First I was afraid, I was petrified....

Last time we left you we were in Bonito waiting for the rain to clear; four days later, we were still in Bonito waiting for the rain to clear….

Bonito means beautiful in Portuguese, but beauty is rarely enhanced by incessant rain. However, we were here for the river snorkelling and torrential rain was not going to stop us. Geological quirks have blessed Bonito with crystal clear waters and an abundant population of huge fish, so we donned our wetsuits and floated down the Rio Prata marvelling at the aquatic life and wondering when the rain was going to stop.  

For reasons best known to ourselves, we had booked four nights in Bonito, so used the rest of our time to hire bikes and cycle out to a natural swimming pool for a dip, complete with a glorious display of colour from some scarlet macaws showing off in the trees. Inevitably this ended with us cycling back to the hotel through another torrential shower and roads that morphed into rivers. We are still waiting for the shoes to dry.  

We had no definite plans after Bonito, so on a bit of whim and a vague attempt to see a slightly different side to Brazil we decided to head to Salvador. The guidebook describes Salvador as the African jewel in the Brazilian crown.  It is certainly an impressive city with some beautiful architecture, but despite much of it being designated a UNESCO world heritage site, it is a jewel in need of a bit of a polish. Salvador was once the centre of the Brazilian slave trade and has retained much of its African history and culture.  It is a city full of life and energy, with music on every corner and hundreds of street vendors selling African tit-bits like prawn and bean fritters.  It is also a city full of stray cats, rubbish on the streets and homeless kids and people trying to scratch a living wherever you look.

Drawn by the hypnotic sound of drums in the Pelourinho in Salvador, we drew closer completely mesmerised, only to find it was an African version of ‘Killing Me Softly’, which slowly morphed into a medley of Gloria Gaynor hits. Was this the beating heart of Brazil we had been searching for? Thankfully the 1970s disco-themed music faded to black and we were able to enjoy what we assumed was some Brazilian music from then on.

Next up was Praia do Forte – something of a culture shock after Salvador, being basically a posh beach resort with the main drag hosting a range of chic boutiques and cosmopolitan eateries. Think of a classy Butlins with sunshine and miles of palm-fringed beaches, a good place to wind down our Brazilian adventure.

Highlights: not a highlight as such, but it was a relief to finally get some laundry done, at least allowing us to pass through the bio-hazards section of customs looking the man squarely in the eye….though for the money it cost, you would hope each pair of under-crackers was licked clean by Brazil’s own carnival queen and her retinue of sequinned flunkies.  

Lowlights: A hair-raising taxi ride from Salvador airport with a charming, but totally mad, driver called Oscar. Despite sharing no common language, we learned Oscar’s main passions were Liverpool FC, early 70s classic English rock music, not braking for red lights and making his passengers pay for the petrol. He is also either a lifeguard or life-coach, each of which seems equally unlikely.

Caipirinha count: The finally tally stands, like many an English batsman, at just two shy of a half century.  We will count something different in Argentina. Does anyone have any suggestions?  Bottles of Malbec perhaps?

Monkey count: Loads of them in Praia do Forte, little fellows we had not encountered before, not sure what they were (tiny little squirrel-sized things with wizened old faces and long stripy tails – a bit like Yoda after a shrink-wash). We will look them up and get back to you.  Again, we need something different to count in Argentina as we think monkeys will be in short supply.

This is the final blog from Brazil as we fly to Buenos Aires today.  We visited five different states, stayed in nine different hotels / guesthouses and met some very lovely people along the way.  We have barely scratched the surface of this massive country, but if you haven’t already done so, have a look at the photos (soon to be updated) for our highlights.