Beach time!!! And some colonial architecture
Brazil | Friday, August 28, 2015 | 14 photos
We unfortunately had to shorten our list of places to visit in Brazil since the distances are so big. We will have to come back I guess! ;-) lol
We took an overnight bus from Salvador to Maceio and arrived at 6am. Unfortunately we missed the 5am bus, so had to wait another 5 hrs at the rather empty bus station to catch the next bus for Maragogi, a small fishing village. The bus connections are not very efficient here but like Brazilians you just have to wait without complaining. ;-)
We spent a few days finally enjoying the beach in Maragogi. We were almost the only foreigners otherwise there were mainly just Brazilian tourists. The excursion to the tide pools (you'll understand with the photos!) was only in Portuguese; we didn't understand anything. :-( In all the other countries before guides always spoke English/Spanish but here in Brazil it's only Portuguese!? :-( Brazilians understand us quite well when we speak Spanish but the problem is we only understand about 10% of what they say in return. All part of the experience!!! ;-) Thankfully Brazilians are by far the friendliest of all South Americans, smiling and laughing all the time so comprehension is an afterthought.
After this relaxing stay in Maragogi, we took a bus to Recife. Taking this bus was a bit stressful but fun at the same time. Since Maragogi is a small village, there is no fixed bus schedule so people tell you the approximate time and you just wait along the highway in the sun until the bus comes. You hope there are spots left on the bus. We went rather early to wait for the bus just to be sure. It was soooo hot waiting but we caught it!! Latin Americans are great at waiting for hours and not complaining!! We will be so patient next time there is a problem on the subway in NYC. ;-)
Once in Recife, we took the subway and then a city bus to Olinda (a colonial suburb) with our big backpacks. Taking a city bus/subway in a new city where you don't speak the language is quite an experience especially in big cities like Recife where it's very very hot. That's real life! ;-) hihi
Finally arrived around 8 pm in Olinda all sweaty :-( and tired, we had to find a place to stay. We had to check 3 places (with our house on our back-i.e. backpacks) before we found one in our price range. We were so happy to put the AC on (I know it's not very eco-friendly) but it felt so good after this long bus journey. ;-)
Olinda is very nice colonial town on the ocean. A smaller version of Salvador de Bahia. We spent one day and then flew from Recife to São Luis to visit another bucket list place: the national park of Lencois Maranhenses!
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