Lost in Wonderland

Little did I know when I arrived in Pipa more than 2 months ago. I didn’t know I would extend my stay over and over again, nor did I have an idea of the amount of wonderful people I was about to meet. 

Friendship

Unnecessary to explain to people that travel how connections of any kind don’t need a long time to leave an everlasting smile tattooed onto your heart. Luckily mine is big enough for all the friends I already had the luck to find, plus all the new ones coming and yet to come. 

A single 1½ hour breakfast conversation with unfortunately just briefly met, but wonderful people, to daily updates with ‘long’ term ones that stay a little longer and who become your everything for the hours, days or weeks you spend together. This town made me get to know and learn from so many new friends from all over the world, that it was a big deal to eventually leave.

Pipa Paradise

The daily shot of dolphin fun didn't help moving on either. Pipa's nature is an absolute winner. Regardless of being one of the main tourist attractions of the Northeast, people, nature and animals seem to live quite peacefully together.

Sea turtles, frogs, chameleons, butterflies, centipedes, giant snails, hummingbirds (that are cutely translated into ‘flower kissers’ in Portuguese), cuddly stray cats and dogs and many others show up at your door step. The dolphins literally swim around you while you're for a wave, baby turtles run as fast as they can to get to the ocean for their first dip and when you walk around with an open vision, at least one more thing will take your breath away. Every day again. 

The energy that circles around the cliffs of Praia do Amor, the cotton candy skies and ever changing ocean, the beaches on a sunny or cloudy day, during a thrilling sunset or with a surreal full moon hovering above them. The temperature that belongs to a place close to the equator comes with a wonderful breeze most of the time and… with not too many mosquitos, life gets pretty close to perfect.

Freedom

I’m pinching myself all the time to realize I am actually living a life I was dreaming of before. About 6 months later, I still find it hard to believe that this now is 'real life'. Always doubted how to get this work & travel lifestyle in practice and although there’s still lots of room for improvement (mainly on the work section): here we are. Doing it and could not be any happier about taking that leap!

Free of make-up, a tight schedule and that sometimes somewhat overwhelming society in the Wild Wild West. Not so much of a daily routine and way less unnecessary worries. The universe knows exactly where I am to teach me some life lessons, but all of them are easier to deal with in this ‘here and now’. The sun kissing my face, the sand giving my feet a natural scrub, the sea at a stone's throw away and the wind playing with my hair... It’s great to live & learn like this. Letting some things be and to letting a few other things go.

To not be too over-the-top-happy-camper-cheesy-annoying-zen, I won't say ‘Amen’. 

Just doe-doei!

Carnival kisses & acaï love

Scrolling back in time: Bahia seems a while ago and all feels different after swopping places, friends and lifestyle. I’m still in Brazil, which is not weird at all, considering that the country is bigger than Europe. I'm not ready to leave at all. Time – as always  – is way ahead of me and runs faster than my daily acaï goes down.

Acaï love

Acaï* is my favourite new addiction, especially after an attempt to surf, it becomes my favourite moment of the day. Everything is just better with acaï. Said to be ‘good for you’, because of the anti-oxidants that the acaï berry originally contains, but almost all of them are sugar bombs in disguise. Even if you wouldn't overload it with all the candies and syrups in the self-service bars; a McFlurry might be healthier.

I could go on about acaï forever and tell you how good it is in its standard set-up with granola and banana, but also about the wonderful combination with coconut, paçoca*, mango, chia and cacao. But let’s not, because carnival is also a Very Important subject. Duh. In Recife and Olinda we were promised to have a more local celebration, following Brazilians resources. And even though there must have been more gringas then just us, we indeed felt like the only ones for most of the time.

   

Carnival kisses & trash

Olinda’s street parties had a young and intimate crowd. The carnival kiss is a common thing and one should not worry about asking silly questions such as ‘Where are you from?’ or ‘What’s your name?’ beforehand. Approach, smile and if you’re a decent cara (meaning ‘dude’ mais ou menos), you can try asking for one first. Or if you’re badass, get closer (if you can get any, being in the middle of a one way moving pile of people) and go for it. 

In case you're the one that's almost being kissed and it's undesired; duck (or) dive. They will say 'But it's carnival!!!!' and that you're missing out on getting to know the Brazilian culture, but at least you won’t end up with the after carnival flu. Or a baby in this year November’s baby boom.

Carioca, samba, maracatu and frevo: me being a complete idiot when it comes to dance, I still wouldn’t know what is what, but it was fun either way. I adore the seemingly never-ending party mode/ mood and people dancing, drinking, laughing everywhere you look and sharing that energy with everyone.

It's almost the same as a week long Kingsday*** with a heat stroke.

Sad to see though, that like in most other places I’ve been, these cities also struggle with processing all the garbage. I’m not too sure about how much the government is to blame here, but I still believe there are things that people can do differently themselves. But I guess that as long as moms with kids keep throwing empty water bottles and cans of Coke and crisp bags out of the window of a driving bus, it will take time to make today's people and the following generation aware (and give a shit).

  

 

City – beach – city – beach

It's a wonderful rhythm to me. So after carnival craze came Maracaipe, a small beach town next to another beach town, Porto de Galinhas****. The latter again very much promoted by Brazilians. We couldn’t see the glory of it, as we couldn’t look past the amount of parasols, which made walking on this beach almost impossible. The advertised natural pools were overflowing by groups of people in UV protection shirts, wading through them and following a guide, like a group of elephants following the leader of the hurd through a puddle in the desert, which I personally am not a great fan of. But Maracaipe itself had pretty beaches and great sunsets to enjoy. The hostel had strong Wi-Fi so I could actually get some work done AND it has a place selling acaï that ended up in my personal top 5. So everything was still just perfect.

BH90210

Back to Boa Viagem, the uptown part of Recife, for a bit of Beverly Hills 90210 living before moving further north. Perhaps a little less shiny than The States, but it seems like a quite wealthy area with condominiums and private parking lots, massive 24/7 supermarkets, hipster coffee bars and healthy salad bars around.

I enjoyed having a dip in the roof top pool or doing morning yoga right next to it, overlooking the ocean’s shades of blue. No dips or water sports in this one though, as this is shark territory. Instead I had evening runs and workouts on the boulevard. The palm trees I looked up to while running, have a fake-ish moonlit wet-look; as if they had just returned from a quick shower.

After parting ways with my longest travel friend so far, this time not knowing when we will see each other again, Recife was the perfect place to ease into being on my own again. 

Luckily it turned out that I'm still pretty damn good at it! Like now, living probably my favourite way of living in Pipa-Paradise. Touristy yes, but it's easy to get away from the crowd and enjoy all of this gem's beauty in relative peace. And… when dolphins pop up right next to you when you're in the ocean every day, you kind of forget about anything that doesn't fit in your magical place. 

More on Pipa's magic & more next time.

Até logo!  

* A frozen, sorbet ice cream-ish fruit puree of the acaï berry that originates from the Amazonian region and is very big in Brazil.

** Peanut butter candy

*** My favourite national holiday in Holanda

**** When new slaves were brought into 'Chicken port' together with actual birds, slave traffickers would secretly spread the news by saying 'there are new chickens in the port'. This explains the city's name. To me it doesn't explain why you would still proudly want to sell chicken souvenirs everywhere...

Tchau for now, Bahia

Hora de picar a mula.
A.k.a. It’s time to hit the road.

Bye bye Itacaré; home away from home. Cute, lovely place & lovely pace. I’ve lived and I’ve learned; a few baby surf steps, but also some other stuff that will come in handy this lifetime. After 6 weeks in this town I felt like a local. Too small to walk down Pituba (the main street) and not run into someone you know. Sit down, enjoy a coffee and some forbidden fruit (homemade brownie and banana bread at Julian’s café > To. Die. For. Twice.) Like angels peeing over your tongue (Dutch saying).

When you decide to visit Itacaré though; approach with caution. Easy to love, hard to leave. The artisanal chocolate is another one that keeps you close. Damn you, Costa do Cacao.





Back to Disneyland

Decided to break my trip up north with another stay in Salvador to enjoy some city time in Pelourinho/ Santo Antonio this time. Lucky again, because I stayed in the right hostel at the right time and met the right people, with whom I had a caipirinha or two at the pre carnival street parties and free open air concerts. Catching a last glimpse of the Bahian culture before leaving the one and only state I’ve been to so far. You can almost feel the upcoming carnaval when you inhale.

Also very tangible is Brazil’s poverty. Police try hard to keep tourists caged in the few blocks of perfectly maintained cobble stone streets and famous candy coloured buildings. Souvenir shops, so called local products and touristy eateries all around. Looks like my My Little Pony’s would have a great time here.

Bad place
But Pelourinho (‘whipping-post’) used to be a very bad place. The innocent looking main square was the stage where thousands and thousands of slaves were publicly punished. The various stories told are not all the same, but do have a lot of ugliness in common.
Gossip goes that the government recently realized that us tourists don’t really like ugly stories. So they might rename the square ‘Michael Jackson square’, because of him filming some footage there for one of his video clips.

Another thing undeniably ugly and visible when stepping outside of Neverland, is the gap between rich and (very) poor. You will see people living on the street, most of them clearly high on crack or some other substance. Most of them Afro-Brazilians. Born with dark skin, chances of a somewhat decent life seems to still be very little to non-existent here. The darker, the worse.

It’s the cracked up lady that suddenly slams her last sip of whatever she was drinking onto a local lady’s clothes on her way to work, that makes me painfully aware of the differences when comparing 'classes'. Let alone when compared to us. To me. 

I feel nothing but blessed for where I was born and for the chances I’ve been given. Things could have been so different. Instead, I’m the lucky one. Privileged to have developed some skills that enable me to travel & work at the same time. A bittersweet taste stays with me when I leave Salvador. I guess this is why they want to keep us walking circles in their fake world.


On the contrary (and to finish this blog with a happy note), Brazil in general seems to have a great feel for party. So… that’s why I’ve moved up to Recife & Olinda, where ‘the best carnaval in the world’ is being celebrated, so I’ve heard. By the time of writing, I think the parties have come to an end, although there might be a tiny bloco around the corner still going on playing this song. So more about that and other things…next time!

Toodles to the poodles!

x

Pain in the ass

This blog is a pain in the ass, for a number of reasons. First of all because it will be the first to be written in English, as I guess it no longer makes sense to only serve my Dutch friends while being surrounded by other nationalities 24/7. So please excuse me for any Dunglish typos or other silly sayings.

Second, I have been struggling for weeks to find the means to summarise all that I have experienced in a piece that will not bore you within seconds. I’m afraid it won’t come anywhere close to what it’s been like, but as time passes and more things happen all the time, it is probably not the best of ideas to wait any longer. So I’ll give it a try.

6 weeks have passed and only less than 1.000 km have been travelled since I got off the love boat. It was actually quite shitty that it was as great as it was, as it is hard to beat. But by now I have totally lost track of which of the many new and great experiences has been the best. And that is only until so far.

Is it the discovery of this thumbnail of the stunning state of Bahia, where the people seem not to just be amazingly pretty wherever you go and whatever they (hardly) wear, but are also extremely nice and almost without exclusion greeting and chatting to you, even when your Portignol is still poor? Is it the life-changing experience of (attempting to go) surfing, ridding myself of my fear of the ocean, musing over life while sitting on your surfboard facing palm fringed beach lines? Or will it be the 7 day dream at Universo Paralello; a new years, psytrance, beach festival, where - again - it’s hard to not step (literally) on the most beautiful group of people I’ve ever seen and which left me wanting to live in the 70’s? Perhaps it was the hilarious sessions of laughter with the best friends of the moment until your abs ache? Or the precious insights and learnings, mostly felt after speaking to one of those special folks you’ve gotten to know so well, so quickly?

 

Or will it be all of the above, summarised when on your own, swinging in a hammock or staring at the stars in the middle of the night, and you pinch yourself to come to realize that you’re living the dream you’ve only started a little while ago?

Brazil; so far you’ve been nothing but amazing to me and candy to my eyes in every way. I’m very much looking forward to every moment yet to come that we will spend together. Obrigada! 

 


OK peeps – Tchau for now!

Krekels op zee

Las Palmas, Gran Canaria - Spanje: THE BEGINNING!

Met knuffels, groepsmeditatie, glutenvrije pannenkoeken en gerechten van ingrediënten gered van de dumpster dood, trapt het avontuur op Gran Canaria af. Als een stel kinderen dat naar Sinterklaas uitkijkt, vraagt iedere 10 minuten iemand zich wel hardop af hoe het gaat zijn, straks. In 9 dagen gaan we met minstens 20 man van het hostel de Atlantische Oceaan oversteken met een repositioning cruise; voor weinig meeliften met een cruiseboot op haar terugweg naar het halfrond waar de zomer weer begint. Vol verwachting kloppen onze hartjes.

Las Palmas, Spanje - Salvador, Brazilië: CRUISE OF A LIFETIME

Wat we ook bedacht hadden; alles was nog minstens 10 keer vetter. En daarmee is deze ervaring rechtstreeks de top-lijst in geschoten. Jonglerende en hoelahoepende hippies, Digital Nomads, Balkan maffia, een paar meer reguliere cruisegasten (a.k.a. ‘the old people’) en een groepje ‘uncategorized’ of ‘all of the above’.

De hele ervaring is niet samen te vatten in een blog van leesbare lengte, merk ik. Het is in m’n eigen hoofd al nauwelijks te bevatten. Maar ik doe een gooi.

Stel je voor… Een surrealistische wereld. Een drijvend dorp met eerder genoemde samenstelling aan wonderlijke figuren die al dan niet met de hysterische animatie mee doen. De puurste sunsets & sunrises terwijl de maan al aan de hemel staat als je achterom kijkt. Gefrituurd worden bij factor 50 zonder dat je het merkt vanwege het heerlijkste zeewindje dat je ooit gevoeld hebt. Dagenlang geen land in zicht. Je met elkaar verwonderen alsof je nog nooit iets van vasteland gezien hebt als dat op dag 6 wel gebeurt. De albatros die op 1500km van elk mogelijk stuk kust een uurtje met ons meevliegt in het schemerlicht de oorzaak is van een kwartier filosoferen over de wonderen der natuur. Staren over het water, zoekend naar dolfijn, walvis, haai of wat dan ook. Praten over alles en niets. En veel van deze dingen onder meer dan prima eten en een van de onbeperkte drankopties die we hebben met ons free loading wristbandje. Het is telkens alsof we met onze gekke maar oh zo vredelievende community per ongeluk in een droomleventje zijn beland op een luxueus, goed georganiseerd, happy island.        
                                   

Nog een magisch moment voor in de boeken: de evenaar kruisen en dit groots vieren met je beste vrienden van het moment. En nog maar een cocktail - wel een hele speciale die we nog niet gehad hebben voor de gelegenheid. Op het achterdek neem ik een momentje voor mezelf en zie ik een hele hoop niets en tegelijkertijd het hele noordelijk halfrond achter ons wegtrekken in de sporen van het schip, bij het bijna volle maanlicht en begeleid door de muziek van gratis meeliftende krekels. Daarna is het tijd voor de pool party. Geen buurman die erover zal klagen.

En dat je dit en meer dan deelt met al die bijzondere snuiters om je heen; die honderden onbekenden die op dit moment je alles zijn. Dat is misschien wel het mooiste van deze trip of eigenlijk wel van elke trip. En dit alles ook nog eens voor minder centen dan wanneer ik thuis was gebleven. Dief van m'n portemonnee!

OK - Tschau