The 'Trio in Rio' (and beyond..) – (Brazil Part 2)

Some of you may recall the theme tune to an 80's sitcom called 'The Wonder Years'. The Wonder Years was a great show that, as a young boy, gave me an insight into how to deal with the challenges that i would face as an adolescent – how to talk to girls for example! Anyway, the theme tune was a song that has been covered many times, most famously by Joe Cocker – '(I get by) with a little help from my friends'. True friends in life should be treasured, they get you through life's gristle and you always laugh longer and harder with someone with whom you have shared the highs and the lows of your life. And so it was that I met up with two true friends in Rio – Wandy and Scott. We began a 3 week adventure navigating from Rio to Salvador, spreading Bovology, minimilistic dancing, getting robbed, getting introduced to the 'Brotherhood', uncovering the fact that nothing makes sense in Brazil, 'meeting' the girl from Ipanema (the new one!), discovering the best bar in Brazil and generally having a bloody good time – Happy Days (incidentally another great sitcom!).

What better place to start an adventure than in Rio de Janeiro? As mentioned in my previous blog, Rio has a truly breathtaking setting, and i finally got to appreciate just how beautiful when we scampered up the famous 'Sugar Loaf' peak to get an incredible panoramic view of the city – its sky scrappers, its beaches, its favelas and its jagged mountain peaks – amazing. Unfortunately the view from the Cristo Redentor (the famous statue of Jesus Christ that looms over the city, arms outstretched) was not so good as the clouds rolled in and obscured the statue from view – still it gave it a slightly mystical edge.

Whilst in Rio I finally managed to get to a football match in South America – and what a setting – The Maracana stadium (arguably the biggest football stadium in the world...and certainly one of the most famous). We watched two of the biggest rivals in Brazilian football (Flamengo v's Vasco de Gama) go head to head in a crazy game involving 5 red cards! There is always at least one red card in every South American game – it seems to be a tradition – and no-one even batted an eyelid at 5! In the premier league most of the challenges wouldn't have even merited a yellow card, let alone a red! The quality of the football was actually surprisingly low, but the atmosphere was awesome - the stadium was over 3 quarters full (more than 75,000 people) - great night.

Ouro Preto was the next stop for the trio – a beautiful little university town set in the mountains about 7 hours North West of Rio. It was built during the 'gold rush' era of the 1800's and retains all of its character and charm – cobble streets abound and there seemed to be more churches than people! We spent 3 days walking around the city, visiting a dis-used gold mine (which involved swimming in a sub-subterranean lake) and meeting the 'Brotherhood'. Most of you will be familiar with the sorority/fraternity system that many universities have in the States. I have always viewed these organisations with a certain amount of disdain. People only party with, or date, people that belong to the same sorority/fraternity - or one of similar standing – people are judged on what sorority/fraternity they belong to and, in general, it seems, that they encourage people to only mix with those of the same social standing, racial and religious background. Now, for me, this eradicates one of the most important aspects of going to University – the opportunity to mix with people from all different backgrounds, to listen to other opinions and ideas and, ultimately, to reduce ones ignorance and develop a more rounded view of the world in which we live. The Brotherhood/Sisterhood tradition in the University of Ouro Preto, on face value, appears to mimic the sorority/fraternity system in the states (you have to 'apply' to get accepted as part of a brotherhood/sisterhood and you live in the same house as all the others in the same brotherhood/sisterhood), but once you get under the surface you realise what its all about – to humiliate the 1st years, to get 3 years free accommodation and to generally have a bloody good time! Basically the boys that want to join a Brotherhood have to endure a year of 'torture' by their older 'brothers'. The bare minimum is that for 6 months of their first year the older brothers are allowed to cut the hair of the new applicants in any way they desire (words shaved into heads, images of female genitalia, chunks of hair!), they have to wear a 'sandwich board' style piece of card around their necks (for 6 months!) and get girls to sign it...and have to get drunk, every day, for 6 months (regardless of whether they have exams or coursework!). We spent a great night with a bunch of these wannabe 'brothers' in a suitably dirty student bar, getting drunk and joining in the 'brotherhood' chants (they all have their own song), and whilst there is a strong bond between 'brothers' – all the brotherhoods mix together to ensure their university days are the best of their lives!

We left Ouro Preto happy, if a little damp (it rained every day), and so went in search of sun, sea and sand. This involved a 24 hour bus journey (not helped by a 4 hour traffic jam) – a challenge for Wandy and Scott – arriving in Arrail d'Ajuda, a highly recommended beach resort. The beaches were nice but, to be honest, we were a bit put off by the lack of people (its low season now) and the 'theme park' feel to the place (the main street has been purpose built for tourists in recent years and felt a bit 'fake').

From Arrail d'Ajuda we continued North for a further 8 hours to another recommended beach resort and this time we stumbled on an absolute gem, and my favourite place in Brazil – Itacare. An incredibly laid back town, with some of the friendliest people I have ever met, some of the most stunning beaches I have seen and the best bar in Brazil – Favela! We spent 5 days chilling on the beaches, watching Scott attempt to surf (he did stand up once – i saw it – for about 3 seconds!), meeting some great people, dancing on the beach and having 5 great nights in Favela! Just to explain – Favela is a wooden shack, with a tree as part of the decor! Due to the small size of Itacare, and the the lack of bars, everyone ends up there. Its just an incredibly down-to-earth, friendly bar with a mix of tourists and locals, all of whom are there for one thing – to have a good time! It only reinforces my belief that in order to have a good night, its all about the people you are with and the atmosphere created by those around you – it didn't matter that the bar was in worse condition than the shed in my mothers back garden – I loved it!

After 5 nights of partying we needed to cleanse ourselves, and what better way than in a stunningly beautiful park called Chapada Diamantina. We arrived in Lencois (the starting point for treks into the park, and a very pretty town in its own right) and promptly booked a 2-day guided trek in the park. The trek involved an overnight stay in a cave, plenty of huffing and puffing of steep hills, some downright dangerous rock hopping/climbing, 3 absolutely stunning waterfalls and for one, long, hour the very real fear of impending death!! Ok, so the photos can illustrate the cave, the views and the waterfalls, but the last point needs some explanation! In order to reach the largest and most spectacular of the waterfalls we had to trek along a river through a narrow canyon for the best part of a day. This involved some pretty risky leaps of faith from rock to rock along the river bed, swimming through the canyon and climbing up waterfalls! For these reasons we left most of our equipment (sleeping bags, rain macs, extra clothes etc) in a cave and continued with the bare minimum. Upon our return to the cave we discovered that our bags had been opened and money had been stolen (bear in mind we had not seen another soul for the last 2 days). Before we knew what was happening our guide, Washington, instantly took off without saying a word and we were left sitting by the cave, on our own, in the middle of a vast wilderness without so much as a compass! To start with we thought Washington had just gone to see if he could hear/see anyone in the immediate area...but as time passed we began to get increasingly concerned. The sun was starting to set and we were a good 2-3 hours trek to our pick-up point with no way of getting there (the park is riddled with different trails). A period of 15 minutes went by when no-one said anything, then all sorts of theories started to get banded around – was Washington in on it – had he arranged the theft, were the rest of our valuables we had left in the hostel owned by his mum also gone, had Washington been captured by the group of thieves, were we going to have to spend a second, sleepless night in the park...after 45 minutes we were getting really worried – it was at this point that i noticed some white 'rocks' in the dusty soil – as I poked them I realised they were not rocks, but bones – and large ones...the more i looked the more i found – the atmosphere changed – what the hell was going on – were all the horror stories that i had heard about Brazil about to come true – were we about to be killed for the sake of £30 and a few smelly clothes?! Over an hour had passed when we suddenly heard somebody approaching – running hard – we all braced ourselves to see who was going to burst through the undergrowth – this was the moment of truth – would we fight back or crumble into submission??...it was a massive relief when Washington appeared! Apparently he had an intuition of who had stolen the money (a recluse living in a cave on the other side of a nearby mountain) and ran off to see if he was there (he wasn't). After a huge collective sigh of relief that we weren't about to be butchered and eaten alive(!), we headed off to the pick-up point at a ferocious pace (the sun was about to set). All in all it was a dramatic end to an incredible 2 day trek (one i would recommend to all – minus the but-clenching ending!). [Incidentally, the bones that i found were the remains of cow – the caves had once been used by diamond miners who had enjoyed a feast from time-to-time!]

The final stop for the trio was Salvador – a city with a beautiful historic centre, let down by the amount of people trying to scam you. And so it is that I say goodbye to Wandy and Scott as they return to the drudgery of the real world! I've thoroughly enjoyed the last 3 weeks and it has again helped me to appreciate the true value of friendship. Next stop for me is Manaus (a large city in the middle of the Amazon), then Venezuela – which is apparently now more dangerous than Columbia (just to make you feel better Mum and Dad!!)