On the special leap day of this year 2012, we
flew to Salvador which has a population of 3 million people (half that of Rio
de Janeiro). It is the African soul of the country; this is where the descendants
of the salves preserved their African culture more than anywhere else in the
new world.
We stayed in a hostel for 4 nights in the
historic old town. I fell in love with the cobbled streets, colorful old
buildings and all the African influenced arts and crafts. The drum beats echoed
in the streets and many capoeira dances could be seen. The main square was
where the slaves used to be sold…. It kind of reminded of me of Cartagena in
Colombia which used to be a port that brought in and sold slaves.
We spent our days exploring the streets and
indulging in a little bit of shopping. The days were hot so we would never last
a whole day out. Back at the hostel we worked on applying for jobs as we will
be back in NZ in less than 2 weeks! Andrew even had a lengthily skype interview
with an agency. One of the days we got the local bus down to Barra to enjoy the
beaches and the inviting beautiful blue waters.
Our hostel here was delightfully quiet. We had
a 6 person dorm all to ourselves the entire time and only one other guest was
in another room. Made such a pleasant change!
We caught a very small speed boat along with 15
other people to the island of Morro Sao Paulo almost 3 hours away. The going
wasn’t smooth and I had to listen to my ipod to distract myself from the
roughness. We stayed on the tropical island for 5 nights and it was stunning!
Beautiful palm trees and warm watered shallow
beaches lined with bars and hostels and only one main street. It was very
pretty but very commercialized. My favorite colour is blue so tropical waters
just makes me fall in love with places like this. No vehicles which meant there
were porters running around with their wheelbarrows carrying bags. For a
change, the large amounts of tourists were Israeli instead of Australian and European. Our hostel even had all the signs written in
Hebrew as well as Portuguese. We had a spacious 5 person dorm to ourselves the
first night then shared with another couple. Our room had our own bathroom and
fridge, plus a hammock on the balcony. These are things you come to appreciate
whilst travelling!
We spend our days lounging around in the sun,
swimming, exploring the little town, reading in hammocks, eating loads of fruit
and watching buff Brazilians in Speedos doing capoeira and flips trying to
impress the scantily clad ladies at the beach.
Spending a whole day in a bikini gave me that
same decadent feeling you’d get if you wore pajamas all day hehe. Coming from
such a small country, especially as I grew up on a little island myself
(Waiheke), I find it very hard to get used to sharing beach space with so many
people! (Especially those wearing next to nothing, although it makes for rather
entertaining people watching!)
As I sat in a hammock listening to my ipod, I
thought that I should revel in this moment… knowing that tomorrow all that is
install for me is another day at the beach… as soon, this laziness will be no
longer. I will be back into the 40 hour working week with only 2 free days to
play with…. But funnily enough, I am actually looking forward to it. I am very
excited to show Andrew around my home country, and for him to meet those that
are dear to me. I am excited about starting a career path that makes me happy
(ideally)…. And I’m excited about becoming an adult, settling a little and
starting to think about owning things again, like furniture – that would be
nice!
I had a friend ask me once we were 3 months
into our trip – “Are you over it yet?” The answer was well and truly “No”. Up
until Brazil, I didn’t see the trip ending and I didn’t want it too. But
something about reaching the last country of our adventure just flipped a
switch for me. It suddenly made it real that it was coming to an end and that
there was something on the other side – reality! And instantly, I began to ache
for home. I haven’t been home since October 2010. Since reaching Brazil (18
weeks into our trip), having to lug our bags around and having to share
personal space with strangers in dorm rooms began to annoy at me and grate at
my nerves. Don’t get me wrong, being on this island is still incredible and I
love it, but the joy is slightly tarnished with my eagerness to see my family. And
you know me, being the planner that I am, I have already began my lists of
things I need to organize once home!
One night we treated ourselves do dinner out at
a restaurant. We sat on a couch on the beach and ate by candle light while listening
to live music. The trees along the boardwalk by the beach were lit up, the moon
was full and big stands displaying fruit offered to make any cocktail you
desired.
Our final day on the island unfortunately, was
overcast and raining. Still, we have had more than our fair share of sun in the
last month and we have another week with nothing to do but to enjoy more of
it!! We left to head back to the mainland and hurrah!! Good riddance to hostels
and DORM ROOMS! Woo Hoo!!!!!!! That’s been the only downside to this island is
the constant party and lack of sleep from the noise. I don’t mind people
partying and having a good time when they’re on holiday, but after living in
hostels for almost 6 months, people screaming and yelling and slamming doors
until 3am really grates on my nerves….
Not long to go now!!!!
