February 21, 2007

The Boipeba Island Adventure

My first day in Brazil started at 7 AM. I had planned to wake up with the sunset at 6:!5, but it decided to rise an hour early so we unfortunately missed it. It was overcast anyways so I’m not so sure it was a sight to see.

After orientation and pre-port stuff (at every port we have a visitor come on board and talk about the country before we get off the ship) I took off for Boipeba Island, south of Salvador, on the coast of Brazil. I didn’t have any idea what to expect from the trip. All I knew was that they just got electricity 15 years ago and their greatest form of transportation was a mule. I was very nervous pre departure because I hadn’t met my group yet and was concerned it might just be filled with our lifelong learners (elderly people traveling with the ship). So at 10:15 on Saturday I met up with my 14-person group in the union and was excited to see my small group. There were 11 girls and 3 guys, and two of the ladies were members of our SAS staff.

I knew we had a day of traveling ahead, but didn’t know it was going to take all day. We left Salvador with Charles, our group leader and owner of the Santa Clara in Boipeba. We drove for a few hours before stopping and enjoying our boxed lunches. During that time we got to see the outskirts of the city and how the urban areas eventually turn into their rural population. Around 3:00 we stopped at a small town that is known for having the best ceramic making business in the state. We arrived in our small tour bus, and as we drove in, little boys (11-15 yrs) began following us and just waiting eagerly for our exit from the bus. Charles was telling us how we were the main attraction for the day and they were all very excited to see us. As we started walking around the town, each boy sort of designated himself to one of the girls and called himself her ‘guilla,’ or guide. They wanted to be our tour guide and show us around their town. Many of us know Spanish and tried to use that to communicate with them, but we came to find that Portuguese and Spanish are not as similar as we thought. Double ‘l’s in Spanish are a ‘y’ sound while in Portuguese it’s more of a ‘j’ sound. My little guide was named Antonio Marcus, or something very similar to that. Many of the boys loved getting their pictures taken and would put on big smiles, but there were many of them who were shy as well. We had left over boxed lunches and gave those out to the boys. At first they were hesitant to reach inside and see what food was available, but as soon as the first boy did it they all jumped in. Everything was taken from the box including mayo and relish packets, which they ate as we drove away.

We left the town at 4:30 and headed for a ferry that would lead us to Boipeba. We departed on our vast ship around 5:30 and it took 2 ½ hours of night-boating to get us to this fantastic island. The sun was still shining some light when we started our sail, but by 7-730 there was no light. Our boat didn’t have a headlight or anything to guide us, so we were all pretty nervous about whether we were going to make it to our destination. There was an Amazon trip available through SAS which we figured was very similar to our boat ride to Boipeba. Dark, cold, and buggy.

What all of us were expecting was nothing of what we got. Charles’ little hotel/resort is right on the beach and filled with Pousadas (guest houses) and a very tropical environment. It was beautiful. There are bars right on the beach and people always outside singing and dancing. Charles’ brother, Mark, is the chef in their kitchen. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten so well for 3 days. We had dinner around 8:30, and I was able to have my first legal alcoholic drink since during 21. I tried their most popular beer, Skol, and liked it very much. We got to our designated rooms which were great. I had a sweet mosquito net over my big bed and I was so happy to be where I was and not in the dirty city.

The next day we took a 7-mile hike across the island, which is 12 x 8 miles. And 7 miles is a lot longer than it sounds. Its 7 miles. By the end of the trip we were all in our bathing suits and bare feet, obtaining the greatest sunburns ever seen. We stopped at a local community flourishing with puppies, children, orange soda, and baby chicks. They also had two pool tables in a house and I wondered how a community, with no cars or heavy machinery, could get two pool tables through the hills to the middle of this island. We finished our trek around 1 PM (started at 8:30) and had lunch on a sandbar, which is basically just this area in the middle of the ocean where the tide is low and you can hang out on the sand. I was the first to jump in the water and cool off. The water down there is so warm an so salty. It’s not very blue or clear, but still very refreshing.

After lunch we header back to the resort. We took another Amazonian adventure through the mangroves, but this time had a different boat. Five or six of us were able to sit up on the roof of the boat and just enjoy the scenery of the island. It was fantastic and I didn’t want to be anywhere else. We stopped at a floating oyster bar and I tried a very fresh (straight out of the water) oyster with lime juice. It was slimy and I couldn’t really taste it. But I don’t think I like the texture of oysters in my mouth.

Day two on the island we wanted to try snorkeling. It wasn’t very successful, but the water is always nice to be in. During Carnivale on the island, about 2,000 tourists come and visit (which is half the total population) and take over the waters. We were able to swim for a while, but eventually it was time to go because it was getting too busy. During low-tide its very hard to move a boat full of people. Our boat got stuck so we had to borrow the guy’s two down from us (There were probably 15 boats total). That’s not something that would happen in America. He took us to the coast and we began another hike/walk along the island. This one was much shorter and easier, only lasting two hours. The rest of our afternoon was at leisure and I used it to nap in the hammock hanging outside my room and also to take some time to have a beer and see the gorgeous Brazilian sunset. After dinner we went to a performance of oversized puppets. It is part of this man’s Candomble religion, but it was also the oddest thing I’ve ever seen. He creates giant people out of paper mache and hinges them all so they can move and dance to the music he plays through his stereo. It was quite a site.

Day 3 in Boipeba was our last. I used it to go into town to buy some flip-flops and to spend some time reading Angels and Demons, which I finally finished and loved. I didn’t think it was better than The Da Vinci Code until I got to the last 150 pages. We took the same trip home that we took to get here except we made a small pit stop at this place that makes corn everything. So for dinner, we had some corn pudding stuffed with cheese or coconut, corn juice and corn ice cream. The latter two were surprisingly good, and I think people would get use to corn ice cream. We got back to Captain Jeremy and the MV Explorer at 9 PM. I hadn’t had a night out in the city yet and was pleased to see my friends still here and preparing for their night out. It was the last night of Carnivale and I was not impressed at all. The streets smelled like pee and most of the liquid in the streets was pee. There are thousands of people, men grabbing you and kissing your neck, trying to get your attention. We saw a break-dancing competition which was neat, but I was so glad that I had spent the last three days in Boipeba. I felt like the girl who had been invited to the party through her friends’ friend’s friend, and was there with 20,000 of her closest friends. And they all spoke a secret language.

I’m taking a Food and Society class and have to write down everything I eat in the ports. Mark, our chef in Boipeba was just so amazing I wrote down everything he made us anyway. And all we ate was made from scratch in his kitchen. So this is what I was indulging in while in Boipeba.

Day 1, Dinner: Eggplant with mozzarella and tomato; Crab-curry with white rice; Apple Crisp

Day 2

Breakfast: Fresh Arcola (sp?) juice – it’s a red fruit a little smaller than a cherry, Tapioca pudding, fresh fruit cup, banana-bread, western omelet, and amazing coffee.

Lunch: Pasta salad followed by a hummus sandwich on homemade bread with lettuce and the reddest tomatoes I’ve seen in a while. I’m going to try to replicate it when I get back home. And to top off the best sandwich, one of the best brownies I’ve ever had. Seriously Mom, I think it was in the top 3.

Dinner: Clam chowder. Steak is big in Brazil, and supposed to be the best. And I love steak so I jumped at the opportunity have whatever kind I could get. So I had some beef on a skewer with a Thai noodle thing (and sauce), and for dessert, frozen cappuccino covered in fudge sauce and whip cream. And then I ended with some fresh coffee. This was definitely my favorite day for food. And my two favorite meals.

Day 3

Breakfast: More freshness: papaya, melon, Guava juice, tasty bread, potato and olive stuffed in a mini pancake thing

Lunch: Vegetarian lasagna with some of the best zucchini, fresh salad and homemade coconut and coffee ice cream

Dinner: Soft-shelled crab, and a massive quesadilla filled with chicken, veggies and cheese. It was the best ever. We ended with a chocolate bund cake.