Those impressions will always stay in our mind when thinking of Brazil:

(x) Its immense ethnic diversity: a Brazilian may look like somebody from Stockholm, from Spain, from Lagos, from Karachi, from Hanoi or from La Paz. Once we were riding the metro in Sao Paulo and looking around we decided nobody could just guess which country they were in! (x) The friendly and open-minded people of Brazil. (x) Some of the most incredible beaches. (x) Thumbs up or two thumbs up, without this Brazilians could not communicate agreement. (x) People are fascinated by cheesy “Telenovellas” (TV-series) just like in Venezuela. TVs can be found everywhere: in shops, in restaurants, in bus stations, at food stalls of street vendors, in doctor’s waiting rooms, at a car mechanics, etc … (x) Despite being some of the biggest cities in the world, Sao Paulo as well as Rio de Janeiro seem relatively quiet in terms of traffic, also pollution caused by cars did not seem that bad. Maybe because many cars are using gas instead of petrol, busses must also run on a special fuel, since we never say a bus leaving a trail of black smoke. Yes, and drivers don’t have their hands on the horn all the time, like in many other countries ... (x) Arriving mid-August towards the end of the high season, we would see or meet very few tourists, except Brazilians of course who travel a lot: only at the REAL must see tourist haunts, like Sugar Loaf or Corcovado / Cristo Redentor in Rio de Janeiro did we see other non Brazilian tourists. (x) The comforting realisation that even Brazilians do not party ALL the time. Being there during the Brazilian winter, we noticed that nightlife during the week days was rather “tranquilo”. (x) The efficient public transport in all cities and our deep respect for the drivers: they move these vehicles like maniacs but we always felt safe … Well, at least Heidi did! (x) The tiny turnstiles in the city busses, while riding a bus it became Heidi´s favourite activity: to watch how people managed to get grocery, bags, children, etc ... through and across this barrier, with the driver accelerating or slowing down brutally all the time! (x) The large beer bottles that come in a cooler and are always shared, even small cans come with two glasses … (x) The only downside we can find is that we missed being able to communicate with locals - with a few exceptions, it is Portuguese or Portuguese! We would ask something in our simple Spanish, people would nod and signal understanding but the answer was usually totally incomprehensible!

The highlights of these 4 weeks in Brazil were:

(x) The busy harbour in Manaus and the free concert at the Opera in the Teatro Amazonas. (x) The colonial city of Olinda near Recife, with the most comfortable Pousada d’Olinda. (x) A few days in Salvador: a night at a Candomblé, Tuesday night in Salvador with its free concerts, watching Capoeira groups in the streets, the Afro-Brazilian museum … And the Guesthouse Nega Malouca. (x) Relaxing on the island of Morro de Sao Paolo, with its loooong and empty Fourth Beach & very lively Second Beach. (x) And of course Rio de Janeiro … We definitely plan to return there, it is one of the cities where we both could live in, and there are not many!

What we would do differently or not at all:

(x) Fernando de Noronha … Beautiful but soooo overpriced! (x) Spend less time in the Pelorinho in Salvador, a tourist ghetto! (x) Downtown Sao Paulo is really only worth a very brief visit if waiting for a connecting plane … (x) Spending a night on the bus in the last row … Always take seats towards the front, not in the back close to the toilets! Or look for cheap flights, which might even be cheaper than taking the bus …

What we will do when visiting Brazil again:

(x) Spend more time in Rio, preferably in Santa Teresa. (x) Minas Gerais and the “Historic Cities”, which we had planed to visit but left out due to time restrains … (x) The National Parc Chapada Diamantina: everyone who was there recommended it … (x) Relaxing a few days at a beautiful beach, why not Itacaré this time or again Morro de Sao Paolo? (x) And probably the Pantanal: everyone we met who was there was delighted.

As a conclusion? Well, we will go back to Brazil, for sure …

Brazil is definitely no longer a budget destination. This made us actually shorten our stay here and with lots of guilty feelings we decided to skip certain destinations such as the Chapada Diamantina National Parc or the whole Minais Gerais region to spend more time in cheaper countries such as Peru or Bolivia.

One clear mistake was to follow the recommendation of several fellow travellers and several advices on the Lonely Planet ThornTree and go to the island of Fernando de Noronha east of Recife. This place is simply outrageously overpriced even though it is beautiful. This is turning into a spot for the Brazilian Jet Set … Including the flight - we spent 760 Euros per person for four days, that means almost 260 USD a day!!! And the only luxury we indulged ourselves was diving ... Just one comment: do NOT go there!

Distances in Brazil are huge and travel costs can be painful. Busses cost 4 times more than for instance in Venezuela, with an average of 4 USD per hour. And since roads are in a really bad state, travel is slow and therefore bus rides extremely expensive. It is even cheaper to fly on certain routes such as Rio - Salvador. Travel expenses were almost 50% of our total budget in Brazil (Fernando de Noronha is a separate budget). That hurts!

And last but not least, accommodation is expensive as well. In Recife and Salvador, a simple, sometimes very simple but clean room with private bath costs a minimum of 60 Reals (30 USD), and in Rio you have almost no choice under 100 Reals (50 USD). Needless to say that beginning of September is off season and we were able to negotiate prices a bit and to choose in which Pousada we wanted to go!

As a whole, Brazil turns out to be no longer the budget place it used to be. More and more Brazilian are able to afford more expensive vacations and this drives prices higher. Not talking about the strong evaluation of the Real which also mechanically makes prices much higher for foreigners.

70 USD a day for a budget vacation seems to be what you should plan (of course without Fernando de Noronha) if you want to travel around and do not feel like sleeping in dorms.

After visiting fancy Leblon & Ipanema, bohemian Santa Teresa, the busy Centro and other nice neighbourhoods in Zone Sul, we decided to see how the less fortunate inhabitants of Rio live. There are currently 500 favelas in Rio, all perched on mountain slopes, often very, very close to the most expensive neighbourhoods.

For example from Leblon Beach you have a close-up view of the favela Vidigal. If you follow the costal road, past the Sheraton Hotel, you get to Rio’s largest favela, Rocinha, home to 180.000 people. We contacted Mr. Paulo Amendoim, the former president of Rocinha’s residents’ association, who takes tourist around “his” favela.

Well, to start with, Rocinha is different to other favela and Mr. Amendoim is not a typical dweller of such a favela. Rocinha is an incredible maze of houses, but not the wooden shacks and tins roofs one knows from TV documentaries, but building are made of bricks. There is electricity (paid for by the residents), most houses are connected to running water, which is free of charge, and the sewage system. When you see the bulk of strings of hoses going to the various houses you wander how this works, but obviously it does. There are small shops all around and at the “outskirts” of the favela you find any kind of shops and services you may want.

We spent four hours walking up and down and never felt unsafe or unwanted, people were extremely friendly and doing what other people in low-income neighbourhoods are doing throughout South America. Either they are waiting for business in front of their tiny shops while watching TV or just watching TV.

Most of Rocinha´s inhabitants come from Brazil’s poverty-stricken Northeast. We were told that more than 90% of them have a job or run some kind of small business to support them. Many of the newcomers rent rooms or flats in the dwellings, which also can be readily sold: we saw one on sale for 9.000 Reals, 4.500 USD.

Well, our guide Paulo was a true character, extremely funny and it seems that he is known by 99% of the people who live there. Obviously he used to be a football celebrity playing for Flamengo in his youth and even played in Italy. He claims to have introduced many improvements in Rocinha during his terms as a president of the residents association, which seems plausible because he was able to establish contacts and sponsorship outside the favela. During our walk he spent a great deal talking to the people, shaking hands, joking and kissing women passing by.

Just to underline how close “these two worlds” are in Brazil we would like to share the following little story with you. Coming back from Rocinha on a bus we passed by the famous Copacabana Palace Hotel and decided to jumped off and to take photos. The hotel also houses the even more famous H. Stern jewellery shop. We window-shopped a bit to admire the truly beautiful pieces, when a woman came out of the shop approached us. Watching this from the corner of my eyes I expected to be told off to move, since we had dressed down even more than the usual going to Rocinha. To our surprise she picked up a conversation and invited us inside the shop handing us invitations to see the company’s museum at their headquarters in Ipanema which including taxi pick-up. So the next day we visited the museum and workshops of a multinational jewellery producer. Before we left we had steeled ourselves not to give in to the most convincing salesperson and we managed. We frankly told them that we are travelling for a year and it always turned into pleasant conversation. There usual costumers are groups of American, Japanese and yes, Chinese tourists who make up for our weak purchasing power.

We arrived on a Saturday, just in time to join in some of the typical weekend activities.

One we learned of by chance, was eating Feijoda on a Saturday, a black bean stew with a variety of meats, like tongue and pork cut-offs. It is served with rice, fried manioc flour, a green vegetable called kale and pieces of oranges. Gilles simply loved it - hey, it was lots of meat! Heidi would prefer a vegetarian version.

Well, the other is going to the beach, especially on weekends. Sunday we took the bus across town to the very end of Leblon Beach and walked our way back, along Leblon, Ipanema and eventually Copacabana. Leblon and Ipanema are the trendy beaches since they border Rio most expensive neighbours of the same name. Ipanema is particularly charming, because five blocks from it beachfront it borders a saltwater lake, Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas. Along its shores are prestigious country clubs and Rio’s hippodrome.

The beaches were full of people and we wondered what it was like on a hot summer day, since we are now experiencing the end of the winter with around 28 degree during the day. Copacabana is a lot narrower than Leblon and Ipanema and there is a lot more waste on the beach. The clientele is also much different.

One thing that we already noticed on Fernando de Noronha and on Morro de Sao Paolo, Brazilians know how to dress for the beach. Ladies always approach a boat or beach area with the proper attire to wear on top of the bikini. The bikinis themselves are tiny, do not forget, the fio dental, dental floss bikini, was born here in the 80s. Also, you will not see very many men wearing Bermuda shorts like in Europe or the US, but tight, hip-hugging pants. While women do not fit the image of THE Brazilian body-culture, men very often do. They seem to spend a lot of time in weight-rooms and when on the beach they play volleyball or other sports. Since we both are no beach lizards, we simply watched and took photos ...

Of course we took the cable car up to the Pao de Acucar and the train up to Morro do Corcovado, where you can find the world famous 38 meters high statue of the “Cristo Redentor”. The view from the top of the Pao de Acucar is beautiful and the one from the feet of the Cristo Redentor, at 710 meters above the see, is simply breathtaking, with the whole city at your feet ...

Going to Rio for the first time is simply exciting: will the city live up to its reputation and our expectations?

After a few conversations with fellow travellers, we found out that flying in Brazil can be cheaper than taking a long distance bus. This is especially true on routes starting & going to Rio de Janeiro. So instead of spending 27 hours on a bus from Salvador, it took us 1 hour and 50 minutes and we actually even saved 12 Reals per person flying!!!

Following the advice of a Lonely Planet ThornTree posting we checked into the incredible Trip Hostel in Santa Teresa. Their website gave great directions as how to get there by bus from the airport, indeed very easy. Rather unspectacular from the outside, the inside is like an old well-preserved colonial mansion. Its high ceilings, wooden floors and exquisitely furnished common rooms, balconies and terraces make it look more like a luxury hotel than a budget place. For the entire week we stayed we shared this paradise with a Brazilian lady so it was as if the whole apartment belonged to us.

And eventually we came to appreciate one aspect of budget accommodations that we did not think we would - kitchen use! After eating out for six weeks in a row we simply had enough of restaurants, food stalls and cheap eateries. So in the evening, we would cook salads, steaks, spaghettis, on top of that maybe a bottle of wine, for one third of the price we would pay in a restaurant. And we had a nice terrace for ourselves ... Heaven! We also discovered the supermarket Zone Sul in Ipanema, which for Viennese people would translate into Meinl Am Graben: more a gourmet store than a usual supermarket. It turned out to be irresistible!

To make our comfortable life complete, we could just connect our laptop computer to the LAN of the hotel and be online just whenever we wanted and send pictures or messages with real, European-like high-speed. We used the occasion to send everything we had promised in the past 7 weeks and enjoyed that it only took a few minutes and only one attempt and not hours and millions of attempts.

Our new neighbourhood Santa Teresa is full of beautiful old houses tucked into the mountain, each guarded by squeaking little dogs. To us it appeared like a trendy neighbourhood, but our host explained that this is not the case, the expensive hoods are still Ipanema and Leblon, west of the world famous Copacabana.

One of the things we did not want to miss while visiting Brazil was its beautiful, postcard-like beaches. We followed the recommendation of several fellow travellers and decided to head for Morro de Sao Paolo, an island two hours from Salvador by boat.

On Wednesday, September 5th, we left from the Terminal Maritimo Turistico and took the rather pricy Catamaran to Morro de Sao Paolo. As the Lonely Planet warns, the sea can be real rough and after one hour almost everyone on the boat was seasick. Gilles was one a few exceptions and actually really enjoyed the trip …

The great experience during the trip was spotting whales three different times, once they came relatively close, a mother and a “small one”, a few tons anyway! Another time a whale jumped out of the water not far from the catamaran, which made Heidi recover from being seasick!

We really enjoyed Morro de Sao Paolo. Since we stayed from Wednesday to Friday, during off-season, the island was relatively “free of tourist”. Nevertheless, we followed the recommendation of the Lonely Planet and decided to stay on the more quiet but also relatively central Third Beach. We chose the really nice Amendoeira Praia Hotel, directly on the beach and with a nice swimming pool in its yard protected from the wind.

The Second Beach is THE place to go out, packed with restaurant and bars and stalls beautifully arranged selling all kind of exotic fruit juices pepped up with Cachaca or Ron. The mix of pineapple, ginger and Cachaca was delightful! We had to taste it a few times …

The Fourth Beach is just like on postcards: a kilometre-long beach of white sand with palm trees and nobody … We enjoyed walking for hours along the sea until the sun would get too hot around noon time. Heidi kept saying that this was paradise!

On Friday, the day we left, we got to see a different perspective, hundreds of Brazilian tourists arrived by boat ready to enjoy the week-end on the beach and party. With the arrival of throngs of Brazilian tourists, prices for accommodation doubled for the week-end, our room for 70 Reals went quickly for 125 Reals. We chose the perfect time to be here, especially since we came here to relax and not to join wild parties!

As a conclusion, we just loved Morro de Sao Paolo. It is, at least during the week, a great place to relax, it is not overpriced like Fernando de Noronha and it has some beautiful, totally empty beaches. And for those who are looking for serious parties, the Second Beach is the place to be. We just enjoyed the restaurants and the unique cocktail stalls there. Since we started this trip we have not spent much thought to partying late, because we get tired and worn-out around 10:00 pm. A French couple we met and who had travelled for ten months at that point shared the same experience with us. We are constantly exposed to so many new impressions and having to make decisions on the spot repeatedly seems to have this effect.

There have been several highlights during our stay in Salvador de Bahia apart from visiting the Pelourinho … which is by the way far less interesting and not as well preserved than the colonial laid-back city of Olinda!

One evening we spent at a Candomblé, a religious ceremony based on the culture, tradition and religion of the African slaves brought to Brazil that developed and survived in the African community. According to the Afro-Brazilian Museum, more than 4.5 million Africans were brought to Brazil as slaves until 1851, the date when slavery was abolished.

During such a ceremony a certain Orixá is being worshipped. An Orixá is a sort of deity that is a mediator between the community to the supreme god and provides protection in one specific way, for example guaranteeing health.

At a Candomblé women move slowly in a circle and some fall in a trance. They are then taken outside by those women whose role it is to do just that. The Terreira, the temple in which a Candomblé takes place, was way out in the northern part of Salvador and you definitely need to have a local member of the community to take you there. We used again the Nega Maluca to organise this visit: they have great contacts to people within the community. You are picked up and taken to the Terreira and after about two or three hours you are taken back to your Pousada. You may see Candomblé advertised in the Pelo, but these are tourist shows, whereas we were in a residential neighbourhood with lots of locals attending the ceremony.

A candomblé is rather informal with people who come and go, though it seems that the person who attend the ceremony do dress up a bit. Elderly female worshippers are met with great respect using a certain ritual of greeting. After the dance food is brought in baskets and eventually served to everybody in banana leaves, a little bit of everything, since the food is donated by the members of the community.

Salvador is also known for its Capoeira schools, the ancient martial art dance, with men simulating fights to the rhythm of certain instruments. These performances can be extremely athletic. Classes perform in the streets asking for small contributions. We were explained that the Capoeira respect very strict rules about who is allowed to perform where or not, who is allowed to organize classes or not, ...

Although the Pelo is lively every night, the big night out is Tuesday with free concerts throughout the city. The streets are lined with little stalls selling drinks and foods. Then the Tourist Police is even more present wearing helmets to underline their seriousness. We were there beginning of September, so relatively few tourists were there. The best part of the Tuesday party was a Samba band followed by dancers, among them a good number of European women, who ambitiously danced away with their Samba class. We truly enjoyed this low key Carnival with maybe 100 people watching.

Salvador is a must on every tourist´ agenda for many reasons. Firstly it hosts the second largest Carnival in Brazil, secondly for its old colonial historic centre, the Pelourinho and above all, its unique cultural background. Nowhere in the Americas have the descendants of African slaves preserved their culture more strongly than here! It is obvious in the music, the cuisine, the religion or types of dance of this Bahia town - at times we almost forgot that we were in Brazil!

Given the fact that the tourists only gather in the relatively small area of the Pelourinho, it will come across as what it is - Brazil’s second most visited tourist destination. The Pelo is full of restaurants, artisan shops selling paintings, clothes, Brazil paraphernalia ... and Rastafarian artists selling their earrings and necklaces. But do not be scared off by this, it is a great place to visit, besides you can turn it into a totally different experience.

Many people who stayed at our Pousada attended Samba or percussion classes or took Capoeira lessons. In the evening they would cook together, later hit the bars together or with their teachers. We stayed in the Nega Maluca Guesthouse which we can highly recommend. It has the cosiest atmosphere with a terrace overlooking the neighbourhood and a lounge area with free Internet and kitchen use. Although it was not our age group we felt absolutely at home there and kept coming back after we had to leave, since the only two individual rooms were booked and our dorm days are over!

What gives the Pelo an almost hilarious touch is the omnipresent “Tourist Military Police”: they are positioned on every corner, look bored and chat with each other or the shopkeepers. The most serious incident we observed during our 3 days there was an obviously crazy elderly man throwing stones. He was then followed by two MPs … at one point during his leisurely flight he took his shorts off, his only clothing! After this climax we abandoned the crime scene ... Another incident with the MP we experienced was when we tried to walk down a street that runs parallel to the main tourist drag in broad daylight. We were stopped by the whistle of an MP telling us to stay on the main street because of “ladrones” or robbers. Many Brazilians who observed this scene commented on it - we can only guess what they said!

We are not saying that safety is not an issue in the Pelourinho, but all this seemed a bit too much. We personally watched a guy trying to get the flashy golden necklace of a tourist and he was stopped by some locals who simply told her to take it off. Luckily we were informed about begging techniques at the Pousada Nega Maluca, because in Salvador beggars go beyond what we have seen or experienced so far and so we were prepared. At this point we would say no matter how horrible the story you hear seems: do not give money but eventually support the organisations that try to help the many homeless and drug addicts in Salvador.

If you wonder what makes Fernando de Noronha such a desired holiday destination: it is a beautiful island with 11 golden sandy beaches without any people, great landscapes and very good snorkelling. Most of the island is a Marine National Park that is protected by IBAMA. They also run a project to save and protect turtles, including a museum and lectures. There is also a bay that is off-limit to the public where dolphins come to feed every morning and the rest of the day you may encounter them while taking a boat trip. So the “environmental tourist” feels that this is what you pay for.

Well, as soon as they step out from the tiny airport, most tourists rent one of these little buggies for 100 Reals a day and drive up and down the island all day. We took the public bus wherever we went and this worked perfectly and was a lot cheaper.

The highlight of the island is definitely the beautiful and totally deserted beaches. Theoretically IBAMA limits the number of tourists allowed on the island with 500 persons, but of course there are exceptions to this rule. Between Christmas and New Years Eve more than 1.000 descend on the island and everything is even more expensive.

We think that the best activity to do on Fernando de Noronha is snorkelling, either you take a guide for a day for 35 Reals or you venture out on your own. Snorkelling in Praia de Sueste, “Turtle Bay”, is easy and although most of the bay is off-limit for tourists, even the little bit that is accessible is full of turtles and little sharks, not talking about lots of colourful fish, even though visibility is at times poor.

The other activity we really enjoyed was a walk along the outer coast with various possibilities of snorkelling in natural pools. This hike can only be done with a guide. It ends a Praia de Atalaia, which has a very large shallow pool full of fish and other marine life, fantastic!

Last but not least, a boat trip, for 80 Reals, takes you along the inner side of the island, along the famous beaches with a stop for snorkelling at one of the most known beaches in Brazil, Praia de Sancho, only accessible by boat. Probably this is your best chance to see dolphins.

At this point we also would like to mention the agency “Your Way”, which consists of three ladies who speak fluent English who can give every advice possible. They also run a hostel with very simple rooms and kitchen use. We went there a few evenings just to meet other travellers and exchange information.

We cannot recommend to go diving, especially to those who have been to the Red Sea, Indonesia, Maldives … Again it is super expensive and rather disappointing. Atlantis Divers, highly recommended by the Lonely Planet and also the ladies at Your Way, is run very professionally. The stuff speaks excellent English, the shop is very well maintained and videos show irresistible diving spots. Most groups are accompanied by a photographer that tries to shots photos of divers when surrounded by a school of fish or when coming across a ray or turtle. In the evening everybody flocks to the shop and again who could resist to buying such photos?

Despite this obvious professionalism we were annoyed that the pick up was always 30 minutes late in the morning and we were the first Pousada they went to. Also the depth meter didn’t work two days in a row for at least half of the persons diving!!! Diving computers, which are standard in the Red Sea, simply do not exist even though they charged 50% more than in Egypt. Then, visibility was not good and even at time real poor. This is surely not one of the best diving spot, but certainly one of the most expensive!

To sum it up: Fernando de Noronha is beautiful island, but it is totally over-priced, especially for the quality that you get. So this makes it neither a budget destination nor a luxury one - because for that kind of money you get top-notch accommodation in Thailand, Seychelles, etc ... But wealthy Brazilians do not seem to be bother by the prices, we overheard a conversation when people bitterly complained about not getting a room in the most expensive Pousada!

Two weeks before we actually went to Fernando de Noronha, we had never heard of this island, but fellow travellers in Venezuela raved about it. So we checked the ThornTree forum from Lonely Planet and no superlative seemed to be able to describe this island 17 km2 small 370 km east of Brazil shores: “most beautiful beaches”, “best diving spot in the world”, “a small place in paradise” …

Prices quoted by local agencies were absurdly high, but we found a reasonably priced ticket (180 € roundtrip per person) on LastMinute.fr. When we headed for the airport on Monday, August 27th, destination paradise, we stopped at an Internet café to see if our e-tickets had finally arrived, three days after we ordered them and Gilles parents calling LastMinute in France to require of their whereabouts!

Approaching the island, the pilot was given permission to circle the island once before landing, so we could take photos and indeed the view was breathtaking: a dramatic surf on the outer side of the island and a string of no less than 11 golden sandy beaches on the side facing the mainland!

But reality struck soon: every tourist has to pay a “eco-tax” that is now 68 USD for four days, instead of the 38 USD quoted in the Lonely Planet, that it used to be. This harsh increase in prices is true for all other services - accommodation, food, scuba diving, boat trips, Internet … So most quotes in the Lonely Planet were completely outdated.

We arrived off season but still had to dish out 160 Reals or 80 USD for a non spectacular room in a family run Pousada, 3 to 4 times the equivalent what it costs on the mainland. Other budget tourists we met envied us for the cheap deal! Prices for more comfortable Pousadas on the island range from 800 to 1450 Reals, which makes 400 to 730 USD a night!

A dish in a “normal” restaurant sells for 25 to 40 Reals or 12 to 20 USD, no wonder the only “cheapy”, a “Comida per kilo” restaurant, The Flamboyant, is full every night, while almost all the other places are empty. Once a pizza or salad costs more than in downtown Paris or even London, it starts getting annoying!

Since everybody raved about the great diving we could not resist this either, generally expensive, amenity. For no less than 278 Reals / 145 USD we booked at Atlantis divers. Against the warning of a British couple we booked three days of scuba diving and we must say it is not worth it. Visibility is poor. There is no coral, though lots of little fish and even bigger ones, but again what you expect to see here are turtles, sharks, rays & dolphins. To see these during a dive is really seldom and only a matter of luck.

As a consequence, we spent more money staying 4 days on this island than in 22 days in Venezuela and except three days of diving (2 dives a day), we settled for the cheapest possible. French tourists we met told us that even Bora Bora and Ranrogira in the French Polynesia were cheaper destinations! Ouch …

The good news is, there is a direct flight from Manaus to Recife … The bad news is, the plane stops at Santarém, Belem, Sao Luis & Fortaleza before reaching Recife, each a 50 minutes flight and every flight the same sandwich. When we arrived in Olinda at about 05:00 pm, without our luggage, thanks to TAM, we had been going for 13 hours. However, our backpacks were delivered to the hotel the same evening!

Recife, a very modern city, has little to offer to the curious tourist, but so does its little sister Olinda, only six kilometers to the east. It is said to be one of the most beautiful colonial cities in Brazil, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1982.

Heidi decided that she needed a little more comfort, so Gilles did not dare say “no” to the choice of the Pousada d´Olinda, a beautiful Pousada with a nice tropical garden, a swimming pool and rather comfortable and quiet rooms and as we by now understood, typical for Brazil’s Pousadas, a great breakfast buffet, which turned out to be our main meal. Of course it has been the most expensive Pousada of our travel so far, but with a little less than 30 € per night including breakfast, this remained affordable luxury!

The historic center of Olinda or “Olinda Antigua” is surely one of the best preserved colonial cities we have ever seen. Rather similar to Trinidad in Cuba, but more extensive and more picturesque because its houses are clustered around a little mountain with a great view of the skyscrapers of Recife’s downtown. There are hundreds of houses of many different colors: in former times, the color/s of the very house would stand for its address! There are also no less than 18 churches, although with one exception, all original ones were destroyed by the Dutch Protestants fighting the Catholic Portuguese in 1632. Rough cobble stone streets underline the quaint appearance.

On the first day, we hired Alejandro, a local guide, who spoke a mixture of Portuguese, Spanish and French, to show us the main attractions but also to be left in peace by every other guide approaching us within the next few days. The most interesting part of the tour was when Alejandro got us access to the very old church that was not destroyed. We climbed up to the bell tower from where we had a great view of the city. The church is presently the home and atelier of a young painter, who has his paintings on display in the different parts of the church. We found this extremely enchanting, especially since this whole ambience was accompanied by classical tunes that filled the whole building.

Walking the city and spending time leisurely at our pleasant new home made up most of our days, when night fell we went to the Placa do Carmo, where the locals spend their evenings meeting friends, drinking beers and / or capairinhas, one for 0.90 Euro. Once more, we have there experienced the negative impact of travel guides, with all the tourists concentrating in the few restaurants recommended, one an overpriced Creperie and an even more overpriced Pizzeria. All Saturday afternoon we could listen to the Carnival bands playing up Alto do Sé.

The northeast of Brazil is also the place to taste “Tapiocas” these are cooked at special food stall, which require a little stove heated by charcoal, two pans, tapioaca flour and all the ingredients - cheese, coconuts, shrimps, tomatoes, … to fill the pancakes. Not to forget the ladies producing this excellent but filling meal. Usually they are clad in white with what looks like a white shower-cap and taking their job very seriously. And for a drink, chilled coconuts … Fantastic!

Afterwards, we plan 4 days in Fernando de Noronha, which is said to be a paradise-like island in the southern Atlantic, 500km off the coast from Recife. The only affordable flight we found was through LastMinute.com. The night before departure, three days after we made the reservation, the e-tickets were still not mailed. And of course there is no possibility to contact them but directly from France. Vamos a ver!

From the beginning, it was clear to us that we would not do a Jungle Tour from Manaus but from Bolivia. That helped us stay clear of all the hawkers talking your head off.

We thus had no great expectations, but we soon learned to enjoy this city in the middle of the Amazon, though the city itself is situated on the Rio Negro, which meets Rio Solimoes about 20km downriver from Manaus, and only then becomes the Amazon River.

This “Meeting of the Rivers” or “Encontro das Aguas” is quite sensational, you can clearly see the line between the black Rio Negro and café brown Rio Solimoes. Naturally, we chose the hardest way to see this attraction. First we traveled by city bus all across to the eastern edge of Manaus to Porto do Catalao. There we took a small boat going down to the nearest village, this way passing the “Meeting of the Waters”. Well, the boat went so fast that it was almost impossible to take a photo. We deeply regretted not having rented a fisher boat.

The must-see in Manaus of course is the splendid Teatro Amazonas built in 1896, most of its interior imported from Europe, even some of the wooden floors! The same evening we attend a free concert by the local string orchestra performing works of a known Brazilian composer, Guarani.

Inside the Teatro, we also stumbled across a project called Native Original, a group of artists that use drift wood from the Amazon to create the most tasteful designs. After a night of thinking and discussing we decided on two pieces and had them shipped to Austria.

Although Manaus’ economy it not as dependent on the river as it used to be, still river transport determined the lives of many people there. The hours and hours we strolled through the “Mercado Municipal” and the port will be never forgotten. A sheer amount of fish taken from this river is incredible. Where else would you get a huge fish with rice and beans for less than 2 Euros?

The port of Manaus is determined by movement, the loading and unloading of boats, all done by porters, not a single crane. We watched two guys unloading a truck full of flour, one bag 50kg. They literally ran down stairs to the mooring, across some wobbly boards into the ship and back up. Everything is needed in the settlements along the river, tiles, beer, long aluminium sheets, anything you name it.

A 20 hours travel took us from Santa Elene de Uairen, Venezuela, to Manaus, Brazil: first a collective taxi or “Por Puesto” to the border, where we got our exit stamp, then we walked a few hundred meters to the Brazilian side to fill out immigration documents. At this point we needed a treat and checked out the famous “Churrascaria de la Frontera”, a Brazilian All-You-Can-Eat restaurant. It is so popular and so good value that travelers who stay in Santa Helena take a taxi across the border to fill up for 4 Euros.

We immediately found another “Por Puesto” to Boa Vista, 2.5 hours away. Once we had put our backpacks in the car, the driver told us he will now drive off looking for other passengers. A bit worried we waited, but soon he returned with two young ladies and we took off to Boa Vista.

At the bus station in Boa Vista, we immediately found a bus for Manaus and got ready for another 12 hours ride ... We had looked up the road from Boa Vista to Manaus on the map and it seemed a straight line so we expected to breeze right through. Well, we did not, the street must be full of pot holes, which we never saw since we were driving through the night but we certainly felt them. This road from Boa Vista to Manaus was built not too long ago and was much disputed. It is going right through Yanomani territory and they fiercely resisted this road being built. Lots of construction workers died from poisoned arrows, so the army moved in and the project was finished. But the protest was not in vain, busses can only drive this road during the night and cars are not allowed to stop.

Also our expectations concerning the temperature inside the bus were not met. After spending hours in artic temperatures on busses in Venezuela, we brought tons of clothes, only to find out that Brazilian bus drivers use an elaborate technique of turning on - turning off the Air-Conditioning to keep the temperature pleasant. After 20 hours of traveling for less than 1.000 km we simply could not wait to get out of the bus.

Once in Manaus, we tried Pensao Sulista, in which all the nicer rooms were booked but they took us across the street to Hotel Sulista: the room looked like a prison cell, no windows, but this also meant quietness, which we have come to appreciate after spending weeks in Venezuela’s budget hotels. And the rooms had air-conditioning, which is definitely necessary in Manaus. We were the only customers and even more surprised to find our hotel surrounded by many, many others. It did not take long to find out we where in the middle of in the red-light district. This turned out to be a big advantage because there were always people on the street, even late at night ...

Coming from Santa Elena de Uairén, we will travel by bus to Manaus and from there fly to Recife. We plan to travel slowly down the Atlantic Coast to Rio de Janeiro, visiting for instance Salvador and the region of Belo Horizonte.

From Rio de Janeiro, we will fly to Lima, Peru.