Traveling back in time... August 5, 2014

3:00AM

We woke up for the airport to transfer and unfortunately Fabiana did not book our airport transfer. So it was really early in the morning or late at night to find a cab driver. Luckily, Leo (one of the front desk workers) was able to contact the driver to take us to the airport.

4:00AM

Our driver arrives and quickly rushes to the airport.

4:35AM
We arrive at the airport and then check-in. The TAM staff was really friendly, but took a really long time to try to change our seats so that we didn't have to move around so much.

5:00AM
We go through TSA. The most amazing thing about TSA in Brazil is being able to keep your shoes on! Also you can take water and other fluids through TSA.

5:15AM
Breakfast for the early morning was a prosciutto and queso croissant with cafe com leite. It wasn't warmed up so it wasn't as delicious as I imagined it to be.

6:15AM
Sam and I had seats right next to each other for our first flight to Recife. It was so cold. The air kept on blowing and I did not enjoy the cold air.

One cool thing about TAM, there are outlets in the seats! You can charge your electronics in the airplane while you are flying. Usually my iphone dies because I play games or listen to music...

We stopped in the following cities:
RECIFE
FORTALEZA
BELEM

7-8 hours of flying was not the business.

1:30pm
Arrive in Manaus! There was a 1 hour time difference from Salvador.

2:00PM
Sam and I got our backpacks that were plastic wrapped by the really nice TAM attendant. We walked around looking for information on tourism and amazon tours. A stubby looking man name Maximilium approached us about "Amazon Backpackers."

Sam and I didn't really have a solid plan, so we kind of just trusted our gut and listened to Maximilium's proposal. There was a hostel I found online, which was pretty far away. So he suggested a cheaper one that was closer to the city and all of the tours.

We took the bus back with him to the travel agency, which was conveniently right next to the hostel/hotel that we would stay at.


In retrospect, it probably wasn't the best idea... BUT I wouldn't change it for the world. Meeting Maximulium and being on the same exact tour as the people were with was a blessing in disguise.

3:30PM
We met with Armstrong, this weird looking hammerhead guy. I don't mean to be mean, but he turned out to be kind of a snake. First impressions are key. He made an initial offer for our two tours to the Amazon and then we offered him a counter offer. We met half way and settled on about $65/day for the tours.

5:30PM
Sam and I went to the Bank to get money to pay for our tours, but we exceeded our limit for the day since we got money at the airport.

6:00PM
Armstrong then treated us to some Brahmas. He then began to tell us about his life. It was interesting at first to hear about how he first started, then it got really weird. Professionalism is not really something this tour company has. Long story short, Armstrong got dumped by his then girlfriend. Sam and I didn't want things to get any weirder so we decided to go back to the hostel.

7:00PM
DINNER
Sam and I some more of these heart attack sandwiches called X-Tudos.

9:00PM
I called B and chatted with him for a while until I took a nap and then packed.

In the Amazon

Limited Internet access in the amazon.... I'm Alive! I'm in the city of Manaus for the night then back to the amazon.

I fell in love with the jungle.... 

The view coming home to the jungle. 

Monday 8/4

9:00AM Last day in Salvador. Sam and I ran some errands. We woke up meeting Joy, from South Africa. She has been traveling for the last 5 months in Latin America. She was super nice.

9:40AM Last Breakfast! It was yummy. I finally tried this meat thing. 

10:00AM Bus to Pelhourino 

10:40AM Sam and I got ice cream and agua com gas. 

11:00AM Sam sent her postcards to her family. It was expensive. $10R for 4 postcards. 

11:15AM Shopping... We got some gifts for family and friends. I got about 100 wish ribbons for family and friends :). Got some paintings and some other goodies.

1:00PM Internet cafe for 2 hours for $4R.

3:00PM We ate lunch at a por kilo place called Reatuarante Luz do Sol. We only spent $20R for food and drinks. 

4:00PM we headed back to the hostel.

5:30PM We had some tapioca at Beiju da Moça... Our new flavor of chocolate, banana, coco and condensed milk tasted like onions... So we got it without the chocolate that tasted like onions. 

Lou and Gina made us another and it is delicious! 

This banana one is to die for! :) 

8:00PM Lou let us bring acaraje to the restaurant! :):)

Sunday 8/3 Feiojada do Negra Jhô

7:00AM Sam and I woke up early for church. 

8:00AM We took the bus to Pelhourino for church 

9:00AM We went to the igreja nossa senhora so brasil. The music was awesome... Lots of drums and we were bless with the sage fumes. The priest was also really nice. We asked if anyone spoke English and then explained what was discussed during mass. 

10:45AM On our way to get coffee, we saw a lady lighting something up. Her name is Negra Jho, we didn't know it at the time but she is a pretty famous local. She invited us to a feijoada. We asked her if there was Candomblé and she said yes! So we said we'd come back.

11:00AM Sam and I then went to get a cup of coffee at church at our usual spot.

11:30AM On our way to look for agua de coco we stumbled upon a live capoeira session. I proceeded to videotape and take photos of them. Then one of the capoeira artists asked me to come take a photo. I did. Then they asked me pay $20 R... NOPE. Lol. I giggled and walked away. Sam donated about $2 R later... 

12:00PM Sam and I went to get lunch. Our por kilo place was closed, so we unfortunately had to go elsewhere. Sam and I are acaraje again. It was yummy. 

1:00PM Sam and I headed to Feiojada. It was amazing! They had live samba, food and Candomblé. It was the best day in Brazil so far. The beating of the drums sounded so wonderful. You could literally feel the energy in the festival. 

We even got these cool shirts! 

Negra Jho doing Candomblé procession! It was amazing.

It was the best $40 R that we spent in Brazil.

4:30PM Sam and headed back to the hostel before it got too dark. The feijoada was still going on. 

5:00PM we relaxed for a bit before deciding to get some skols.

6:00PM - 11:00PM We had 2 skols and then met a cute gay couple at the restaurant/bar next door. Rafael and Emedio. They were really awesome. Emedio is in a commercial where he plays St. John and he loves Shakira! Lol. He looks like Jesus. Rafael speaks some English and chatted with us about his life. We also met Maria Luciana, a seamstress who lived upstairs of the restaurant.  It was an amazing night! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWSOUCh2v5Y&sns=em

Love Salvador! 

Saturday 8/2 Praia do Forte

7:00AM Woke up early to go to Praia do Forte. I was really excited about at the turtles.

7:30 AM Prepare my bag for the beach day :)

8:00AM Got picked up by a driver to go the bus near a hotel. Then the bus took us to the Praia do Forte. The tour was not that fun... He just spoke about the different beaches... It wasn't that great. Then he told us we had to pay an extra $18 R to see the turtles -.- We were not so happy about this. We already paid $8 R to go on this tour. 

10:00AM We arrived in Praia do Forte and it wasn't that exciting. The turtles were in small pools. I thought we were going to get to see them in their natural habitat... It was a little bit of a disappointment. 

12:30PM The tour guide then took us to another beach. It was a nice beach and we stayed there for 3 hours. Sam and I ate acaraje and just relaxed on the beach. We went in the water for the a little bit and it was amazing! 

3:45PM we headed back to our hostel. It was advertised as a full day, but it was not. 

5:00PM arrive at the hostel. We both took a nap on the bus and arrived feeling tired. I took a nice shower ad just relaxed.

6:30PM We we t to the Boteko and had some moqueca de camarones! It was delicious. 

7:30PM We then had some delicious Beiju at our favorite spot with Lou and Gina.

12:00AM I don't know why I couldn't fall asleep, but I stayed up late again.

On being uncomfortable...

Traveling is an uncomfortable process.... I feel like I have been growing tremendously in the last few weeks in Brazil. 

Friday 8/1

Lazy Day.... 

9:30AM Breakfast (photo below) 

11:00 AM Pick up laundry! :) I love clean clothes. I showered and just relaxed today. 

2:00PM Sam and I ate lunch. We had some moqueca flavored fish. It had too many bones. I wasn't a fan... It was pretty cheap, only $R 12 or $6 US.

3:30PM We got new roommates. Two older Argentina women. They were kind of weird. One was sitting on my bed when I got there. She doesn't seem to have a good perception of space. Lol. Thank good was w

I saw a butterfly on our window! 

5:30PM More Beijus! Sweet Casaba dishes and cafe com liete :). 

8:00PM More people just came to the hostel. I realize I am not as social as I thought I was. 

11:38PM Sam and I came back to the hostel after looking for live music. There was a $20 cover charge to everything so we didn't really want to go in. We did had some skols and I ate some araje! It was delicious. 

We spoke to some of the new Australian roomies and we like them. They are hippies travelling Latin America! I still don't like the two Argentian women. They are more like party girls. Not much my type of people...