Brasil II

Well you may (or more likely not) wonder where I have been for the last few weeks. Been almost a month since the last one and I have to admit that I am a little bit behind. Been having some trouble getting online and getting photos etc uploaded. Got some crackers though so this blog (when completed) and the next should be worth checking out... probably.

Anyway.... Sloth like the 3 of us stayed in Ilha Grande for 4 days. It rained for 3 straight so we felt for Coralie but she seemed to bear up very well by sleeping almost as much as Stephane and myself. Eating here and there and having the occasional Skol to keep up our spirits. beautiful Ilha Grande is but there is not a lot to do when it rains. So 3 days relaxing and back to Rio. Night out to send Coralie back to sub-zero Ginebra well hydrated, as such ciao and obrigado chica....

Fat Boy Slim is neither Fat nor a Boy but he certainly is a damned fine DJ. most entertaining. I am getting ahead of myself a litt. We waved off Coralie on the Saturday and went to the Maracana to wath Fluminese and Maceo play.

General tales of mass riots and gunshots not associated with the newcomers to the league but there was a bit of jumping around and a lot of informative pointers as how to swear in Portuguese. Steph and I were both semi-fluent by the end of the game and should someone steal another pair of Steph´s flip flops we will certainly be able to harang them as they run off with their spoils. More to follow on that but he does go through them as if they are disposable items. I supppose the Bar and restaurant must be going well.

We turned up at the airport on the Sunday and wanted to go north. Not 100% sure where exactly so we managed to get to Recife. not a good town so we went to Olinda. Described in the books as cute and colonial. Not on a Sunday in January its not. We turned up late afternoon. Cab driver stunk of Cachaca. Streets were full of heavily drunk locals not wearing a lot and said drunken taxi driver decided that the most direct route to the pousada was the best and drove through the throng in the thongs. Needed a drink after that and Steph and I sallied forth to investigate the pre-carnavale celebrations. As is often the case we ended up talking to some locals - friendly as always. All was going fairly well even though we spoke no common language but hand gestures and nods and winks will get you a long way. Almost got us into a gang bang with some local freaks back at their pousada as it turned out.

They repeatedly mentioned that they had a swimming pool and some beer back at their place and that we should come along to enjoy their hospitality. We politely refused as we were fine where we were. Also they were a rather strange bunch and some latent self survival instinct meant that neither Steph nor I were too comfortable going back for a swift one. At the 15th refusal of their kind offer one of the lads made a hand gesture which you can probably imagine indicating that we were most welcome to have sex with the young lady accompanying him on his evening out. he even showed me an ID and told me that I was more than welcome to shag her as she was not his wife just his girlfriend and to prove this he showed me the ring on his finger and a nice photo of his wife he carried in his wallet. At this point the hand gestures became increasingly graphic and he became irate and started waving his car keys at us. One of the girls he was with (who looked like something out of Michael Jackon´s Thriller) got some German bloke who spoke English and Portuguese to translate exactly what was being offered. He did so. We had a Caipi and went home. Strange evening all round. Lucky escape as far as we were concerned. Friendly can sometimes go too far.

A good shower in the morning and it took us no time at all to decide that Olinda was not really our scene. As such we got a cab to Porto da Gallhinas (at this point I struggle as I have some issue with remembering names of places - even more pronouncing them as it turns out) and stayed on a deserted beach called Maracaipe. very nice but a bit family orientated. Steph lost another pair of flip flops (pair 3) and we ended up in a nightclub (if you could call it that) where the blokes were doing this.

you will have to wait for the vid until the technology catches up.....

Everyone says that the locals are fine dancers but I think they should stick to Samba rather than co-ordinated shuffling about at 4 am. Most undignified. Good news is that Dance music and hip-hop (hippy hoppy as called locally) makes people dance like idiots in brasil too. Cheered me up. Beaches lovely.

Anyone sick of beaches yet?? I´m not so I shall continue. Hand gesture was ironic by the way.

Heading onward we moved to Praia da Pipa. Short trip and a very cool place. Lots of stuff to do in the day and the evening. Beach shot for you. Highly informative this one...

Buggies are the way to get round. Dunes go for miles and miles, well north as far as you could hope. Video of that too. Which you also have to wait for. Disappointing I know but keep up your spirits it could be worse.

If the buggy is not your thing then you could go for a motorbike. Just in case you wondered what the local recommendations on safety considerations while driving your harley please take a look at the following.

At least head injuries will be avoided.

Well I have no time and I am still about 2 weeks behind. Learning to kite surf currently so that will keep me busy for a few days. As such you´ll have to be getting along with this so far but I do have a cracking shot of Steph with a transvestite and her/his calling card. Next time I am afraid. This one is dedicated to Coralie and Steph. Pleasure to travel with - should you ever get the chance.

Well. Hope all is going swimmingly. Miss you all, although slightly less as I am being dragged through the sea swallowing gutfuls of water.

Be good. Happy valentines to those of you paired up. Sad losers who no one likes are unlikely to read the blog anyway but good luck to them too.

See you around.

Lid

p.s. no speedos or tattoos yet. will let you know as soon as either situation changes.