The Ethics of Chilling Out

Itacare is a chill out zone. We have got used to making one big decision a day…Which beach today? Chicken or meat with rice? Would you like a beer or fresh coconut water?  Hmm they are tough ones I know you’ll appreciate, but that’s about as much as we can take right now! haaa

Initially Jack struggled with the whole concept of “chilling out” asking incessantly questions such as, “Is this OK?” and “Are we allowed to do nothing?” For someone who runs around at break neck speed most days, he has finally allowed himself the opportunity to relax, unwind and deprogram all his latent pent-up stress.  And so, we now find ourselves sat in hammocks on our balcony drinking ice cold beer and listening to Shuggie Otis, lazily watching the world go by. 

Emma & Jack signing off now as we have more hours of chilling to undertake.

Peace out

xxx

Bahia baby!

We are now in Itacare, Bahia.  It’s a little chilled-out tropical paradise where the jungle meets the sea. Imagine bounty beaches with friendly people and a hint of Totnes! We have found a little pousada apartment just off the ‘main’ street and negotiated to stay here for a month.  This place is so idyllic –very quiet and in walking distance to the six nearby beaches, yes six beaches! It has air con, wifi, a balcony with hammock, private fridge and a shared kitchen (if Jack fancies cooking), and big Brasillian breakfast included…all for about £9 per night….for both of us! Jack plans to fill his days learning Portuguese, Brasillian Ju-Jitsu and surfing (although yesterday was a bit too gnarly for him!!).  I plan to do yoga, photography and sunbathe on one of the beaches! Of course there will be plenty of time for exploring the nearby jungle and local hospitality! We stumbled upon an impromptu capoeira session here on Monday night. The flexibility, strength and balance was so impressive.  Hardly any Europeans here, so we are getting into the Brasillian way of life. I love it!

Before making our way here we visited Salvador, the African and Angolan history was really apparent it really is a mix of two continents. The food was heavily influenced by Angolan ingredients,  which was great to try. The general atmosphere was a bit tense but with armed police stood on every street corner, we felt, safe? The tourists seem to be treated like a protected species! But saying that, we just left our valuables and camera in our room for the evening and we followed our ears to a back street samba party….and danced the night away! The people there were talking away to us and were happy for us to join in and have a good time. Great food, beer and atmosphere.

Right, we are off to the beach. Tchau for now dudes!

Greetings from Rio de Janeiro!

Rio de Janeiro.  Suffice to say, we have never experienced a city like this.  Cloistered by colossal natural rock formations, you really do feel like you are not in Kansas anymore, with azure-blue beaches, yawning stretches of world class beaches, colonial buildings, verdant-green plant-life; and cormorants and even vultures everywhere.  What really stands out though, are the Carioca.  Rio locals are by far the most active people we have ever encountered:  each beach and plaza is inhabited by surfers, footballers (they love their football), beach volleyball, tightrope walkers, joggers, cyclists and guys and gals lifting weights.  It seems that the carioca place an enormous amount of importance on personal health.  They are friendly, respectful and passionate.

We have been staying in Ipanema, (yes, from that song) which is a beautiful part of the city, and has a huge beach that connects to the infamous Copacabana (yes, from that other song).  Emma and I had a couple of days chilling on these beaches, and swimming in the Atlantic waters, just watching the world roll by.

Visiting ‘Christ the Redeemer’ atop Corcovado was quite an experience – it is such an impressive and imposing monument, nearly always visible (at night it is floodlit) and the Carioca seem to draw pride and strength from its presence. 

For my birthday (which was great!), we went to a restaurant called Carretao, a Brazilian restaurant, which has a simple, yet brilliant system of ordering food.  You are seated and then shown the salad bar (including sushi, risotto, rices etc) and then given a card, one side red, the other green.  Lay your card on the table green side up, and at once you are surrounded by waiters wielding huge swords of all types and cuts of meat, fillet steak, ribs, sausage, ribeye, tenderloin of pork, belly of pork, you name it!  When you want to have a pause (believe us your stomach will need the breathers!) you turn your card over to red – fabulous!  Edmund Davari if you are reading this, Plymouth would love one of these places J

The weather brought to you by Jack & Emma - despite it being the Brazilian mid-winter, it is still in the comfortable 20s – yesterday was like a perfect English summer’s day.

Next stop, north-east to Salvador!

Chau a te logo!

NB - Ok, so this is actually the second attempt at writing this blog.  I tried a couple of days ago and the entry was magically wiped from the screen…