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So myself, Daniela and Paul had spent 3 days in Salvador with non stop rain. To add to this there was also a bus strike for the next 5 days and we really wanted to get to Chapada Diamantina described as the Grand Canyon of South America. We thought all hope was lost when Ed the guy working in our hostel mentioned that he also really wanted to go and was headed back for England the following week so he didn't have a lot of time. He explained that he had a slight dilemma, that dilemma being that he had a girlfriend called Luna in Salvador and she wanted as much Ed time as possible before he left. There was only one thing for it he was going to have to convince her that all of us going together in her mum n dads car would be the best weekend ever :-). So we hung around in limbo awaiting whether Ed was allowed or not and if her parents would even let her borrow the car for the weekend and more so whether she wanted to. It was either going to be a yes or a big "WWAAPPPOOSSH" the sound of Lunas whip on Eds ass telling him NO! To our delight and amazment we got the green light and the following day the 5 of us set off on our 7 hour drive to Lencois in Chapada.
We hit the road in what we were hoping would be a big car we could stretch out in....no such luck it was a Nissan Micra :-S but we weren't too fussed we were on our way. We let Luna take the wheel at first, being a local she was quite used to driving in the chaotic streets of Salvador. Ed then took the wheel once out of the city under the constant direction of his co pilot Luna "Slow down Ed, don't overtake Ed, don't stop here, over there!"....i felt his pain. Seven hours later we arrive in the little town of Lencois right in the middle of the park. That night we got some food, checked into a hostel and hit the sack, it had been a long day and tomorrow we would be doing a bus tour around several of the National parks highlights.
Up bright and early refreshed after a decent kip we jumped on our bus to begin the tour. The tour was a great way of seeing a lot in very little time and since we only had a few days was definetly the best option for us. Not much to report from this tour actually the pictures kind of speak for themselves. It was really good and we got some great pictures. We were up mountains, in huge caves, seen some water that was so blue it almost doesn't look real you can see all these in the pics. That night Paul was knackered, i was too in fact, but i didnt fall into the trap of lying down, full well knowing i wouldn't get back up. So myself, Daniela, Ed and Luna all headed out for a bite to eat and a few bevys in Lencois. We headed down to a large square where there is loads of bars with outdoor seating areas etc. A few drinks in we spots a table full of people from our hostel one of which, Raquel, i had been speaking to at the breakfast table that morning. So being the sociable chap i am we goes over to chat to the group and see what everyones been upto in Chapada. We pulls up some seats and everything appeared to be hunky dory, everyone chatting away. After a while Ed then stands up with girlfriend Luna in tow "Jamie we are shattered i think we're gonna shoot and go to bed"
"Aye no problem Ed i'll see you in the morning"
It was at this point that I realised that all was quite not as well as i had thought. This little dude thats been sat next to me in fact who was in the same dorm as me pipes up
"Oh is that your friends going i think you should leave also, its just that we are all friends here and we leave in an hour and we want to just be by ourselves so i think you should go"
Offt this comment caught me so off guard it was unreal. I couldn't believe my ears. This was basically sugar coated way of telling me to f*ck off. He had played an unbeatable card. He had said it in a way that wasn't threatening therefore it was impossible for me to go off the nut without looking like the p****infront of this new company. I had to ask him to repeat himself due to being in total disbelief when Raquel piped up
"What are you talking about? Don't be so rude. I can't believe you've just said that"
"No no i'm not saying it in a bad way i just think its time for you to go its been nice to meet you"
He then extends his hand as if to shake mines
"No its fine we're off anyways as for your handshake you can keep it i'd love to say it was nice to meet you to but it f***ing wasn't, apologies to the rest of you but he's a p****...Daniela lets go!"
and off we stoated the 4 of us in total disbelief about how much of a c*nt this guy was. Anyways we walked through the back terrace part of this other bar where a group of people had a guitar, sat down and had a few drinks. One of the guys on the guitar looked quite familiar but i thought nothing of it as we were miles away in a national park in Brazil. I was only to find out the following day that it was Max Rushden the TV presenter from Soccer AM haha small world. Apparently he had met that whole group in a hostel in Salvador and they all road tripped it out to Chapada together. The guy in the group told me he had been hilarious the whole weekend and was a top guy pity i didn't get the chance to really meet him. The night continued in there for a while before moving on to the local "nightclub". This nightclub was more like a local big house. You had to take your shoes off at the front door then upstairs there was 2 rooms and a large open air terrace type part. It had a bar and some decent tunes on and was actually pretty good. It was in here that a group were sitting one guy with a didgeridoo. To my amazment i could actually play this.....prepare to be amazed Aborigines when Jam Dav comes to Oz. The night continued in there until the wee hours of the morning then it was home for a few hours kip before setting off in the morning for a waterfall that you can jump off and a local stream thats like a natural waterslide.
The next morning we got up and i found out that the "nightclub" we were in, the bar got robbed at knife point not long after we left. This was a sleepy little mountain village not something you would expect up there. The feckin eejit hadn't even wore a mask and people already knew who he was, i don't think he got much time to spend his dosh. We set off for the waterfall and water slide. It was a good 45 minutes trek through the forest before we got there and there was already a few locals (Brazilian mountain men). It wasn't long before they were showing off, twisting backflips and sliding down the natural waterslide stood up which is no mean feat. Many a gringo has tried this and split their head open, i wasn't going to be another staistic.....but i totally could have done it :-). b****** Brazilians, good at everything. I suppose growing up your whole life doing Capoeria and sliding down this thing you would be good at tricks, here's a long division sum mountain man DAE THAT!
It wasn't long before the Brazilian had clocked Daniela. Edging ever closer and basically performing a full gymnastics routine to try and impress her he made his move. He was too close for missiles now, switching to guns aaannndd bang hand was round her, she was claimed! We fannied about most of the day here jumping off the 10 meter high waterfall and sliding down the slide. Before now i had thought i'd easy jump off 30 meter + but the force you hit the water with is unreal. Fanny baws here again having to go first not knowing how deep it was took the leap of faith, my feet ended up hitting the bottom too luckily it was sand and not rocks. Hamill shat the nest but big Ed went for it doing what can only be described as an arse flop. Arse like a baboon afterwards we decided to leave with Daniela opting to stay for a while with her new caveman. A friendly word of warning for the guy in the roughest Scottish accent imaginable was a must
"HAAWWLL! RIIITEE WE'RE AWAY AND SHE'S STAYIN, NOO THATS MA WEE SISTER, BREAK HER HEART AND YOUR DEED! AWWWRIIITEE!"
He was well warned haha. We returned to the hostel, Daniela a couple hours later then we all went out for dinner at a local place. It was Saturday night in Lencois and the full team were out. We went to another little nightclub and Daniela's caveman had came out with us. Sorry the reason i keep calling him that was because he actually lived in a cave uncle Edward style. He seemed like a sound enough guy chatting away with us all etc until all of a sudden out the blue he just disappeared. Him and Daniela had been getting on like a house on fire one minute the next minute he was gone
"wheres the caveman Daniela?"
"I don't know, one minute we're outside having a cigarette the next he just says he really has to go and basically ran away, no further explanation"
This was a weird one alright because he was so bang into her and her him it didn't make any sense. The only explanation i could think of was he has a girlfriend and hes either clocked her or one of her friends or something like that and decided to get to f*ck before getting caught. He had seemed awful popular walking down the street, everyone knew this cats name, except me of course, he was just caveman to me......now he was a DEED caveman grrrr. Nobody does this to oor Daniela! Anyways Daniela wasn't heart broken for long and me and Paul gave her a brotherly shoulder to cry on she was back on the booze and dancing again within ten minutes, f*ck me we're good. The club wasn't the best but it done us before heading back to a houseparty. The night turned to day and it was time for us to be hitting the road back to Salvador that morning.
Our time was short but sweet in Chapada and it was time to head back to Salvador. Ed at the wheel and back seat driver Luna ready to tell him exactly what to do and what not to, we set off. It was a simple enough drive home with no real dramas, well theres always the odd little near fatal accident on Brazilian roads like lorries who try to overtake other lorries on blind summits then something comes over that blind summit having to swerve onto the hard shoulder to go past the two of them, but we were numb to that sort of thing now, that was just Brazil. We made it home in one piece and planned to spend a couple days in Salvador with the weather being miles better than when we left. Perhaps we'd get to see the infamous Tuesday night street party this time. We said goodbye to Luna and Ed in Salvador and Daniela was Rio bound to collect most of her things she had left there before Cruz The Coast. We'd be seeing Daniela again in Itacare soon where we would be heading to have a go at surfing and "chilling out" for a week or so and she was going to start work in Jonathan (Cruz the Coast owner) hostel that he owned there.
So thats that its adios for now. Next blog will be the few days spent in Salvador and onto Itacare for a week.....on its way SOON(ish)....PPEEAACCEE!
- comments
billy davis jamies da brill
Irene (Jamie's maw) Sounds incredible - told you you'd get into it once your literary juices started flowing. ;-)
eddie davis( jamies uncle) Your the man ! Keep up the good work and keep the flag flying. Not many of us left.
Stoo was expecting the creepy posh banker to appear in the background of ur pix wearin someone elses face as a disguise haaaa