Northeast Brazil
This time we lost two members of our big travel group (Ilaria busy chasing Vasco Rossi from north to south of Italy, and Luca alas busy instead with work...) but we gained Stefano, companion of this wonderful journey in the northeast of Brazil.
We arrive in Recife and immediately transfer to Olinda, where we stay at the nice Pousada da Peter, a crazy German artist who, after making his fortune, moved who knows where. At the Pousada we meet Graça, a woman with a thousand stories who drives us here and there.
Olinda is beautiful: one of the first Portuguese settlements in Pernambuco, it is an open-air museum, amid the rainforest, banana trees, coconut palms, and so much lush greenery. Churches, street music (the typical forrò), capoeira, and lots of cheerfulness: this will be a first taste of a surprising Brazil.
The views of the Bay of Recife and the ocean are truly breathtaking; Olinda (a UNESCO heritage site) is an ideal place to relax and experience the northeast in a rather calm way. We spend our days wandering among the aroma of typical foods, the ocean breeze, the friendliness of the people, and a few dips in the pool. We reluctantly leave Olinda to head toward Porto de Galinhas thanks to the legendary Graça: the car journey lasts two hours, spent between the impressive favelas of Recife and the green of fields cultivated with sugar cane, green of an intensity never seen before. We arrive in Porto: a tourist town certainly, but we are lucky...it's low season, deserted beaches, few tourists around, and fabulous prices.
The name galinhas has a sad origin: after the abolition of slavery in 1888, the slave trade continued for a long time. When ships arrived from Africa, word was spread of a cargo of chickens from Angola to mask the foul trade...
Here we spend days under the sign of the sun, of the natural pools generated by the incredible motion of the tides, riding around on the buggy among dunes of the whitest sand and coconut palms stretching as far as the eye can see....and we're SOLIIIIIII!!! We meet hospitable and friendly people, we stay at the pousada Canto do Porto: a little room on the sea, a hammock, and dreamlike views. As will often happen, we leave Porto de Galinhas with nostalgia too and head by bus toward Maceiò in the state of Alagoas. A little-visited stop but one I warmly recommend: if possible, the people of Maceiò are even friendlier, more engaging, and more wonderful than elsewhere. The city is very pretty, the beaches are marvellous, the food is excellent.
We meet Carlitos, who foists on us two trips out of town: the first toward the beaches to the south, where Stefano will be assaulted by a terrible little monkey, and the second around the freshwater lagoons, among fishermen's little houses and immense coconut plantations. Coconut and sugar cane are the two driving forces of the economy of this small state, all to be discovered, to be experienced in tranquillity, where the rhythm of life is marked by forrò music, by smiles, and by the ever-present, fantastic caipirinha.
We are ecstatic about this so relaxed lifestyle: an unknown and fun people who assail you with a kindness that draws you in...we wonder how we will manage to readjust in Europe. By now we are in ecstasy: and we are still missing the highlight: Salvador! We arrive in Salvador at the first light of dawn after a terrifying early wake-up call: the appearance of the Hotel Arthemis makes one shudder, but we will be compensated, and how!!!
I warmly recommend to all those who haven't yet tired of reading my account to stay at least one night of your trip in Salvador at the Hotel Arthemis. It is located in Praça da Sè in the very centre of the Pelourinho, a few steps from the Elevador Lacerda.
Here we meet a great woman: Jail, an open book on the thousand stories of Salvador, of its down-and-out people, and of the thousand problems of this extraordinary city. Salvador is hard to describe: a city not very Brazilian but very African, where the whirlwind of drums, the songs, and the colours overwhelm the soul. We will spend wonderful days wandering through the colourful streets decked out for the feast (the feast of Sao Joao), admiring the big white dresses of the mae de santo, taking part in a suggestive candomblé ceremony, admiring the twirls of a capoeira school, and relaxing in the sun on the tranquil beaches of the island of Itaparica.
The Terreiro de Jesus, the beating heart of the historic centre, will become a bit like our family: after a few days everyone greets us, asks how we're doing and whether we've visited this or that... Then the feast of Sao Joao will arrive, and all of Salvador rises again and bubbles over during long nights, amid songs, dances, cakes of a thousand flavours, and lots of caipirinha. I won't linger here recalling the thousand characters encountered, all a bit down-and-out, a bit crazy, but all entertaining.
Next we will visit Praia do Forte with the beautiful sea turtle preservation centre and Morro de Sao Paulo: a little island to the south, very characteristic, marvellous beaches, and a relaxed atmosphere.
By now we must leave, and I have recounted only a small percentage of the thousand emotions that Salvador left us. Jail and her Hotel will always remain in our hearts. Happy travels in Brazil to everyone Atè a proxima Andrea
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