The Pantanal

A 3 day tour of the Pantanal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantanal) didn't impress me as much as I though it would. Sure, sure it has some great wildlife, and tonnes of alligators and beautiful birds but I left slightly disappointed. Maybe it was because it was wet season and all the animals we spread out, maybe it was because I got a little distracted by the mosquitoes that were SERIOUSLY EATING THE FOOK OUT OF this slightly chubby white man, but mainly I think it is because of Moremi. Call me a boring git for comparing one wildlife adventure with another and relegating the latter to a lower position but Moremi in the Okavanga Delta (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okavango_Delta), northern Botswana (where I was about 7 year back) had fooking lions roaring all night and elephants and zebra and springbok and Kudu and hippos and hyenas looking at you from the undergrowth as you nervously pissed into the bushes holding a torch and big stick. Different experience here in Brazil, beautiful birds everywhere and so many alligators we got bored of seeing them but the largest deer I saw could only have reached my knee and there was not a dangerous mammal type predator to be seen. I wonder about the evolutionary reasons for this and the differences it made to the cultures of the indigenous peoples, relating it to the accounts of the first people from Europe to land in this continent, but mainly it thought of it as a weak man's Africa. (yes i am aware how terrible this sounds).

Still great times though, floating down a piranha infested river in rubber rings during a tropical lighting storm is not a memory I'll forget, especially as we went fishing the next day and I realized just how many deadly fish had previously been exposed to my great white arse bobbling by overhead. and i learned how to gallop on a horse (by accident and probably to all those who've rode horse it would be called a trot, but it felt bloody fast and was pretty pretty good fun).

Life Lessons from Portuguese Tiles

All these tiled pictures are from the church (called Sao Francisco) that i mentioned in the last post - the really rich one. I could post hundreds of pictures of the gold leaf interior and they'd all be nice but i mainly liked the blue and white tiles that were imported from Portugal and displayed in the cloisters. It's a bit tatty (but then the unofficial civil war that rages constantly in Salvador means that this state of affairs doesn't surprise) but the mosaics are amazing if not slightly haunting. There is even one which has a picture of Jesus with horns and pregnant angels (some joke played by uppity slave whilst he was no doubt being whipped and assembling them)

They all have a little plaque at the bottom saying what they represent. They are in a specific order, as they draw closer to death but the pictures got slightly messed up in order on my camera so they are a bit all over the place below...

The blessings of country life.
Be content with your lot.
Envy is great evil.
In union there is strength.
The scales of friendship.
Every power is subject to a greater power.
Before all else heal thy soul.
In any state of life you may still be a philosopher.
Stick to the middle of the road.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Learning perfects nature.

Old age has its compensations.

The Lost is never found again.
With time we change ourselves.
The fear of death (!).

Death levels all ranks.

Death is certain.
It is true philosophy to meditate on death.
Secure if you live virtuously.
After death jealousy ceases.
Death is the last thread.
In death all is left behind.
Cheery eh?

and this was the state of the place, as I say, silent civil war going on...

Seems that i missed the JC with horns and the pregnant angels but here are a couple more without plaques for meaning...

Bumbling round Bahia

My oh my, this is out of date, but I've managed to find a decent internet connection to finish of what i had already started to write about Bahia... this was about 3 weeks before the time of writing, but seems like ages more (i'm in La Paz now!).

I also have a good deal of photos on my old camera I use in cities (so if it gets robbed i don't mind too much) but i haven't got the cable or patience to get the photos of that. which is a shame as i have some nice ones of Salvador and all the weird stuff that happened there.

Started near Porto Seguro after a long bus ride from Belo Horizonte

This is not where I stayed - "Privillage". See what they've done there? they bought a massive amount of the beach front area and built a massive ugly holiday village which is not only a private village but is also for the most privileged of society. What clever word play!

Twats.

anyway - off my left wing high horse - MOON!

there were absolutely tonnes of these crabs wandering about the beach under the full moon, they looked like moving rocks until you almost stood on one where upon they became running rocks with sharp bits...

Trancoso - a tranquil little town 35Km down the coast from Porto Seguro.
The full moon caused a massive high tide which flooded a good deal of the beach and surrounding area.

Question - why has the black kid only got one leg one this picture on the side of school? i really don't know the answer!

the tide was far out

and i got absolutely savaged by sand flies. super unpleasant amount of itching had to be done.

then it rained, after the lady who owned the backpackers said "it never rains here any more, it hasn't rained for 3 weeks", then the downpour...

Salavador!

Fooking well good city, although it is somewhat full of pikeys (or more accurately very poor people in a very expensive country) trying to get money off you. at first i though that i'd had worse in other countries. that the beggars often walk off after about 3 firm refusals, but it got worse and worse as i stayed there. kids crying on the back of your t-shirt as you walk away, a lad i was with had his sunglasses stolen off his face, one chap followed me for about 2 hours, a boke almost robbed me but due to my inherent fatness thought better of it when he stepped up (he was little and looked bloody hungry). Pain in the arse. Good nights out though.

as i say, shame i don't have the pictures off my other camera but it's been such a mission sorting and uploading these that its actually a relief. Maybe another day.

Jorge Amado museum, all in porkncheese so not much use but i was reading Dona Flor at time so had a coffee in there and read a chaper. exellent writer.

This is a statue of Zumbi who was leader of a escaped slave settlement called Palmeras back in the day. it ended up getting crushed by a group of mercenaries after repelling many attacks by the government, worth reading about as it's one of the first cases of slaves getting pissed off with their lot and fighting back. I did my learning from a book called "A Death in Brazil" by Peter Robb, which is well written and holds a good deal of information on teh historical development of modern Brazil (as well as some hilarious stories of corruption in more recent governments)

The church behind the cross is the second richest in terms of gold in the world, after the Vatican. i have some excellent photos of inside which i intend to upload in a separate instalment if i can get the bandwidth (which means i wont...)
and this is probably one of the poorest churches in the world, it had plastic chairs and is one of many that are Christian but offer a less constrained version of the faith, and link in with african religions and are a touch unique. They are far more popular.

Has there been a civil war in Salvador that no-one the locals about? i would also add pictures of the police who look more like the army but every time i tried to take a photo of them they chased me down and told me to delete them.

Mad man, dressed up funny.

and it you're going to make nude statues of women, you might as well indulge yourself no?