http://www.flickr.com/gp/14172071@N02/60aRYN
Sunday, November 11, 2007
See a map of where the photos were taken (cool feature)
Flickr has this cool feature!! Now you can see where all the pictures where taken on a map!
You can zoom in pretty far by using the zoom slider on the right side of the page. You can also switch between map and satellite views for a better perspective. Only Fortaleza has high resolution satellite where you can see detail.
http://www.flickr.com/map/?&user_id=14172071@N02&fLat=-5.37652&fLon=-35.463866&zl=13
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Things I'll miss, won't miss and memorable moments.
What I'll miss the most:
- THE FOOD! I cannot describe how good the food was, especially "rice and beans". Also, what amazed me was how available fresh food was, everywhere! All food was prepared daily from fresh ingredients. After a month of having such good food always available, one of the hardest things is coming back to the US knowing that finding the quality and flavors will be impossible to find!!
- The incredibly efficient bus system. As wild as the bus rides are, the transport system works well and is very efficient for getting around. Nowhere in America can I think of a place were public transportation works as efficiently as the Brazilian inter and intra city bus systems. Simply amazing.
- The weather. I imagine after a full year, the weather would be boring as it doesn't vary much except during the rainy season when its wetter. But warm nights, nice breezes and temperatures not overbearing makes it nice to be outside anytime of day.
- Brazil's obvious effort to promote alternative fuels. All gas stations have: regular gas, alcohol fuel, natural gas, diesel and bio diesel. Brazil has the highest percentage of cars capable of running "flex fuels" of any nation in the world. In part its what's fueled the huge sugar cane plantations as a large portion of sugar cane is now used in manufacture of alternative fuels.
What I won't miss
- Severe water pollution: While there's not a lot of air pollution, in Recife the water pollution and open sewer systems is overbearing. They've managed to keep the main beaches free of polluted water, but all inland waterways are indescribably filthy and smelly. While we may complain about "environmentalists" in the US, after visiting a country and cities where there is no environmental controls, I'll take our environmentalists any day.
- Power systems are antiquated and water systems are poor and unreliable.
- Cost of things: Brazil is not a cheap country to live! Despite almost a 2 to 1 exchange rate (2 reais to 1 dollar) I was shocked at the cost of certain things. Electronics are more expensive than the US by far. Simple cameras costing $100 US will cost you $250 to $300 US Dollars in Brazil. This is due to high import taxes. Want to buy your basic Honda Accord in Brazil? Figure to spend $43,000 USD in Brazil costing $30,000 in the US. Again import taxes. Even the most basic cars manufactured in Brazil (Volkswagen & Fiat) will cost you $25,000 to $30,000 USD. Food from the grocery stores is on par with US food costs. Though the vendor food, some restaurants and the "cafes" are definitely cheaper than the equivalent in the US. The two things significantly cheaper in Brazil than the US: real estate and services labor. I didn't know this, but Brazil has the highest tax structure of any country in the world. Its a shame there's so much corruption hindering this country from moving forward. Again, we have it pretty good in the US despite what we think.
Two of my most memorable moments (both "bus" experiences)
- On Sunday bus fares are half off. This is to get people out, shopping etc. As a result the main bus terminals around shopping centers and beach destinations are crowded. Long lines and people pushing to get on buses. After dealing with the crowd in a long line, as we approached the front of the line for the next bus, I saw guys crowding the gate and their wives or girlfriends would hang back out of the pushing. When the gates open these guys would fight their way onto the bus and run to get seats. Then as their wives or girlfriend finally get on the bus to where their man was, the guys would get up and give the seats to the ladies. I don't know why I found this so impressive, but I know we'd never see this kind of thing in the US. I can say (for the most part) men treat their ladies properly and it really impressed me.
- When traveling with Paulo, it made thing easy as I would tend to stop trying to speak Portuguese and let him speak for me when interfacing with people. What made it worse, is Paulo is learning english, so he wanted to speak to me in english with me correcting him when needed. So I became lazy and would talk to him in english and when he was around I'd look to him to converse with whoever in Portuguese. One day we got on the bus --at which point I could buy tickets, pay, take change and ask the most basic questions in Portuguese. Anyway, Paulo had gone ahead as I was paying for my ticket. The ticket taker asked me a question I didn't understand and I responded, "Eu nao fala Portugues" (I don't speak Portugues). Paulo turned and said in a very surprisingly loud voice -he was always soft spoken and the loud voice shocked me-- Sim! voce fez fala poqueno Portugues (Yes, you do speak a little Portugues). He turned to the ticket man and told him, "voce de vaga, e ele irie entendo voce" (you speak slowly and he will understand you). We both looked at him in shock. With both of us looking like scolded school children, finished the transaction, in Portuguese. What was kind of cute, the ticket guy got a bit of a twinkle in his eye, with the slightest of smiles and shaking his head, he kept saying "voce nao fala portugues, sheesh" (you don't speak Portuguese). In that moment I knew I had to begin being responsible for my communications going forward regardless of who was around!!
Fortaleza 11/5 to 11/7
The trip to Fortaleza by bus went smoothly. The geography was much different than the Recife to Natal trip. Where the first trip was agricultural and green, between Natal and Fortaleza, the terrain is all desert. If I didn't know I was in Brazil, I would have thought I would have been traveling through southern Nevada and Arizona; it was almost identical.
Around 7:30pm we arrived in Fortaleza. What a pleasant suprise. Frankly, Natal was a bit to tourist and "hustling" for me. After Natal I wasn't really looking forward to "just another beach town in Brazil". But Fortaleza quickly dispelled any concerns; it was very clean, very modern and quite upscale. Fortaleza is also a tourist city, but taylors to more high end clientele from southern Brazil, other South American cities and Europe. Beaches are clean, streets are clean, modern infrastructure, professional people etc. Also, for the last few nights in Brazil I wanted to stay in a nice hotel. We asked the taxi driver for a recommendation and he was more interested in taking us to places he obviously had "connections" to. After a brief moment of "discussion" he took us to the main water front where he asked another taxi drive to recommend a place. Mind you most of these were 5 start hotels and I began to wonder if I was asking for the right thing. As luck was with us (as it was on most of the trip), the "local guys" sent us to one of the 5 star hotel where "locals" stay. The hotel was on the waterfront, impeccable views, near all the activities, I couldn't have been happier, and better yet it was only about $95 dollars US.
Since my objective was to purely relax in Fortaleza, we did not do a lot. We walked a lot around the city the next day. 
Visited a local shopping bazar, saw a big church --like what you see in europe. Then we had to do something to satisfy my "real estate curiosity". A new apartment highrise had an open house. We toured the penthouse suite and some of the lower floor apartments. The penthouse was selling for $1.4million Reais = $750k usd. While it wasn't a kind of place I'd be interested in, the views were absolutely stunning.
The next day we decided we'd leave for Recife that night. Since it was going to be a 12 hr bus ride, we spent the day relaxing on the beach waiting for the bus time. I took this photo of one of the fisherman.
These guys are on their little boats from sun up to sun down fishing; what a hard life. After a quiet afternoon we headed to the Rodaviaria and took a "red eye" sleeper bus back to Recife. Oh My Gosh, was the bus PLUSH!! each of the seats made into sleeper beds. The bus was manufactured by Mercedes and it's obvious it was engineered specifically for comfort and sleeping. There was hardly any sound (lots of sound proofing and deadening), the suspension was tuned to be soft and non-jarring even on the roughest roads. The only complaint was the had the AC on and it was freezing. Thank goodness they handed out blankets!!
I slept well and we arrived back in Recife at 8:00 the next morning
Around 7:30pm we arrived in Fortaleza. What a pleasant suprise. Frankly, Natal was a bit to tourist and "hustling" for me. After Natal I wasn't really looking forward to "just another beach town in Brazil". But Fortaleza quickly dispelled any concerns; it was very clean, very modern and quite upscale. Fortaleza is also a tourist city, but taylors to more high end clientele from southern Brazil, other South American cities and Europe. Beaches are clean, streets are clean, modern infrastructure, professional people etc. Also, for the last few nights in Brazil I wanted to stay in a nice hotel. We asked the taxi driver for a recommendation and he was more interested in taking us to places he obviously had "connections" to. After a brief moment of "discussion" he took us to the main water front where he asked another taxi drive to recommend a place. Mind you most of these were 5 start hotels and I began to wonder if I was asking for the right thing. As luck was with us (as it was on most of the trip), the "local guys" sent us to one of the 5 star hotel where "locals" stay. The hotel was on the waterfront, impeccable views, near all the activities, I couldn't have been happier, and better yet it was only about $95 dollars US.
Since my objective was to purely relax in Fortaleza, we did not do a lot. We walked a lot around the city the next day. 
Visited a local shopping bazar, saw a big church --like what you see in europe. Then we had to do something to satisfy my "real estate curiosity". A new apartment highrise had an open house. We toured the penthouse suite and some of the lower floor apartments. The penthouse was selling for $1.4million Reais = $750k usd. While it wasn't a kind of place I'd be interested in, the views were absolutely stunning.The next day we decided we'd leave for Recife that night. Since it was going to be a 12 hr bus ride, we spent the day relaxing on the beach waiting for the bus time. I took this photo of one of the fisherman.
These guys are on their little boats from sun up to sun down fishing; what a hard life. After a quiet afternoon we headed to the Rodaviaria and took a "red eye" sleeper bus back to Recife. Oh My Gosh, was the bus PLUSH!! each of the seats made into sleeper beds. The bus was manufactured by Mercedes and it's obvious it was engineered specifically for comfort and sleeping. There was hardly any sound (lots of sound proofing and deadening), the suspension was tuned to be soft and non-jarring even on the roughest roads. The only complaint was the had the AC on and it was freezing. Thank goodness they handed out blankets!!I slept well and we arrived back in Recife at 8:00 the next morning
Natal 11/2 to 11/5
After returing from Fernando de Noronha, the pace picked up significantly not giving me time to keep the blog updated. The plan was to travel by bus, so we packed light leaving the computer and non-essentials in Recife.
The next morning we went to the Recife "Rodoviaria" to catch a bus to Natal. Rodoviarias are the main bus terminals for each city and they have frequent departures to all the major cities. All in all traveling by bus is very easy and efficient if staying in a region; definitely as easy as flying. The trip to Natal was about 4 hours. The nice thing about traveling by bus is you get to see the country side. Between Recife and Natal all you see is miles and miles of sugar cane on rolling hills. Its green and lush. We arrived in Natal with no reservations and had a taxi driver recommend a place to stay. He did well in taking us to a small but clean place on the waterfront in the tourist area of Natal.
Natal is primarily an European Tourist destination. As a result, nothing other than typical tourist traps, street vendors hustling their goods and glitzy things to get you to spend money. The most interesting thing we did was attend a cultural performance celebrating the all the native dances of the north east region of Brazil. The evening was well done, professional and very 
entertaining. Natal is also known for its large sand dunes along the coast. We took a buggy (boogy) ride into the dunes and stopped at the local "camel" trap.
One of the most memorable moments of Natal was early Sunday morning (around 4:30) I was woke by loud music playing in the street. I went out to the balcony
to see what was going on. A couple had backed their car up to the side walk and was playing latin dance music and they were dancing on the sidewalk as daylight was breaking. They were beautiful dancers and it obvious they were having a wonderful time dancing just before the sunrise. As soon as the sun 
broke over the hill, they stopped dancing embraced and kissed. It was truly something special to observe. The dancers weren't the only ones out before sunrise. There were many others walking on the beach; families with kids, single individuals and groups all enjoying the beautiful morning.
Natal is primarily an European Tourist destination. As a result, nothing other than typical tourist traps, street vendors hustling their goods and glitzy things to get you to spend money. The most interesting thing we did was attend a cultural performance celebrating the all the native dances of the north east region of Brazil. The evening was well done, professional and very 
entertaining. Natal is also known for its large sand dunes along the coast. We took a buggy (boogy) ride into the dunes and stopped at the local "camel" trap.One of the most memorable moments of Natal was early Sunday morning (around 4:30) I was woke by loud music playing in the street. I went out to the balcony
to see what was going on. A couple had backed their car up to the side walk and was playing latin dance music and they were dancing on the sidewalk as daylight was breaking. They were beautiful dancers and it obvious they were having a wonderful time dancing just before the sunrise. As soon as the sun 
broke over the hill, they stopped dancing embraced and kissed. It was truly something special to observe. The dancers weren't the only ones out before sunrise. There were many others walking on the beach; families with kids, single individuals and groups all enjoying the beautiful morning.The next day we headed to Natal's rodiavaria (bus station) and took a 8 hr bus ride to Fortaleza.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
3 days in Fernando de Noronha: 10/29 to 11/1
The past 3 days have been an incredible experience. Fernando de Noronha is an island about an hours flight east of Recife in the Atlantic. A few people asked if I was going and I hadn´t committed until last Thursday when I was talking with a co-worker who lives in São Paulo. I told her I was in Recife and enjoying the country immensly. When she asked if I was going to the island and said I didn´t know, she insisted I go and said it would be the best experience. She sent me information on the internet so I made reservations. I was going to wait a few days, but this coming weekend is --another-- holiday in Brazil and the prices doubled to fly there over the holiday weekend, so it was a bit of an impromptu trip, but booked it. What an experice!! Here´s a chronology of the past few days:
Monday
Departed Recife in the early afternoon and arrived in Fernando de Noronha around 4:30. Most of the lodging in FdN (I´m abbreviating now) are Pousada´s which essentially people´s homes where they rent rooms to tourists. There are a couple hotels, but not the preferred lodging. Met the lady (Nêga) --had called before flying to find a place-- at the airport who happens to also have a taxi service, and went to her house. Essentially you are invited into their home and become part of the family for the time you´re here. They serve breakfast and your eating while the kids are getting ready for school and family preparing for the day. I´ll write a little more about the life style the people have there a little later. It was getting late, so took off on a walk to try and see the sunset, but got there to late. So had dinner, walked around a bit and went back to the pousada. Francisco (Nêga´s husband) set me up with a buggy (pronounced "boogy") for the next day to tour the island.
Tuesday
Woke up early (3:30am recife time as FdN is another hour east) to get the the Bahia dos Golfinos to watch the dolfins. The tour lady said the day before there were over 1500 dolfins in the bay. The morning we were there, there were about 500, but still cool to see. Pictures didn´t turn out so good because of light and distance. We stayed there until 7:30 and headed back the pousada to get breakfast. The rest of the day was exploring the island. The highlight was a swim in a natural aquarium. Francisco told us we had to get to this beach access point before 12 noon because they limit access to 100 people per day. Also, no sunscreen allowed and you only get 25 mins to snorkle, and no fins. When we arrived at the top of the hill and looked in the the little bay / aquarium, we thought, "what´s this?" and began to wonder what all the hype was about. Well, the best surprises are in the smallest packages. Essentially, in the lava rock a natual aquarim has been formed. The water is indescribably clear and warm. When looking in from the shore you can´t see much. But when you get in the water and start exploring under the coral it comes alive! The sheer number of exotic fish of all colors, coral color, anenmies, and life is beyond words. Again, not having the water proof camera was the biggest mistake I made. Words cannot describe the beauty and pristine conditions!! Now I know why they control the access and what they allow people do with such enforcement. They are working hard to keep it accesible for people to expreince, at the same time not destrying this incredible habitat. After wards we were beat and headed back to town. I made reservation to dive the next and and take a boat tour Thursday morning before our flight. The rest of the day was relaxing and hanging out in town.
Wednesday
Francisco woke me up early to catch the dive bus. This was going to be my first dive in "warm" waters and not the freezing Montery Bay. I was a little worried when I got on the dive boat and the guy asked if everyone spoke Portuguese; to my surprise 60% of the divers all spoke english and turned out our specific guide spoke english, thus things were a little easier. The dives were incredible. We did two dives. The first, we went into an underwater cave where the entrace was blocked with a huge school of fish. You swim through the school of fish to get into the cave, when you turn around to look out and see all the fish against the incoming light was amazing. ((Again, kicking myself for not buying the underwater case for the camera))..BUT of course, like any good operation they had an underwater photographer along who took some amazing photos. The second dive was just as amazing as the first. Beautiful coral and amazing life. I have picture with a sea turtle, a manta rae and a large sun fish. The picture were quite expensive, but since this was a once in a lifetime dive, I invested in the photos. They are digital and high quality. When I get a chance I will reduce the file size and get them ´posted.
After a morning of diving, the rest of the day was spent exploring the island and beaches. In the late afternoon a rain squal hit the island and it down pured for an hour. What an experience. I had no idea though the repurcussions it would have on the next day.
Thursday
Up early again to catch a boat tour of the west side of the island before the flights. The boat ride was nice. We stopped in one of the bays and went snorkling. The boat returned, rushed back to the pousada, packed, said good-bye to the host (Fracisco and family) and took a taxi to the airport to find it packed with people. Come to find out, the day before in the rain squal, the inbound flight from Recife could not land and had to return to Recife. Thus people were standed for an extra day, putting a strain on reservations. The flight was delayed, the tiny airport was crowded and tempers short. But the plane finally arrived and got back to Recife where I had a one night reservation in a hotel.
Monday
Departed Recife in the early afternoon and arrived in Fernando de Noronha around 4:30. Most of the lodging in FdN (I´m abbreviating now) are Pousada´s which essentially people´s homes where they rent rooms to tourists. There are a couple hotels, but not the preferred lodging. Met the lady (Nêga) --had called before flying to find a place-- at the airport who happens to also have a taxi service, and went to her house. Essentially you are invited into their home and become part of the family for the time you´re here. They serve breakfast and your eating while the kids are getting ready for school and family preparing for the day. I´ll write a little more about the life style the people have there a little later. It was getting late, so took off on a walk to try and see the sunset, but got there to late. So had dinner, walked around a bit and went back to the pousada. Francisco (Nêga´s husband) set me up with a buggy (pronounced "boogy") for the next day to tour the island.
Tuesday
Woke up early (3:30am recife time as FdN is another hour east) to get the the Bahia dos Golfinos to watch the dolfins. The tour lady said the day before there were over 1500 dolfins in the bay. The morning we were there, there were about 500, but still cool to see. Pictures didn´t turn out so good because of light and distance. We stayed there until 7:30 and headed back the pousada to get breakfast. The rest of the day was exploring the island. The highlight was a swim in a natural aquarium. Francisco told us we had to get to this beach access point before 12 noon because they limit access to 100 people per day. Also, no sunscreen allowed and you only get 25 mins to snorkle, and no fins. When we arrived at the top of the hill and looked in the the little bay / aquarium, we thought, "what´s this?" and began to wonder what all the hype was about. Well, the best surprises are in the smallest packages. Essentially, in the lava rock a natual aquarim has been formed. The water is indescribably clear and warm. When looking in from the shore you can´t see much. But when you get in the water and start exploring under the coral it comes alive! The sheer number of exotic fish of all colors, coral color, anenmies, and life is beyond words. Again, not having the water proof camera was the biggest mistake I made. Words cannot describe the beauty and pristine conditions!! Now I know why they control the access and what they allow people do with such enforcement. They are working hard to keep it accesible for people to expreince, at the same time not destrying this incredible habitat. After wards we were beat and headed back to town. I made reservation to dive the next and and take a boat tour Thursday morning before our flight. The rest of the day was relaxing and hanging out in town.
Wednesday
Francisco woke me up early to catch the dive bus. This was going to be my first dive in "warm" waters and not the freezing Montery Bay. I was a little worried when I got on the dive boat and the guy asked if everyone spoke Portuguese; to my surprise 60% of the divers all spoke english and turned out our specific guide spoke english, thus things were a little easier. The dives were incredible. We did two dives. The first, we went into an underwater cave where the entrace was blocked with a huge school of fish. You swim through the school of fish to get into the cave, when you turn around to look out and see all the fish against the incoming light was amazing. ((Again, kicking myself for not buying the underwater case for the camera))..BUT of course, like any good operation they had an underwater photographer along who took some amazing photos. The second dive was just as amazing as the first. Beautiful coral and amazing life. I have picture with a sea turtle, a manta rae and a large sun fish. The picture were quite expensive, but since this was a once in a lifetime dive, I invested in the photos. They are digital and high quality. When I get a chance I will reduce the file size and get them ´posted.
After a morning of diving, the rest of the day was spent exploring the island and beaches. In the late afternoon a rain squal hit the island and it down pured for an hour. What an experience. I had no idea though the repurcussions it would have on the next day.
Thursday
Up early again to catch a boat tour of the west side of the island before the flights. The boat ride was nice. We stopped in one of the bays and went snorkling. The boat returned, rushed back to the pousada, packed, said good-bye to the host (Fracisco and family) and took a taxi to the airport to find it packed with people. Come to find out, the day before in the rain squal, the inbound flight from Recife could not land and had to return to Recife. Thus people were standed for an extra day, putting a strain on reservations. The flight was delayed, the tiny airport was crowded and tempers short. But the plane finally arrived and got back to Recife where I had a one night reservation in a hotel.
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