on the beach. From there we went back to the village over the dunes - you have a spectacular view from there. The colours are so amazing - white dunes, colourfullstones, blue sea and even bluer sky - Jeri just takes your breath away!
After a relaxed afternoon in the hammock we watched the sundown on the famous Duna do Por do Sol, the sundown dune. Everybody goes up there at around 18:00 to watch the sun go down on the sea. Once again, the colours just leave you speechless- its so beautifull! After the sun had gone down we went back to the beach to watch a round of Capoieira...
For tomorrow we have planned a Quad ride to two lagoons...
(More pictures will follow soon!)

Fortaleza

This morning, after a very short night, Thomas and I took the flight from Rio de Janeiro to Fortaleza. We will stay here for two nights and then take the bus to Jericoacoara. From there we want to travel up to Sao Luis by beach buggy, bus... whatever :-)

Especially after the fantastic weekend in Rio de Janeiro Fortaleza seems a bit boring. The city center is pretty dirty and shabby and there is not much to see. The central market is quite nice to go shopping for souvenirs (cashew nuts from the region, baskets, hammocks) and the Dragao do Mar cultural center has some nice shops and cafes. The beach here in the city center is not very special... tomorrow we want to check out Praia do Futuro, according to the Lonely Planet the best one around Fortaleza.

Tonight we are going out to the Pirata Bar, the place with the 'craziest Monday' also according to the Lonely Planet ;-) Lets see what the pirates have on offer ;-)

Rainbow over Rio

One of the reasons of meeting up in Rio de Janeiro with Thomas last weekend was the Gay Parade on Copacabana beach. I expected some beautifull drag queens, handsome halfnaked boys and good music but didn't plan to stay for the whole day.

Now, I have to confess that we were definately one of the last ones to leave the 'crime scene' ;-) It was without doubt one of the best parties I attended, ever. First of all the location is just perfect, right at Copacabana beach in front of the beautifull backdrop of the sugarloaf and the 'cidade maravilhosa', the marvelous city. Nothing better than relaxing on the beach after dancing the night away. (By the way, it is amazing how Brazilians can dance in thongs - its an art of its own!) Second, my fear that I would be totally lost between snogging halfnaked boys and intimidating lesbians didn't came true - on the contrary, I met so many interesting and lovely people, gays, lesbians as well as straight people and it was actually quite nice to meet lovely and handsome men that asked for your number without the intention of getting you into bed ;-)

Last but not least the party had its fair share of handsome halfnaked hetero sexual boys who were happy to be 'protected' from the gay boys by a lady ;-)

I made it to the Sugarloaf!

On my 3rd visit to Rio I finally made it up the sugarloaf :-)

What´s there to do in Praia do Forte?

There are lots of things to do in Praia do Forte, and nearly all of them are overpriced. The shopping, the bars, the turtle project and the day tours as well. Still, there are some nice things to do that don´t cost much. If you want to get out of the disneylandish and styled village of Praia do Forte for a day and see something different, why not walk all the way to Imbassai on the beach? It´s a 10km walk and the last 5km of the beach are absolutely beautifull and deserted. We didn´t see a single person for the last hour of our walk and felt kind of relieved when we finally saw a fisherman - Imbassai lies behind a bend of the beach and we where getting nervous already that we wouldn´t make it there ;-) Imbassai is very quiet and very different to Praia do Forte. Nearly no tourists, no stylish shops, no paved streets... and the beach is absolutely beautifull and deserted! From Imbassai you can take a minibus back to Praia do Forte or to the next village of Costa Sauipe, a further 5km north. Another nice 'get away' for a day is the castle of Garcia d´Avila, also known as the Casa do Torre (Tower House). The castle, or - the ruins of the castle - lies about 5km from Praia do Forte on a hill overlooking the sea. The way to the castle leads through the ecological reserve of Sapiranga, its definately worth walking instead of talking an airconditioned bus ;-) The Casa do Torre has been founded in 1551 and is considered the first large Portuguese building in Brazil. The Casa da Torre played a remarkable role in the history of Brazil´s colonization and defense for more than three centuries. In 1835, with the extinction of the morgados regimen (the first-born son being the heir to an entailed state), the Castle was abandoned and soon began to decay. In 1938 it has been rediscovered and the renovation had started. Unfortunately the management of the site invested more in a huge restaurant then in information which is a pity, as the hisotry of this building and its inhabitants definately must have been very interesting! (http://www.casadatorre.org.br/monumento.htm)