Itacaré and Porto Seguro

After heading from Salvador, our next planned step was Belo Horizonte. However, Just before leaving Recife we got word from our friend Shandy that she is in Brazil with her boyfriend, in a surfing town called Itacaré. So we decided to stop in and see her. She is living in an apartment style place, a little off the beaten path. It also just happened that the appartment next door was empty, so we were able to stay there for a few days.



I had a chance to do some surfing with Shandy, who is a pro. It was fun, and I think I did alright, considering it was my third time, and the other two times where 5 and 10 years ago. I think I got up 3 or 4 times, and caught one wave quite nicely so it shot me out (onto my face, but shot me out none the less). It was nice to have Shandy to make sure I was where I was supposed to be, and let me know which waves to go for.

Also, as it happened, apartments off the beaten path have their advantages. A troup of little monkeys wandered by the apartment one afternoon, and we raced up to the back window to have a front row view. They were tiny little guys, who looked like Tamarin Monkeys, only black. Very cute.



After Itacaré, we planned to head to Belo Horizonte. However, Leanna hasn´t been doing too well with the bus rides. Although the buses are quite nice, the roads are winding, and often pretty bad. So we decided to break up the journey and stop in at Porto Seguro, which is somewhat like Cancun or Puerto Vallarta. It turned out to be a good idea, as there are lots of hotels (800 the guide book says), so the prices are quite low. Also, there is a bit of history, as Porto Seguro is where Cabral landed in 1500. They call this the discovery of Brazil, although Pinzón did make it here a few months earlier (but he was Spanish... the nerve!). 3 years later in 1503 another Portuguese party landed and laid this marker of the Order of Jesus. We aren´t too clear who this order was, but I guess they financed the voyages or something.



We also went on a ´tour´, which turned out to be a drive to a beach, with several stops at stores masked in culture. For example the brochure says that we will see indigenous culture, dance and so forth, but all we did was stop at an indian artesans store for 10 minutes. Lesson learned... the beach was nice and deserted... although they did try to make us pay 20 reais each when we got there. They like to take tourists to the most expensive places, as I assume they have deals with the local merchants to either get free stuff or a cut of the action, not sure which.

The next step will be Vitória, which is 12 hours away, and from there we will take a train, which is slower, but should be a much nicer ride. We´ll let you know how it goes.

mike and Leanna