So last week, I took a trip with some friends to Praia de Forte, which, despite being, oh 50 miles away, took us a good 3 or 4 hours to get to. Oh how I love public transportation and Brazilian efficiency. Anyway, this place was wonderful, just the break I needed from the hustle and bustle of urban Salvador.
Historically a quaint fishing village, it's home to the TAMAR project, which in short, helps rescue injured sea-turtles and helps baby sea turtles hatch and make their way to the ocean by turning off lights so they can grow up. While we can't say how many of these baby sea turtles actually make it more than 2 days without being eaten by a bird or fish, but at least TAMAR tried, right. Ironically, as much as they claim to love little turtles, I was really disturbed by the fact that they had 4 full grown nurse sharks stuffed in a tank 6 feet across with 2 feet of water. . .
This photo taken from the TAMAR project. Do not sue me please.So this project attracted tourists, which in turn caused the residents to drop their fishing poles in exchange four tourist stuff and the whole village/town was more or less redone into a tourist resort area. BUT, since it was, and still is a fishing village, it retains an innocence and villagey feel that Salvador could never imitate. There is no crime, no people trying to sell you things while you are napping on the beach, no cars in the village. Even a waitress who, at the age off 22 or 23 has a 2 year old son and works 12 hour shifts at a cheap (but tasty) 24 hr burger joint calls the village "Paradise".
The place is full of kids playing in the streets and being, well kids, and doing things like writing Lave me (wash me) on dirty cars - something that I rarely see in Salvador, where harsh lives lead so many kids to beg, or at least work at very young ages. Overall, the people have a very different demeanor and I was able to fully relax. Of course, I was also there from Thu-Sat, during low season which made the place much emptier than normal.It's a great place for water activities - deep sea fishing, kayaking etc. The beaches are full of tropical fish, just off shore and it's great for snorkeling. I went "snorkeling" without a snorkel and swimming goggles until the locals saw me making a snorkle out of a plastic straw and intervened to save my life by letting me use one for free. . . . But, I saw crabs, hermit crabs, lots of purty tropical fishies, an octopus (a real one Dylan!) an eel, a sea snake.
Despite the tourist infrastructure, Praia do Forte welcomes a lot of Brazilians, and the locals still ARE fisherman. In the morning and night, you could count on seeing a fisherman standing out in the water catching stuff, and if you looked around on the streets you'd eventually see someone walking back with a big catch.
A fisherman at dusk
I ran into this guy, who was catching crabs for his aunt's beachside restaurant/bar.
I actually ended up eating one of those tasty tasty crabs, which you eat by bludgeoning with a big stick. Part of the fun. Of course, in the true spirit of Brazil, I had to have some grilled cheese on a stick and an acaraje, for those who know what it is. And Praia do Forte was home to the best churrasca (shish kabob) I've had since I've been in Brazil. Or ever.Anyway, I was only supposed to stay for a night with my travel mates, but I decided to let them go back to Salvador while I stayed behind another night. Nothing quite like splashing in the water, poking the fish, smashing crabs, snoozing in the sand, listening to live (albeit not that great) music at night and gazing at a starry southern hemisphere sky to make you forget the stresses inherent in any city.
I got to put my Portuguese to the test - I was translating for my friends the slightly drunken, yet incredibly hilarious and often insightful ramblings of two Brazilian friends we made there (the waitress and our beach side bartender - that guy was talented!) I think I did a pretty good job!
So, I've definately gotta go back there someday.
Oh, I almost forgot about the monkeys!! Yes there were monkeys in Praia do Forte. My travelmates and I saw some in a tree one day, which was very cute. Monkeys are supposed to be in trees. But then the next day, at an ice cream shop, they were everywhere!! Jumping 6 feet from table to table, leaping from chair to chair, laying on the tables and umbrellas. Entertaining, but I was at times afraid of being attacked. The ice cream employees seemed rather jaded with the whole spectacle, but let me tell you, if you are looking to attract people to your ice cream shop, get some monkeys. . . worked like a charm.
Despite my frolicking, I've been doin some serious stuff too (research). First let me say I've had some mishaps too - I went to what I thought was a traditional northeastern Brazilian drumming concert (maracatu) that turned out to be like a rock/heavy metal concert. Yeah, they played those-Afro Brazilian rhythms deeeeeep under the rock. Well, it was the only time in my life I'll ever go to a rock concert, so it was interesting to notice how the musicans and audience behave - which is verrrrry different than my normal fare, or my research. I also have had some misinformation and gone to a spot for some wholesome research only for there to be no one there.
I did get to catch a glimpse of an up and coming samba de roda artist, Mariene de Castro - I shoulda been there earlier but I got caught up watching a free play - it was theater day or something, and it was free, so yeah, bad call on my part. I also saw a concert by Mateus Aleluia, a former member of Os Tincoas or something like that, which is a group from the 70's. He's kind of a legend in some ways I guess- and unknown legend, heh. He took a Condomble (religious) song that was in the public domain, and redid it, and now a bunch of famous people/groups sing that song and everyone knows it and it was he who did it. I also got to do a quasi interview with him and find out some great stuff.
I also started taking lessons with the director of Swing do Pelo, an AMAZING samba-reggae group, and soon I'll be playing with them in the streets. I'm working on getting a site to post my videos, and then you can take a look at that.
Ok I'm getting sick of writing and you're getting sick of reading, but I just want to share something with you.
http://finance.
This is a graph of the value of the US dollar vs. the Brazilian real since I've been here. Tragic. I'm getting broker every day even if I don't buy anything. Just shameful. Oh, I learned some interesting stuff about Brazilian currency that explains my general confusion over the coinage, but we'll save that for another day *suspense*.
Alright, enough for now, until next time! Tchau!
This entry was brought to you by the letter J and the number 11.
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