http://www.noonsite.com/Countries/Brazil
Currency AUD1.00 = BRL 2.00 Real
The checking in procedure was a little more involved than first thought. Fortunately I managed to tag along with James and crew from "Rhapsody" and hire a taxi. My biggest challenge was language with, in most cases, only Portuguese spoken. I wore long pants and my best shirt as an audience with the Federal Police (Immigration) would otherwise be refused. It was also a case of hurry up and wait. We had to provide proof of having the means to support ourselves financially, cash or bank statements, with a minimum of RBL 50 per day. In my case I was able to provide cash to get me a visa for 30 days. The only cost was for the patient taxi driver. We just managed to finish the whole process before lunch time when everything closes for several hours.
Other boats that I knew in the marina.
Gary, Vicki, Zeke and Nina on "Mojombo" from Australia.
Tom, Kim and Emily on "Emily Grace" from USA.
James with French crew Roman and Ellen on "Rhapsody" from USA.
Max on "Safina" from Germany.
Charlie on "Shawble" from UK.
I chose to anchor Sadiqi off the Jacare Yacht Village and row in to use the facilites. A weeks use of the, so called, facilities at the yacht village cost me RBL80.00 - very expensive.
Getting an internet broadband sim card for foreigners is apparently very complicated in Brazil. Limited wireless access is available from Jacare Yacht village, which is at best sporadic, if working at all, and it does require taking the computer ashore.
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| Joao Pessao capital of Paribia district |
Kite surfing. Roman and Ellen, the young French couple crewing on "Rhapsody", who had bicycled down Africa convinced James, their skipper, to go Kite surfing. James, managed to convince me and for some inexplicable reason I rose to the challenge- at the time no alcohol was involved. In the deep dark recesses of the selective memory there was a nagging thought to do with age, dogs and tricks. My real concern was injury and the other was if I liked it I would get hooked. I take enough risks with my current endeavours with out compounding it further. The cost of lessons was a little prohibitive at 100 BRL or AUD50 per hour for one on one instruction - in broken English. The first hour was spent learning to handle a small kite - the kite had to controlled in an arc from 12 o clock to 3 o clock or 12 o clock to 9 o clock. The second hour was learning how to handle a larger much more powerful kite, then doing a body drag in the water. After an hour of being dragged through the shore break I was half drowned and exhausted.
I got adventurous and cooked up pizza on the Cobb BBQ for James, Roman and Ellen from Rhapsody. The Cobb BBQ elicited a number of questions not having been seen before in this part of the world. The young French couple were suitable impressed with the outcome.
Gary and Viki on Mojombo with local expat Brian organised a bus tour inland:
- Areia a colourful, former slave trading town.
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| Areia |
- farm stay at Hotel Fazenda Pai Mateus to look at rocks.
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| Pai Mateus |
- A Cachaca distillery (Brazilian rum).
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| Cachaca Still |
The coastal area was lush with vegetation further inland it was scrub, cactus country. With a drive of several hundred kilometres inland over some bone jarring roads in a hot cramped bus with 15 other people. With the benefit of hindsight I'd find it difficult to work up the enthusiasm to want to repeat the experience. It did not help that I was laid low for a week after that with a nasty cold/flu virus. I was not able to get back to the kite surfing lessons and also lost momentum when James, Roman and Ellen left Cabedelo.
I was led astray by Sam from Ireland and John from UK. Sam was on his way back to Ireland having visited the Pacific going and returning via Beagle channel and Magellan passage - not Panama. John had arrived in Brazil many years ago and just forgot to leave. I was becoming more captivated by the place.
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| Pizza - Skipper and James |
Brazilian national cocktail Caipirinha - Cachaca, lime juice, sugar and ice.
Caipirinha (pronounced: Kai-Pee-Reen-Ya) - Brazil's most popular cocktail and its native spirit, respectively. Cachaça is Brazilian rum that is made from the fermented juice of sugarcane, as opposed to most rum that is made from molasses, the by product of sugar production. Cachaça is often more robustly flavoured and vegetal than traditional white rums, but not always. The Caipirinha is a rustic form of a Daiquiri: just rum, sugar, and lime. But the rum is cachaca, the sugar is usually raw or turbinado, and the limes are muddled and left in the drink. My experience with Caipirnha was that one had to have several glasses to get to appreciate the flavours after which it is irrelevant as the tongue is fully anesthetised - it is an acquired taste, which the skipper has'nt.
Ollie and Merja on Fagel Bla arrived from Ascension Island and the celebrations continued. After they had had a good nights sleep I dragged them up to Booggers - the local bar on Jacare street, where a can of beer costs 2RBL.
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| Sunset Jacare |
All too soon it was time to
prepare to leave Brazil and start provisioning. Fortunately, I had provisions
left from Namibia and only needed meat, eggs, bread, fresh fruit and
vegetables. The shopping experience in the supermarket was suck it a see due to
the language.
This is the wet season in
Brazil (winter) and the rain is often torrential One second you are sweating
buckets in the heat the next you're drenched in cool rain.
When it was time to checkout
of Brazil I chose not to use an expensive taxi. I nearly succeeded in getting
lost without the use of android and google maps. What had cost nearly AU$50
between James and I on checking in cost less than AU$5 with a coconut milk
drink thrown in. I did sort of know where I was going having been there once
before. The check out procedure was relatively painless.
