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Today is the day we escape Isla do Boipeba and transfer to a neighbouring Island Isla de Morro Sau Paulo. Now before I go any further just a quick apology for the photograph situation! I am having a few technical details that are preventing me from uploading images just at the moment. When we get back to Belo Horizonte I will upload all of them.
Now where was I? Oh yes - our exodus in search of civillisation again.....and our chariot for this odyssy? A very cool Land Rover defender - with leather seats! The Drive was 1 hour up sand roads and cross country. I dont know whether it was what we were leaving behind or the though of clean water but both Vanessa and me were in a state of euthoria bouncing around on that back seat!
We were dropped close by to our Hotel which meant just a short walk with the bag - but just walking down a side alley and then onto the main strip we knew we would enjoy Morro!
Of the group of islands we were visiting Morro Sau Paulo is the most touristy and consit of 4 beaches next to each other. Our hotel was right on the beach and with the exception of a couple of cockroaches and a dodgy air conditioning unit the hotel was lovely. We dumped our bags and straight away took a walk up the beaches towards the town. The beaches were alive with samba beats, decent restaurants and a bevy of toned, tiny bikinni'd bodies! This place seems like a mecca for Italian and Isreali ex pats - but the fusion works well. Of course the main cultural influence here is African. We could tell we were getting closer to our destination - Salvador.
Unlike Boipeba Morro actually makes an attempt to pick up their garbage and the results are relatively clean beaches and streets. Walking up the hill and into the small town we wander into the nummerous shops - that although ar overpriced offer an eccletic mix of goods. But the real goodies were being sold by street vendors found everywhere. The beach, the roads or just roaming around. We booked our transfer to Isla do Itaparica and started getting a feel for what we would do here. We wandered up to the lighthouse at the top of the hill and watched as the sunset into the hills in the distance - casting a golden shaft along the sea. With the heady beats from a sunset bar beneath us this really felt like the Brazil I imagined.
Walking back through the town I tried my first Capivodka. Something I wasnt too keen to try in the past - but the street vendor has set up with all the different fruits laid out like a green grocer. It was incredible that I actually managed to recognise 10% of them. I ended up having an Acerola Caipavodka (the first of many that night). Acerola is a cherry shaped friut but taste like sour apples. In a drink I can assure you it is amazing. So drink in hand we wandered back to the beach and had a wood fired pizza. A world apart from that awful pizza I had just under a hundred KM away! To our delight we found on 2nd beach they set up a market of just fruits to have in Caiparinhas or Caipavodkas. I had another Acerola and also tried a .......
The next day we woke late - a little tender. I had an intense bout of insomia and managed to keep Vanessa awake too - so we abandoned our plans and decided to have a lazy day that involved checking out 4th beach, then meandering back to first beach.We ended up in town and made an illfated descision to have lunch in a shabby looking restaurant. Still feeling the effects of the night before we decided to head back early to the hotel to relax. It was about this time that Vanessa suddenly announced she was feeling dizzy. It signaled infact the start of 12 hours straight of vomitting as it became evident that her lunch of fish had given her food poisoning! At 10pm when it was at its worst it dawned on me that we were on an island with limited medical services and that if something happened to Vanessa how on earth would I be able to call for help!! So I went and managed to get the number of the local doctor from our Italian hotel owner - who didnt speak English - and just looked after and reassured Vanessa. In the end medical attention was not required but she was ill for about 2 days - which meant we had to delay our departure by a day (something which everyone was really good about not even charging us for our last minute cancelations).
We sheepishly made our way to the boat that would take us accross the bay to a waiting shuttle bus that would carry us onto Itaparica. The boat went OK and Vanessa by this time was about 80%. Leaving Morro and heading along the coastline we could see just how attractive this part of Bahia was.When we got to the other sure - we were reminded just how amatuer Bahia was too. Our Bus turned out to be a car and the driver decided to fit 4 of us in there with bags! Fortunately Vanessa and me were the first there and got the best seats. We then cannonballed up the road with the traditional abandonment of any saftey that is a Brazilian tradition. Only in Brazil would you find a guy driving tourists without wearing his seat belt - overtaking a car in a 60km zone but driving 100km in an area which is specifically marked as no overtaking WHILST CHATTING ON A MOBILE PHONE!!!! Vanessa was in the front seat and when she casually asked how long it was until Itaparica the driver replied saying'Itaparica? No you are going to Salvador!' For the next 15 mins careful negotiations were made to reassure the guy we were infact going to Itaparica. We won and he dropped us - with much b****ing - and amazingly unscaved by our next hotel.
Itaparica has one of the most beautiful seas I have seen. Kind of milky blue in colour. In the far distance you can see the highrises that is Salvador. The part of the island we are in - there is NOTHING to do. Which suits us just fine. Yesterday we strlled down the beach in search of something to eat. We gave up! The bars and restaurants here are disgusting and neither of us wanted another bout of food poisoning. So we went to the supermarket to try to get some food there. This too was difficult. There is a suprising lack of edible food in the supermarkets in this part of Brazil. But I managed to drum together enough ingrediants to make a chicken noodle soup and the ate royally and enjoyed an afternoon by the pool at our hotel. The evening was fun too as we discovered about 30 mosquittos in our room - and went on a massacre.
In the evening we ordered an ok pizza and chatted to the lovely owner of the hotel. She had lived in Germany for 8 years. Unfortunately one of the guests wouldnt leave us alone. A raging pervert from Austria. Still amusing enough evening.
I am just finishing up this blog in a hammock outside my room before we head off down the beach in the other direction. This time I will take my camera to get those essential holiday snaps.
Then tomorrow we head on to Salvador. The last stop on our tour of Bahia and the 3rd largest city in Brazil.
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