19/20 Feb

My blogs getting depressingly shorter as my time runs out. I am not writing much because i´m doing so little and yet so much it´s just so familiar now and comfortable that I can´t fathom it being worth reporting. It´s amazing being back here and horrifying to think I am leaving it for I don´t know how long...Fifteen months feel like a year and the time I've spent here has been so amazing and well, the people I have come to know and love as if forever and blood. I keep saying I feel like I´m drunk...dancing is fine or rather keeping busy but every now and then when I close my eyes or rather the reality of how much change is going to take place in the next few days it´s all too much and I feel dizzy. The other bizarre aspect to this change is that unlike when I came I am fully aware of both what I´m leaving behind and what I am going back to. And I know I have already said it but it is time for me to leave or to go back to NZ -whether permanently.....I just don´t know.
Being Monday there was many a farewell said the day before as friends had to get back to the city for work. I spent the morning loitering and staring at my suitcases. Lasagna again for lunch(soooo good) In the afternoon I gathered again with the girls to drink mate and load photos.....will miss the sunshine and heat! With a family farewelll on the cards con bbq and the bugs of Areco making the most my soon to be gone flesh we headed over but not without a big fuss over my foot. Yes , at this point my dear left foot had starting swelling and hurting without me even touching it. The family between their yelling and bickering and laughing and preparing dinner for 40 rather than 8 were exactly that and are that FAMILY. More toasts...BASTA...and at the end of dinner me and the Mamu returned home for some left over´malva pudding` and charlas(chats).
The next morning we went to the doctor...and nothing out of the ordinary and far from being normal old me has TENDONITUS in her foot. Oh yes people....caused by scampering around the ever-undulatingly-bane of my life topography of Brazil for some two months in jandals......I have Tendonitus...on the bright side it is in no way related to bad circulation as feared or is in common in my family, and I don´t have to amputate...jaja hey always with the worst case scenario...
Yeah so my pretty little jandals and I are having to see a great deal less of each other and the swelling is caused by liquid which CAN get infected. Fourteen hours of flying ahead of me - can´t wait!!! My last actual night in Argentina was spent with all the women who had somehow been a part of my life and empandas and ice cream...food farewells god bless them!
More or less this has been my last few days I know iI´m leaving stuff out but without the Bean and the amount of stuff going on internally and externally "I canna do i' cap'n."
Alright so flying tomorrow........................

Best and Worst Moments of Team Riki and Nadine

There are so many of these that I cannot even fathom trying.
Here goes. (This is an ongoing list and will be added to and edited more once Riki is safely ensconced at my side at 45 Garden Place). (I won't double up on the Team P, N, R so safe to say a lot still applies).

Best Acai - it had to start with this one. The Passionfruit One in Lencois. The Definitive Acai.
Best Hangover Feed - Plates full of gooey gnocchi in Punta.
Best Deep Fry - Pastel things in Morro de Sao Paulo.
Most Determined to be Right - Nadine
Mostly Right - Nadine ahah
Person most Bodily Impaired - Riki
Most Inappropriate Beach Bat sessions - Fortaleza Airport Runway Incident, Santos Dumont Airport in Rio.
Best Team Competition - Freddo 1/2Kg Icecream Eating Competition, Buenos Aires.
Cheapest Transport - the 5c Elevator in Salvador
Most Expensive Transport (after the flight incident) - Leito Class to Sao Paulo
Best Brazilian Fruit - Acai
Worst Brazilian Fruit - Jenipapo
Best Bead- Ilha Grande Hike
Best Beader - Riki
Luckiest Moment -Finding a bike shop in Buzios.
Best popcorn - Caramel in Buzios
Person Aerolineas Argentinas hates the most - Nadine
Best Icecream Flavour - Nadine: Super Dulce de Leche. Riki: ???????
Best Narrow Escapes - Estonians and Taxi Driver at Ben Harper
Best Cookies - Torta de Limao
Best Manicure - the R8 in Rio
Best Wax - Rio and BA
Best Weather- Everywhere North of Rio
Best Adventure- oh this one is too hard- Hanggliding, parapenting, Rafting, Trekking, Horseriding, Sandboarding
Worst Adventure- Diving!
Most Injuries- Riki (swollen foot, horse falling, capoeira and samba impairedness)
Best Random Drink - Avocado, lime, vanilla milkshake in Lencois
Best cocktails - Jeri Stands on the Beach
Best Hostel - Jeri, Laranjeiras, Punta hostel
Worst Hostel - Nega Maluca, then Campo Base in Mendoza for its plumbing and drainage problems.
Best Nights: Tequila night, Rays - Praia Armacao, Ben Harper, Watermelon Comp - Jeri, Full Moon Party - Morro.
Worst Nights - Travelling by Bus at all points, Chuy (Riki)
Best Cafe/Restaurants - Bahiacafe.com Salvador, Brasil cafe- Jeri.
Best Natural Attraction - Mars(Roncador River) Chapada Diamantina, Dunes in Jeri and Brazils Many Beaches.
Best Phrases - "I was talking to him, he just looked away", "Christ on a bike", "Question", "Excuses are for Losers", "EEEeediot", "IMAGINE", "CRIKEY", "Che Riki", "Bite/Eat me", "I'm bringing sweaty back", "Does this face look like it cares?", "Shall we have a few?", "Have you tried a submarino? No? Well I don't know where to get one", "Who'd do that?", "I'm so hot right now, I'd sleep with myself", "Slice!", "Get it down your Fat Neck!", "Coz you're the person I hate the most".
Best Cultural Activites - Samba, Capoeira, Caipirinhas, Tango, Steak, Gauchos, Sandsculpting, Church (Bonfim), Pao de Acucar, Copacabana, Ipanema, San Telmo, Casa Rosada, Obelisco,
Best Beaches - Dois Rios, Posso Mangues, Sao Fernando, Matadeiros, Jeri, Morro, Copa/Ipa.
Best Nightclub - Asia de Cuba, Opera, Tequila.
Best Predrinks - Bell's Hostel 'Kiwi Caipi', White Sangria Jugs. Anytime, Anywhere.
Specific Brazilian goodness - Coconut goodies, lime biscuits, ACAI, cheap caipis, juices, crepes, pastel, chilli, bread, breakfasts, cake, briagdeiro, nestle boxes, 51!, guarana, FRUIT, self-service, coconuts, Brazilian Paraphenalia, smiles, samba, capoeira, music everywhere, Buena Onda, Camarote Vivo (Ben Harper), SUNSHINE, beach culture, small bikinis = minimum tan lines,
Negative Brazilian - Federal Police, Ability to count boarding passes, directions, time, stares.
Heartiest Laughs - Seal (Pieter), Mendoza Death Trap/desert stop, The FOUR, First Argentine Night reunited, sangria, watermelon competition, Pieter in General! Rio airport mix-up, Shower and hostel kickouts, Team Challenges, Crikey! Giant Snails, Bodily Incapabilites, Rays, Slices, Spu the Bucket, Taxi guy, Ben Harper.
Best Fall - Riki off a horse, her stumble in Laranjeiras, Foot tripping each other, Coming back from Mars and breaking N's jandal.
Best bug bites- Nadine's three in a row,
Best sunburn - Riki: face, Nadine: butt
Best Book- Lovers and Players : Jackie Collins, Girl in Times Square: Paullina Simons
Best Movies: Babel, Skulls, and a movie neither of us can remember the name of..its about a oilrig worker who gets badly burned and a nurse looks after him, its got the theme of word written through it..
Best Slice - the water slice and Riki slicing RayCB when he was crouching down on our return to hostel.
Worst slice- there is no such thing!

18 Feb

More minimal sleep and waking up quite hysterical re-telling the night to my Mamucha and munching on an apple delighted to finally see the sun I decided to make the most of it by working through my mound of washing. Shower and stock for packing, shopping left us a few minutes away from having lunch. Lasagna to die for and some suntanning ...happy , happy days that are drawing to an end rapidly!

OK so spent a lazy afternoon driving around and drinking mate by the river...ending where i started both in activity and company. Most of all just lapping up the sunshine and surroundings.
Before i go any further i will miss it soooo much when i leave. This place never ceases to amuse or surprise me for example last night there was the ´corsa`this is basically attached to carnival so music and rums are given but it takes place in a plaza where mainly the ´youth`of the town walk around and around spraying each other with canned foam. How much more fun can you get...no sarcasm here. Anyway we considered ourselves very youthful and bought the cans and sprayed the foam. Freeeeking awesome. After triring of smelling like bubblegum(foam fragrance) and running out of ammunition we headed off for a drink. Would like to point out that this on a Sunday night at 1.30am and the bar/boliche(nightclub) is only jsut starting to fill up. Dress up was the idea but try getting a gaucho in anything other than his boina-puhleeeeze! ALl the same got to see a few more familiar faces and farewells. And some non recognised farewells. People polo is overrated !!!!jaja

17 Feb

After a very late night round at Virginaia's house and the latest artesenal ice-cream run ever, waking up at 8am meant I had slept a total of 4.5 hours. It was a mad rush of a morning, buying ingredients for malva(think sticky-date pudding without the dates ) traditional South African pudding and a hair appointment at 12.30. The three very happy and serene hours I spent reading magazines and taking in every last minute of my last hair do in Arg. God bless Mario!
Got back to the house for some mate and chicken sandwiches and a catchup with my cousin and a wonderful gift from Catto- a boina(typical knitted cowboy(gaucho) hat from the rural areas of Arg. Think beret but so much funkier. Chuffed and somehow lost for time to bake puddings , get some rest, find clothes and breathe. The hours flew by. Tonight was to be my farewell party or one of many which naturally comes accompanied with consumption. This last week has been all about consumption, time, people, shopping, alcohol as was the case last night and FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD. Hah I feel as if there is a special farewell party going on for each food group!!!
Naturally by the time we left to walk to the location it was 11 and much to our delight in the middle of nowhere all muddy and surprisingly cold the place was closed. Soon enough we were on the fone though and the people on their merry way to get the party started. Dinner consisted of picadas (antepasto platters in that you pick but basically chips, peanuts, chees, olives and various cube of cold cut meats. There were also some little pizzas and home-made cakes and a cabsha which is dulce de leche, chocolate and chocolate based bliss.
The girls went out of their way to make the night a special one and gave me a very groovy and Argentinan countryside screaming diary with case made of carpincho which is a type of moleskin they get from a small animal that scampers about the place. Very pricey infact and really so unnecessary. A few more girls arrived and I finally got up to say a few words in Spanish....most of them cried and well me being me laughed instead. Really such a nice going away party. A whole group of boys arrived and music and dancing , photos and I'm not sure how many hours followed before we headed to the one and only and fateful nightclub. Bizarre being there with all these people and memories and realising as dawn approached how little time was left how much time had passed...how quickly and slowly and all the emotions involved. Won´t say I want to leave but I think I am finally ready......
Walking home amongst hundreds of birds practically enveloping us with a food run of fresh croissants at 7am....I couldn´t have asked for a better way to say goodbye!

Feb 16 - Nadine's Final Blog

So after an 8am shower and my last manciure I ate my last acai, and my last passionfruit juice hoping it would ease my hangover and lack of sleep. Threw all my stuff in my bag and dragged the thing downstairs to reception where I caught my taxi to the start of The Most Hellish Flight Trip in the Entire World in Nadine`s Entire Life, and as I sit in Christchurch Airport spending far too much time money on the internet it is not yet over. So on arrival at Rio airport, the first crappy event occurs - Thats right, Aerolineas Argentinas is officially the Shittest (I`m sorry for the crude language but there is not other word for it) Airline in the World. Yes Delay One occurs. No longer is the flight not at 2;10 it is delayed until 4;10 when it is further delayed until 5 and we dont fly until 530. Luckily I was one of the few to get a lunch pass (randomly handed out it appeared) and had one last self service with steak. Finally boarding, absolutely shattered from the night before= no sleep. I had to endure painful small children until I get to Buenos Aires. Here on arrival it appears the flight is on time. Wrong again. Scheduled for 12am Delay Number Two Occurs. Yes Every single damn flight I have and will ever fly with AA has been delayed. This one 4hrs late. Woopee there goes my domestic connection thank you AA. Eventually after frantic phone calls to Mum to sort a new flight and a few hours fitful sleep we finally board - the reason for the delay - fog in Chch. Yes in Christchurch NOT EVEN WHERE WE ARE DESTINED FOR. Surrounded by brash Aussies behind me who happened to talk the loudest out of everyone on the flight and small kids in front of me, it sucked. However I managed to score the seat beside me and an extra blanket. At this point I was freaking so much I only slept in 2hr periods, and ended up being revolted at the sight of breakfast - a roast beef sandwich - WHAT ARE YOU THINKING AA???? We touched down at Auckland at 930am a nice hour and a half after my flight to Dunedin had departed. I then wandered the bowels of the airport to find AA office, and ended up finding it with 2 guys delayed to Australia. The AA agent sent them on their way, promising to come back for me right away. An hour and a half later at repeated requests for someone to call him down he turns up and is as useless as the airline. Doesn`t know what to do or how to do it. Eventually I get a written document out of it and an email address and head out frustrated to the point of tears and hoping like anything there is an earlier flight. The only good thing is I manage to check in my 28kg bag without a flicker at the weight...Luck then promptly runs out and all flights are full and I try to go on standby for flight 1 -which again is delayed then I am told its full and a no-go. Nerves shattered more and more back I go to the counter to try another flight, with more and more complications being -one flight has only one leg of it free to Dunedin. Eventually I try for a 235flight to Chch, and For once luck seems to be on my side, Standby is sweet and I sit next to a sweet old lady who is proud as punch of her children and grandchildren. Nice interlude, it stops as we land and the plane I was supposed to catch onwards (AKL gave me a 15min gap) does not allow me on - not because its full or anything- oh no that would be logical, but because Air NZ people in Chch are mean and unhelpful. At this point I give up and the stress and fatigue hits me like a tonne of bricks as I realise that I have 4hrs to wait and I am so far away from being my comfy, warm, sleepfilled bed that I have a cry in public, receiving strange looks from passersbys as I wipe away my tears on my arm behind a trolley full of bags. Finally I decide the only thing for it is food and coffee and a book. Oh the irony, the only damn place that sells books in the airport is shut COZ ITS A SUNDAY!!!! So a coffee and pie it is as I sit and contemplate my very horrible run of luck and I feel I can barely stand for tiredness. Whats the bet it only gets worse and they make me pay extra luggage costs to Dunedin or I miss my flight or something dumb like that. Someone has really hated me today thats for sure.

So off to the bathroom to clean myself up, when I think the day possibly couldnt get any worse I was wrong, someone knocks my backpack with the bottles of cachaca on the floor and breaks one, spilling all over the backpack and making me smell like a liquor store for my next flight. I head to the check in counter and surprise surprise she asks me if I paid excess baggage. I say no, she disappears and I put my head in my hands on the counter and wait for my impending doom. She shows up, angry at the Auckland staff (who at this point are my best friends) and then realises that instead of the 28kg they had written on it only weighed 24. So she then proceeds to tell me that she has to label it saying 'Excess load' so that if the flight is too heavy it gets left behind. At this stage she looks up and sees me staring at her with bleary teary eyes with a vacant expression on my face and proceed to tell her please- I came from an International Flight they checked it in Auckland Please Please Please. So she took pity on me as she realised I had not slept properly in 40 or so hours. She rewrote my pack as 23kgs without the excess label and sent me on my merry, bleary way to my gate where I claimed a row of seats and proceeded to nap until my flight was finally called. Flying into Dunedin was typical, grey cloud and just as I exited the plane it started raining. What a nice welcome home!
Mum was furiously waving as I walked on the tarmac and at the baggage claim managed to leap some bags and trolleys (Who knows where I found the energy) and grab my bag before it disappeared for another round.
So then I head home and empty my pack and create a massive pile of washing. Looking forward to bed, but here is where Nadine's blogs stop. The Beaker stops here. That flight would have been SO much more entertaining if I could have sliced all the airport workers, and I had my other limb with me- Riki where for art thou to share the pain of airtravel!!!???
Slice out to everyone who has been reading the blog and been laughing at us like the EEeediots we are and continue reading Riki's wild antics..
Blog Out :(

16 Febrero - Riki

Right so while Beanie was no doubt last minute pampering and packing before boarding her plane to commence the journey home i was sorting through the mountain of stuff blocking the door of my room. Being home in Areco is exactly that BEING HOME! Thanks to a violent storm during the night with thunder and lightning and whizzes....we no longer had electricity. When it was returned to us i luxuriously showered with HOT water , TWO towels and BLOWDRYED my hair...one doesn´t appreciate these things enough while we have them available readily. Won`t bore you all too much. The day and night was spent eating and packing and packing and eating and being with these wonderful people who i just don`t know how i am going to say goodbye to!!!

Feb 15 - Nadine then Riki

Nadine = The day started beautifully, but as Gigi drove up at 9:30am to pick me up to go to Christ the Redeemer, typically it started to cloud over. We drove up, and took the Christ Tram up to the top. I almost want to call it the JesusMobile. Ascending upwards towards the Redemption of Christ, our trip up was through part of the Tijuca National Park, apparently the largest inner city national park in the world. Our trip was puncutated with sightings of rare and marvellous giant mammals, insects,birds, and Saints. Crafted carefully out of plaster/papier mache they really were quite stunning. Speaking of stunning, the views from the Christ were amazing when the cloud biblically parted and the sunlight streamed through in golden rays. Could my vocab sound any more ridiculous???!! No, but it was pretty amazing and I found it bizarre that I was actually up there, it is such a symbol of Rio, and to be there is quite astounding.
We were also accompanied by Samba musicians on the tram up, no wonder Brazilians are so happy - music is everywhere....
We took the obligatory photos, some better than others due to the hoardes of tourists now in the city for Carneval then we boarded our tram back down eagerly spotting our creatures again.
Back at the hostel I said farewell to Gigi and went shopping for cachaça to bring home and also got my legs waxed..not the most pleasant experience when one has minor sunburn.
However the end product was worth it and for a fraction of what it costs in NZ it had to be done.
As the sun had now cleared the sky completely I scuttled back to the hostel, again grabbed my sarong and plonked myself on the beach for the last time in Rio. Time was spent reading, people watching and restraining from talking to myself - well at least restraining from talking to someone who actually isn't lying beside me on their turquoise blue sarong anymore.
A coco gelado on the way back to the hostel to pack for the last time was interrupted by an email check, as the 3 free computers in our hostel have broken. TYPICAL!!! Back to the hostel I go and meet 2 English boys chilling in my local hostel spa which admirably has disco lights that flashed multiple colours. So in I get and join them and they go and get caipirinhas for us and we progressively get drunk in the spa to disco lights. A lasagne for dinner later and a change of outfit later we somehow split and I ended up hanging out with another group of boys and ended up minivanning it to Lapa, a neighbourhood in Rio where it has had a resurgence in popularity in the samba bars. We partied the night away and ended up watching the sunrise on Copacabana and headed back to the Hostel at 8am in the morning, ready for my taxi..




Riki = Meanwhile back in the B to the A I awoke far too early on Oli´s couch and decided to make the most of it by going for a ´last`walk around my valley in Recoleta. It`s frightening how familiar the place has become and what`s more how much I have come to love it. Arriving back I finally got hold of a friend to arrange meeting him for coffee. The day was jam-packed with catching up with people and farewelling and last-minute shopping. Everything ran late but I managed to shop till I dropped , eat a burrito and see some very beloved ´don´t know how i will cope without it`) Freddo and see various friends and loved ones. Despite everything running late and there being hold-ups every which way I managed to get myself and my luggage on a bus to Areco at 6.15. Arriving after 8 I was met by the Mamucha and we didn`t waste any time in picking up José and heading for dinner. Spanish is going surprisingly fluent considering the 8 weeks in Br and the constant English. Beanie I still mis you!!! jaja! After more ice cream we went to a friends place where I was filled in on the summer crazes i.e Big Brother and then there was bed. Well actually there was unpack everything so as to see what lay ahead of me in terms of packing. My room was(is) quite the ´quilombo`.

Feb 14 - Nadine then Riki

N=After seeing Riki off, I decided to get my shopping chores over and done with. After being told various directions by various people I managed to sort myself onto a bus heading to Shopping Rio Sul. Here at 1045am it had just opened and gloriously I had the place pretty much to myself for a good few hours while I burned my credit card. The Visa pulled through for the first time without problems and thanks to the Liquidacao de Verao I got some great purchases. I think the best would be a R490 dress down to R117. Every single store had a sale with not just one sale rack - but the WHOLE store. I tracked down size33 shoes for mum and then bags in tow I caught a minivan back to the hostel. Shopping delivered and safely locked up in a locker deep inside my slum, I grabbed my sarong and headed out for some more frying on Copacabana. It would be rude not to when the day was so beautiful - and who knows when it will stop?
The rest of the day was spent rethinking and reflecting on lack of a limb (i.e Riki) its just not half as much fun talking to yourself as it is to someone else. Back to the hostel later on and chicken tikka masala dinner at the bar proved to be a winner - if not nearly as spicy as it should be, and then shower time and bed. On my owwwwwwwwwn.....

R= So once I was actually in the taxi and 'three' farewelling Beanie as we drove away the trip to the airport was a relatively painless one despite my newly developed constant insecurity about having messed something up regarding my flight details !!(Wonder why that would be?) Arrived at the Rio International Airport to find my flight on the board and check-in open. Aerolineas Argentinas doing its best to be the worst! The check-in took an eternity but my patience was rewarded when I discovered my tax HAD infact already been paid. I did however control myself in Duty Free didn't buy a single thing. IPOD RoadTrips are BLOOOOODY expensive! Instead I went and waited at the gate for my flight. Looking at my ticket it dawned on me how fortunate I had been, have been and am. In this instance I am going to specify with regard to my summer, the many new precious not to mention hilarious inventions , memories and experiences and the places and people we got to see without too many dramas!There are a few things that really stand out. Starting with the crazy days in BA, The Very Glamorous New Years in Punta, (The bus/border disaster)The Rays, THE SLICE and 'idiot', Our 'amazing' adventures getting to Rio, The Rain Gods Hating us the most, The Three in all its forms and all that it entails whether the team, the fingers or the challenges, 'Spu', Salvador, Dancing classes, Ben Harper (I know I am leaving out things here so bare with me!!! and forgive me!!) Morro with just the beakers!! Horse Riding and Escaping Lencois, More Salvador and missing our flight and our last few hours in Rio (and finally seeing what the place looks like with the sun out.) Thats right, third time really is a charm. Even in saying all this I haven't even started on the flavours that accompanied these last two months. I have never in my life laughed as much nor so hard( or seen my life flash before my eyes by choking after eating something and then starting to laugh- Pieter!!!), Beaded so much or ached so much from doing bizarrely new and wonderful things.
Of course none of this would have happened without my partners in crime- I am not sure where to start singing the praises but stating the reality of what having Beanie 'al lado' meant. Having spent two years apart our reunion was a happy one indeed. I don't think I can sufficiently thank her for having been here or being (and more importantly becoming) the friend she has. The 'naughty' one as called by so many she was always the 'onto' it one whether with reference to technological stuff or just general common sense( yesss that's right the flight idiocy was all my own doing- and I thank her for not losing it at me and infact laughing and eating our way through it!.) This however is all the boring stuff- what i want to say I don't think I can do justly. She let me be as mad and as stupid as I wanted, ate as much and faster than me, shared the same passion for life, food and laughter- has no shame(challenged or own instigated antics alike) and doesn't judge one bit. What may sound like minor things are in fact BIG ASKS out of one friend never mind a friend especially in such constant and confined circumstances. Pieter of course was the other ever entertaining, ever 'taking one for the team' partner in chaos and wreaking havoc and a fantastic friend. A shout out and a slice naturally to those very special people who taught us the beauty of the slice, the BIG caipirinha and the spirit and fun there is in TEAM. Rays we wouldn't have been half as weird without you!!!!That'll do for now Babe!

So sitting there and reflecting passed the time quite nicely with the exception of this dulling withdrawl which grew with the day- Beanie's absence. Apart from our daily physical contact whether flicks, slices or backapack sumo there was NO-ONE to talk to to and laughing by yourself generally isn't received all that well. The three hour flight brought 'meat n pickle' sandwiches and array of small children all conveniently placed within the two rows around me AT THE VERY BACK OF THE PLANE! Touching down in BA was a happy moment for me as flying over I looked down and admired the city that had been my home and my heaven for over 13 months. This feeling of joy was soon after robbed at immigrations(quite frankly the bane of my life) Five counters=7 people and two qeues- one for foreigners and one for Arg- Sounds pretty straight forward , Right?
No, no not when everyone starts looking at which qeue has the least people rather than the number of staff allocated ACCORDINGLY to your passport. So a happy 40 minutes of watching people at work with apparent desire to be anywhere but and consequently not applying themselves or doing it well. At this point i would like to make a suggestion to all airports- I am sure those in charge of budgets won't agree with me. BUT it should be compulsory to take the staff on a trip somewhere great and then when they arrive at the airport put them through two scenarios- a fast, friendly and efficient landing, customs and baggage claim and one similar to that which i experienced . Then on their return do the same. Because if we are honest coming or going no-one wants to have their vacation/business-'travelling' mood ruined by CRAP(excuse my language and my rant) service. Happy days in Spanish and a bus into town did bring the very exciting spotting of a topless transvestite tanning alongside the highway!!!HMMMM! Never a dull moment.
First stop my uni- They were like 'are you still here?'Everything in as much order as I could get I taxi'd to Oliver's apt where i would be crashing. The boys however did not respond to the intercom and I got stranded in an internet cafe for a few hours. Second attempt bought glory and I dropped my stuff and went to my favorite place for a wax. The pain and the pleasure!!!This taxi however had a very solemn driver with organ music and his foot drove according to the moods. IMAGINATE!!!
Any how Florida and phonecalls. Yesss so my attempt to avoid the very obvious and very discriminating reality of Valentines was semi-successful until we went for dinner at this place called 'Mafia' in Palermo Hollywood. Apart from the couples sprawled across tables( At best i would say that on an average day one can see couples behaving in a similar way. The general couple behavious here is EXTREMELY intense and passionate=latin lovers. I would also counter that at times having experienced a little of it although being very soppy-good and bad more than anything it can be quite suffocating and desperate.) Ok so first the waiter looked at us 5 'single' people= 4 F and 1 M with utter horror- I imagine really obese people get looked at similarily when they walk into an ice-cream shop- 'you dare to show your face here?' Finally he put us upstairs in the corner and proceeded to ignore us for a good 40 minutes- he liked us even less when we didn't order the 'special valentines set-menu'(or only one of us did) All the same it was amongst good convo, a great picada and jovial company. Despite Oli not getting all of his meal and us leaving in a 'huff' we smoothly recovered with an ice-cream at Persicco. O Dulce wherefore art my Dulce?
A clean apt was a happy home to return to and the simple pleasure of being able to flush toilet paper inched its way up the ranks to being a BIG pleasure. (In the large majority of Brazil one is not allowed to flush the toilet paper- you have to throw it in the bin!!!Do you know how annoying it us having thrown it in anyway and then realizing that by flushing you are risking clogging the toilets ???)SCNAZZZZ no?
Anyway sleep ensued with the sound of the city-MY city.

Feb 14 - Valentine`s Day!

Our alarm beeps at 6am and up we get to go get Riki`s last Team acai, and some more crazy juices. This time we went for the caja, pineapple and guava combo, and cupuacu milk combo. Nadine then glanced up on the wall to check the time and had a heart attack when she saw it said 7:42. So apparently our alarm clock was an hour behind. This meant some serious juice sculling and acai scoffing which resulted in Nadine getting Brain Freeze. We raced back to the hostel and checked Riki out and were relieved to find that the taxi was still there and it was all good. So now I am alone without my Riki-limb!! What to do, what to do. Now our trip has started on the home stretch, its appropriate to say how much I love Riki, how much a dear friend she is to me, and how impressed I am that we survived Brazil and South America together! For those of you concerned about what will now happen with the blog (because there are SO many fans out there right now) it has now become a split blog. Each of us blogging the days until we are back in the land of the Long White Cloud. To be continued in separation...

Feb 13

We wake nice and early at 8am and tip-toe out of the Favela in fear of waking the 22 other people in there. Finally the SunGods have had mercy on us, the sun was shining bright and clear, and we spent the early hours walking the streets and having juice and açai before heading back to the hostel with our jandal purchase, and failing again on the attempt to withdraw cash. This time the bank was HSBC and the machine neither worked for Nadine or an American tourist behind her. Frustrated with the Visa Lies we headed back to our hostel to get our beach stuff and head to Copacabana to enjoy the fine golden sands.
Laying down our sarongs we passed the time well rotating like Rotisserie chickens on the barby. All this time we have vendors passing us by yelling, skol! (local beer) agua(water)! coca-cola!
By the time we actually want a drink, none are nearby and the ones we call over don't have agua com gas (bubbly water). Oh the Irony.
Eventually an enterprising fellow runs somewhere and gets us some, and salty cashews and watermelon are washed down happily later with cold coco gelado.
Various men freak us out, one being a fellow in a leather swimsuit. And then we try and find ourselves an ATM that works. We spend the next 1/2 hour on the hunt and finally get to one that gives us money. Joy of joys!! As a reward to our missioning around we find ourselves a juice bar and decide on a Team Challenge to try the fruits that we haven't tried yet. And to be honest we were impressed about what we had tried- there were only a few options on the board left. So cupuaçu (Amazonian Fruit) and milk was bought (really creamy almost vanilla icecream like), fruta de conde (also known as pina) which was kind of lychee like, and a coco-grape combo. The thing is I'm trying to describe them, but they are a fruit in its own so I can´t!
So after we juiced we found ourselves the cheapest, most impressive, most efficient pedicure and manicure in the history of the world. For a mere R8 we had our feet scrubbed and toenails painted. Although our pedicurists were unhappy to be there we enjoyed the hairsprayed atmosphere. We made it back to the hostel in time for happy hour drinks, but not without stopping at the local tapioca cart. Tapioca as you may all know it as is very different as what we know it as. It was created into a kind of pancake with fillings ranging from cheese and guava, coconut and condensed milk, coconut and sausage (we didn`t venture into that one) etc etc etc. A burn and tan line inspection and investigation later, plus showers and a few caipirinhas at the bar later we were ready to pack for Riki`s departure back to Argentina, followed by a last supper with Gigi and Alex at 9pm. Gigi picked us up and we met them at a restaurant where we had steak, and caipirinhas and creamy cheesy rice. We were so stuffed we got dropped off at the hostel and promptly fell into bed and slept like babies.

Feb 12

So up we get leisurely at 8am and have our last breakfast, and while we are deciding what to do for the rest of the day we check our emails briefly. And therein sprang forth our problem.
I would like to add 3 things at this point.
1) With all our time travelling around various countries we have not been mugged, raped, robbed, murdered or had anything terrible happen to us.
2) Nadine asked Riki if the flight was 16;30 (our presumed flight time) or 4;30 on the e-ticket. Assuming it was 4;30pm (I mean who flies at 430am?) all trust and confidence was assumed that it was 430pm.
3) Assumptions are the Mother of ALL F***-Ups.
Riki opened her email, and yes, our plane had left about 4hrs ago. Minus one Riki and one Nadine. Deciding we should just boost to the airport straight away to see if the situation could be remedied before all the ticket was thrown down the drain we grabbed a superfast shower, got a taxi, had an açai on the run and boosted to the airport in a mad panic about what we were going to do.
Arriving at the Gol ticket counter we were both nervous and yes thats right, although they put a Visa sign and sticker up they DON'T actually accept foreign credit cards. Even though it's a VISA!!!! So much for Visa being accepted everywhere. At this point, for all of you smugly sitting with your Mastercard - don't be: it applies to you too. So then ensued a mission around the Salvador airport trying to find an ATM that accepted Visa. Failing miserably we pulled the last of our cash out and got ourselves on the 3pm flight to Rio.
Petrified we would miss this flight too, even though we were safely in the departure lounge, Nadine made Riki check every single gate that we saw people going through. Luckily we did get on our flight through Gate 06 and of course Spu accompanied us, again with people scoffing at us. Oh how they laugh.
Two hours later we land in Rio, and yes of course it's raining - AGAIN. We get ourselves on a bus for a painfully long trip into Copacabana and head up to our hostel - the Mellow Yellow. Checking in and finding ourselves in the 'Favela' Dorm room. With 24beds we are deep in the slums. (By the way - the Favelas are the shantytowns in Rio if you didn't know)
Up we go to the bar for our complimentary caipirinha, a plate of pasta, and a quiz night with a eccentric British Quiz Master. Questions ranged from when Brazil was discovered (1500) to What does the Australian Stars on the flag stand for (the States of Aus).
A few more drinks later and Riki and I go wandering Copacabana in search of the Mudbug Bar. We fail and have a coco gelado while we meander, until suddenly we see clumps of foreigners heading that way and off we trail to a bar with a jukebox, a kitschy interior, and chilled red wine served in Beer Mugs, which was the the cheapest drink available. Riki and I opted for the chilled red wine and discovered it tasted a lot like chilled alcoholic grape juice. Not at all like a nice Central Otago Pinot Noir- unfortunately for us.
A few hours passed mingling and chatting to practically just foreigners..Rio is crawling with Brits, Irish, Aussies and Kiwis we decide to pike and have a big day tomorrow. Off to bed we go- Glad we made it here in one piece.

Feb 11

So poor Riki felt ill and crampy tummies all night. On awakening and swallowing some panadol she promptly threw it up. So off we go to brekky to line her upset tum with some bread. We all then crashed back to bed and at 1pm when the sun came out we donned our bikinis and sarongs and jumped on a bus to Barra (after an açai at our fave place of course) where we slept and swam he rest of the afternoon away, making friends with some aussies on the beach and then finally realising when we got our bus back to our hostel that we have reached our tanning limit. We neither burn nor tan. Too early for dinner we head to an internet cafe on our last full day in Salvador. As sand slips through the hourglass of time, so do the days of our lives.. Haha...
Our last dinner was spent at a crispy crust pizza joint, with wandering musicians adding atmosphere to the last supper. It was then back to Laranjeiras to pack up and spend our last night in Salvador. However, Riki´s subconscience had other ideas and kept her up all night- the following day at 10am we found out why....

Feb 10

Heavy pelting rain, thunderstorms and grey skies put a quick end to our illusions of spending the day at the beach. Likewise our hopes of attending another caipoera class were shattered by our inability to move anything beneath our waist in a hurry or with control. What to do, what to do? So as any cripple, cramping(apparently the pasta disagreed with R) we went shopping. And what a happy time. Hunger and time have no meaning in those hours that we shop and wait and try and search. Hard work but we took one for the team!!! Seven hours later we emerged weighed down by bags and thirsty. A very air-conned bus later...yay for the more expensive public transport with air con we arrived in our valley and topped off our purchasing with a gift or two. We also experienced the BEST McDonalds we have had in a long long time... Riki enjoying a McNifico burger, and myself choosing the ChickenGrill. It was hot, fresh and made to order, a contrast to the normal Maccas!
Once we left Iguatemi we headed back to the markets where a crazy lady tried to break a crazy vendor's stallwares. We also saw underneath the market where we assume that was where they kept the slaves when they arrived from Africa. Very eerie, with about a foot of water, and also dark and clammy. Later on back at the hostel we had a kiwi caipirinha..utilising Spu yet again. The Hostel staff scoffed at us, until we gave them a taste and that kept them quiet in the cheap seats. The evening was mellow with chicken salad and yes, of course our daily consumption of Açai.

Feb 9

So we woke up a little too early but were happy all the same to find our favourite hostels brekky awaiting us. Amongst good crusty bread, cake and a huge variety of fresh fruits. Whilst passing time I designated a Team Challenge yesssss thats right there were a variety of teas available to us and I decided that we had to drink them all!!! After wasting away a good hour and a half we headed upstairs and did some more mindmap before heading off to book our samba classes. Upon arrival we were an hour late for one of the classes and what turned out to be the only class on Friday. The guy kindly let us do the last half hour for free and we vowed to return for the class Monday. After the first 5 minutes we both exhausted and beading it with a vengeance but pleased to be in familiar and comfortable territory with the dance steps. After classes we were exhausted and 'surprise, surprise' hungry. On our way back to the hostel we both stumbled across something we had never seen...'an orange peeler' ok so no laughing there is a actual man with a machine who peels the orange by winding a handle which at the same time peels the fruit and then for a mere 40c you get your vitamin C for the day. Trust me when I say every bit as cool as it sounds. IMAGINE!!! SO following our trusty LP (Lonely Planet) we went to a nearby por kilo restaurant where the quality and selection impressed us both. After a broad range of flavors- coconut rice, fish, meat, chicken stews, a variety of ways to present beans and a huge selection of salads. And best of all a dessert table. Full to the brim......we left with the intention of finally getting our braid done. So returning to our newfound transvestite friend 'Mona Lisa' and bargaining him/her from R20 per person to 2 for R10 we sat down and got the deed done whilst being gaped at by locals and tourists alike. Not sure if it was our 'gringo' appearances drawing a crowd or the woMAN doing the braiding. After that we were rather satisfied even paid R12 for 2 - he/she had spunk!!!! A little lie down and a babble later we kitted up once again for caipoera classes. Today feeling slightly more tenderised and a great deal more unco-ordinated we perservered and perspired our way through our fifty minutes. Beanie in socks and me without- both of us walked away feetly impaired and 'exertified'. Our roommates- two aussie blokes were back in the room. In and among one of our rambles we discovered that one of them was a 'açai virgin'. Imagine our horror and the urgency involced in remedying this crime. Off we trotted to our favorite café but not before bumping into our favorite Norwegians in our hostel. Rather bizarre and revealing as they were heading to the airport for Fortaleza and Jeri rather than following their tentative plan of hanging with us here this weekend. So after introducing açai and being smiled onto the street by two barely dressed Brazilians we are in the internet café out of harms way for now. We went and did our internetting for the day and then hunted down Ben to accompany us for some Italian and just to mix it up some red wine from Chile. Ben the Aussie bloke as it turns out know the Rays from Peru!!! Small world after all.....we only dicovered this upon him laughing at our teamtactics and challenges and saying its such a kiwi thing and then he mentioned some other kiwis with whistles....and best of all he was already familiar with the slice. Dinner was tasty and a caipirinha and caipiroska later we yawned our way back to the hostel and another relatively early night´s sleep!

Feb 8

We pull into the bus station in Salvador, relieved we had escaped Lençois, and half frozen due to air con blasting. No wonder anyone wants to sit in the front seats (1, & 2) . Catching a taxi into the Pelorinho we had our fingers crossed there was space for us in Laranjeiras, lest we had to find somewhere else. Thank goodness there was and we checked in, dumped our stuff and headed out to our FAVOURITE Salvadorian restaurant/cafe.. Cafe Bahia. It was 8:55am when we arrived, and in the pouring rain waited in anticipation for them to open. As one door/shuttered window opened we poked our heads in and gave them puppy dog eyes until they let us in. Açai with mango again, hot coffee, mint tea for Riki and a guava juice went down a treat for breakfast.
We then internetted for an hour, posting pictures and videos (thats right everyone check Nadine's facebook and youtube) until the rain stopped and the sun came out. We then sorted some capoeira classes and went back to our hostel to do a Mind Map - bringing back various hilarious memories. It is both starting to dawn on us how little time we have left and how we don't want our fun times to stop. Who would have thought we haven't throttled each other by now??!! No, but I have to admit, it has gone surprisingly well, and I couldn't think of anyone better to do this trip with. Kudos to my dear friend Riki - If I do it, she'll do it. And likewise, we egg each other on, and help each other push ourselves to do our best and face fears together.
So back to the day...
After donning our oh, so awesome capoeira pants we dawdled up the hill and spent the next hour capoeira-ing with a girl who knew her stuff. By the end of it we actually looked like we were coordinated enough to look good. We then booked in some samba classes, with an hour inbetween with which we utilised with fresh-out-of-the-oven Brigadeiro Cake.
Samba came up and instead of the Rio version we had previously learnt we were thrown in the deep end with the Bahian version. We struggled through the class finally getting the hang of it, but in conclusion decided that Rio was more our style.
So today has been one FULL of sweaty backs, sweaty fronts and sweat in general. To be repeated tomorrow....

Best Of and Worst Of Team Riki, Pieter and Nadine.

As an aside we spent a few hours on the bus in hysterics...

Best Acai = Salvador - Cafe Bahia, Salvador
Best Purchase = Brazilian Bandanna and Spu the Bucket
Best Hostel = Jericoacoara HI
Worst Hostel = Nega Maluca
Best Invention = the `Three`
Best Sunburn = Pieter- Jeri, all over(oh the speedos), Riki - Ilha Grande, Face Nadine - Jeri, Butt
Best Commentator = Pieter
Best Coco Gelado = Mosquito Blue, Jericoacoara
Best Restaurant = Cafe Brasil, Jeri
Best Team Challenge = Sand Castle Construction, Jeri
Best Concert = BEN HARPER
Dumbest Moment= Going to the wrong Rio Airport
Funniest Moment = Pieter`s Seal Re-enactment. I`m still laughing..
Best Slicer = Riki Beaker
Least Friendly/Worst Service = Mosquito Blue
Best Service = Bahia Cafe, Salvador
Best Cake = Cafe Brasil, Jeri, and Pieters Bday in Buzios
Most inappropriate moment = Showers in Buzios. Beach Bats in Rio Airport. Beach Bats in Fortaleza, losing the ball over the runway.
Best Team Investment = Jandals, Aviators, Bandannas, Bucket.
Best Shower = Outdoor in Jeri
Best Westher = Jeri
Worst Weather = Buzios
Best Team Competition = Watermelon Eating Contest
Best Narrow Escapes = Estonians, and Brazilian taxi Driver.
Cheapest Transport = 5c Lift in Salvador
Luckiest Moment = Finding the Bike Shop in Buzios to fix Rikis bike.
Best Caipiroska = Kiwifruit in Jeri
Best Caipirinha = Passionfruit

Feb 7

So Riki wakes a little stiff, and almost decides to skip the trip to Mars. Mars I hear you say? yes Mars. It exists in the Chapada Diamantina in Brazil. So off we trek for 15mins into the bush and pop out up the top of where we went watersliding. This place is crazy, pink granite with tea-stained water cascading into sink holes, ponds of various sizes and water carved walls. Excellent swimming temperature too, cold enough to shock your senses, but warm enough to laze and trout around. So we jump of various heights off rocks, into one pool which has a sink hole of 3m and has a diameter of 3ms. Riki and I explore nooks and crannies and clamber up and down and marvel at the weirdness of the landscape. Happiness pervades us as we relax in the sun, pensive that we are two very very lucky girls to be doing what we are doing. So after a while we head down the hill, saddle up our respective horses and head on our way, finally escaping the pervasive smell of the Jenipapo fruit tree that has dropped fruit and smells like an armpit. So we gallop and trot our way across river beds, past wetlands where anacondas live, see a dead donkey, and pass through lush vegetation (that apparently is not that soft when flying past it on a horse). We get to a lunch break where we stop, and the horses are roaming free. Hence begins the day going bad.. Noticeably our guide DOES NOT tie our horses up adn they roam the grass, with tall corn fields slowly swallowing them. So we all get up ready to go again. And what happens? Thats right people, our horses have wandered down to the boglands and gotten themselves stuck in the swampy water. With Nadine`s backpack still attached we were not happy campers. So eventually our guide finds some local boys and helps them to get all 6 of the creatures out of the bog. At this point saddles are soaked, N`s backpack is covered in swamp, and by the time they saddle the horses again, they have been swopped and N ends up with a saddle that is broken, and stirrups that are completely the wrong length. Not happy campers at this point. Away we trot and 2hrs later we arrive home, smelling of swamp, wet horse and wet leather. Not the best combo to say the least.
At this point we would like to add that this tour was costing us 200Reais each. Or so we thought. At the end of our trek our guide nonchalently says - oh its 230 for you too. At this point N gets pi@#$% off and as we have to pay at the hostel we say ok to the guide thank him and have a walk to our passionfruit acai place. An acai later we head to our hostel where we split up - Riki to bus station to see if changing our tickets is possible to that night, and Nadine to the other hostel to pay for the tour. Turns out the woman wasnt there , so I left the amount we agreed upon- 200 and head back to shower at our place and pack. After this shower and meeting with Riki we get a phone call saying we have to pay more. A heated argument later- on the basis that there was no agreement to paying 230each, and that this is akin to going to a supermarket to buy something off the shelf that costs $2 and going to the counter and being told its $4. I blatantly said no we are not paying and I recieved the threat of having someone `come down to see us` at the hostel. At this point, the reasonable person arrived in Nadines head and was thinking- Bring It On. All in all considering, the lunches were average, (a bread roll and apple on Day 2) and the whole incident with the wet pack set N back a WHOLE lot of washing and a swampwater covered toothbrush. Barely worth 200R, let alone another 60 more between us.
So, then `Brazil time` kicked in. We leisurely packed up, and then just left - a good hour after the conversation on the phone. We had some delicious dinner...again not Brazilian - curry with spices and couscous, salad, and a few caipirinhas later..guava, passionfruit and mango alongside a choc brownie with cardamom icecream. Yum. We head down to the bus station after the internet beckoned, got on our bus with no hassles and headed to Salvador... Brr Air Con..

6 February

Off we set for the square all breakfasted up and equestrian-al. The group finally came and after a gentle journey we arrived at the stables. Trust us to opt for horse-trekking in a third world country (not trying to sound like a snob here but just await the full story) Being time conscious Brazil and mathematically wizzardly there were three horses ready for 6 people. Just to give everyone an idea I hadn´t gotten out of bed on the wrong side I had literally jumped without any intention of landing on my feet onto the wrong-side. So naturally when they indicated that the albino horse with crazy purple ears who reached my shoulders was to be my 'steed' I was anything but delighted and due to the circumstances expressing my disdain. Tantrum tot full- steam ahead our guide= Pedro finally cottoned on and changed my 'Gringo'(it´s ever suitable name ) for the best looking horse in the yard. Little did I know it would turn out to be the moodiest of the lot and had a penchant for doing the opposite of what I could or would hope for. So off we took, on the road again the 6 of us a TOUGH CROWD at best- two Danes, one Dutch , B and Pampa her skinny but speedy 'steed', Pedro and me and 'Carioca'( essentially meaning someone from Rio). About 20 minutes into the ride and at the first sign of speed, I FALL OFF THE HORSE, ok so maybe I got thrown ....according to the guy behind me the horse bucked because of my backpack annoying him and me being the 'polo-playing dreamwife' went to hold onto the horses neck rather than pull in the reigns. I went flying into some dense vegetation, ripped my pants and landed on my neck. Horsey skidaddled and lost my pack in the process. Feeling alive and fine enough I got back on the horse and we set off again. A little shakey and a little more humble we stopped at a river for a beautiful swim in tea-coloured water, a snooze and quite the mix for lunch. Picking up the pace again we took to the track and the lush vegetation of 'Chapada Diamantina National Park'. We finally emerged between gallops and trots on fine white sand and the beautful waterfall/river Roncador(means snoring) cascading over the smoothest pink granite. A few corners more and we arrived a turquoise painted building /our home for the night. Big rooms, lots of small children=NOISE(our favorite!!!) and clean bathrooms. A luxury indeed. We removed the saddles from the horses and headed back to the water to let the horses have a swim and afterwards we would be free to splish , splash and slide(natural waterslides had formed thanks to the constant flow of the still tea-coloured water. Upon entering the water my horse being somewhat more hesitant if not stubborn than Beanie¨s something found its way onto my palm and consequently sunk its teeth in. I squealed, the horses fled still in the water and well......not my day with the animals. After re-uniting the horses and getting them out Bean and I 'piranha-ed' our way to the edge of the granite and up the ridges in search of sliding fun- apparently not quite as smooth as we had anticipated but every bit as fast moving thanks to the force of the water- we exfoliated our behinds for a while and trouted about before making it onto the sand consisting of all kinds of minerals with books and yawns. Dinner was served at seven and not a minute toooo soon- fresh air and adventure had worn us all out. Delicious and home-made- rice, feijoa(beans- very typical in BR), green papaya cooked almost like a pumpkin, pumpkin, salad, carne do sol(a dry type of meat cured by the the sun and then cooked) and chicken.. An attempt to find an ever elusive shooting star for the slightly whip-lashed Riki ended without any cigars and sleep was welcomed by all.

5 February

And so our first day in the Lençois started off with a hostel breakfast - coconut cake and fruits. After sussing the hostel crowd we decided to head up to another hostel hoping for a livelier scene and a average age group of younger than 40. Upon arriving at the other place we not only discovered a better scene but various tempting activities. Somehow the idea of a two-day horse trek stuck with us and confirmed and thrilled we headed to the centre of the town to familiarise ourselves with the 'once-was' mining settlement. Surprised by the number of places offering bizarrely exotic dishes ranging from ethnic recipes in Thailand to Morocco we settled for an açai. Beanie went for one with passionfrit- OUR BEST YET- WINNING COMBINATION!!!!!!!! And for good measure I team challenged her to a Jenipapo(BR fruit) juice. At first we thought the snotlike appearance was a matter of judging a book by its cover- however the tasting soon confirmed it was every bit as disgusting as it looked. My drink of avocado, vanilla and lime was pure bliss! So we decided it was time to look into the market. Between the mammoth walk there, the overcast weather and the brown meat due to lack of refrigeration it would be fair to say we where somewhat disappointed. The fruit and vegetable section offered few new things however the variety of spice and pods was surprising and a mysterious pickle with a tail and spikes did grab our attention. We organized bus tickets and very much overdue postcard stamps and headed for lunch. Curry- dressed in long sleeves for the first time in months with an outside temp of 26 we felt somewhat cold and ill. Hostelled all afternoon in front of the tele with a variety of comforts in the shape of chocolate and lime biscuits. An early night ensued and an new day ready for our trek!

Feb 4

Crashed out until 12pm we finally roused ourselves, packed our stuff and headed to the ATM as we realised that we had just not enough cash. On arrival at our ATM we discover that someone really wants to smite us as it had somehow mysteriously broken. Which meant we had to hike up a hill, exhausted and hungover from the night before in the heavy oppressive weather (it had clouded over and rainclouds looked imminent) to the ATM at the top of the island. Eventually we arrive and thankfully it works. Except we ended up waiting behind this Italian guy who seemed to have NO idea how to work an ATM. Without a smile we shoved his card in the machine went through the paces (this was a tricky machine- I mean who would have thought you would have to insert the card twice? Once to recognise, the second to confirm..)
Riki and I did not have the patience nor tolerance for this so hurriedly before exploding we left and trudged back down to have an açai before heading back to the hotel. At this point we were melting and very unhappy so we spent the best 10Reais yet... On a wheelbarrow taxi.
Yes people thats right we hired a wheelbarrow taxi to carry our packs up the various hills to the ferry/boat terminal. Poor taxi driver, probably had a heart attack as he saw the size of our packs, and then actually feeling how heavy they actually were.
Spu, recently named/branded got a ride and a photo with our wheelbarrow and we boarded the speedboat to take us to Valença - the mainland. Coming into Valença was a bit of a shock...shacks on stilts over swampy mangrove and just general poverty in the town. Such a contrast after coming off a beautiful, generally maintained touristy island.
We managed to obtain bus tickets to Feira de Santana, a major transportation hub where we were to catch a bus to Lençois. Again the day didn't really go well. Our bus trip took far too long, possibly stopping at every single stop it could and people talking far too loudly - yes we are all in the same bus/country - you DON'T need to yell. Eventually we got to F d S and got on a nicer bus which did not stop until we wanted to - in Lençois. AT 4am in the morning we got off and were consumed into a mob of people trying to get us to go on their tours, or stay in their hostels. Riki, dizzy, and me half asleep/irritated that I was no longer fully asleep, were thanking our organisational skills when we saw our prearranged ride to our hostel.
Sleep came swiftly and happily...

Feb 3

Full Moon Party Night! I forgot to mention earlier that the moon is currently full and the tides have been super high and super low. (Duh..) So the Full Moon Party is on tonight. Riki and I went for a nice morning stroll along Fourth Beach and then had a refreshing açai before meeting up with Jo, Paul and 2 others we met in Flori who had just arrived- another Jo, and Rich and chilled on the beach... with plans for caipirinhas made, we spent the rest of the day swimming and reading our respective books. Again - life is tough...
Dinner consisted of the best pizza yet.. crispy thin base with gooey hot cheese. Woodfired in a Ferrari oven, and then we went to the supermarket to buy our supplies - i.e bottles of cachaça, limes, passionfuit and ice. Spu got branded as EVERYONE who owns a hotel seems to want to steal him from us, and then filled and progressively emptied before we hiked through town to the ferry to take us the 15mins to Praia Gamboa to where our full moon party was.
The set up consisted of a marquee tents, a red bull tent, a bar with a bathtub of limes and another of ice. Of course the sand was soft and golden and we walked and danced barefoot all night. The moon itself only made a brief appearance but we knew it was there, and it knew we were there too - high tide came and some of us were dancing in wet sand as it came past the barrier. We danced until the small hours of the morning, meeting lots of foreigners..more memorably two norwegians who are coming to NZ in March who we promised to take out and party with! At 630am with the first sign of light we decided to call it a night (or is that a day?) and climbed aboard a boat to take us back to Morro. It was a hard walk getting up and down the hills at 7in the morning, and boy were we pleased when we hit the joy of our aircon room.

Feb 2

Nadine spent the day in bed with a fever and a headache the kind people at our hotel gave her some herbal tea while Riki enjoyed the glorious sunshine. Later on Riki picked me up and we went for stroll along the Fourth Beach and had a sunset coconut. A plate of pasta for dinner later and we were off to sleep...Shortest blog to date, maybe Riki will add some more....

Feb 1

February arrives with another perfect day for beaching it up. On the scale of breakfasts this was the worst yet - not one piece of fruit in sight, and lots of fried bread. As it wasn't quite to our liking, we decided to skip and go and chow down on - thats right you guessed it, an açai.
Riki and I went for a long walk along Quarta Praia (4th Beach - oh the originality of the names) and enjoyed a cold coco at the end before ambling all the way back. The rest of the day was spent reading in the sun, swimming and relaxing. It's a hard life we lead.
Later on Jo said farewell to her Brazilian boy and we all had dinner at a restaurant with Riki and I having salads to share - aren't we healthy. However we ruined all our hard work by sharing a slice of the delicious cake on offer on the main street. By the way did we mention that all the streets are sand? We all turned in for an early night, but Nadine's stomach had a different plan and made her spend the night praying to the Porcelain God - throwing up EVERYTHING that had possibly been in her stomach for the last 24hrs. Bizarre as Riki ate the same as N....