Amazon

From Belem, we went on a 24-hour boat trip on the Amazon forest. Not the deepest and wildest part of it, but enough to spend exotic moments...amongst crazy baby green parrots:

 

 ...Giant trees:

 

 A highlight of the trip was a ballad on rivers that are remote mouths of the giant river Amazona (which was too far to visit). We saw unique forest landsapes from near:

We said hi to the habitants of the area - who are very courteous - from their boats: 

  

 ...or their houses built on stilts at the river shore:

Jericoacoara

After a 29-hour bus trip including 1h on a vintage bus equipped for sand driving, we got to Jericoacoara. It consists in a little but touristy village fully built on the sand and surrounded by dunes that are protected by the National park designation.

One highlight is the Pedra Furada:

Another must-do is watching the sunset (together with a few hundred people...) on the dedicated dune, logically called "Duna do pôr do sol":

 The second day was spent Buggy-touring within the park (passeio do leste):

...featuring stops at the Lagoa Azul, which offers a unique lagoon-plastic-chair-sitting experience shared with our tour-mates:

 And a stop at Lagoa Paraiso, whose water is known to be very transparent:

 The trip also featured sandboarding at the "Lagoa do Coraçao" which unfortunately was too dry to have its heart shape. Here is a view of another lake we stopped by to admire the wind drawing sand clouds on the dunes.

 A particularity of all these lakes is that they have been created by the rain and are therefore filled with freshwater. We too were freshpeople:

Salvador, Bahia

We stayed in Salvador for few more days than initially planned. Salvador is a coastal city of a few millions inhabitants, which dominated the Bay of all Saints. Entry point of most of the african slaves a few centuries ago, it looks like a melting pot of different cultures, mainly African, European and Indian.

We had time to explore the different terraces up the hilly old town, and sip a caipirinha at sunset.

And after sunset, a number of live concerts start a bit everywhere on the street. Just as the cultures are mixed, the music is also an interesting fusion of different styles: bossa nova, samba, rock, jazz...

Our stay in Salvador was actually split in two, since we stayed for two days in Morro de Sao Paulo.

The skyline of Salvador, as seen from the boat taking us to Morro Paulo (see above post).

Morro do Sao Paulo

It was way too hot in the big city of Salvador de Bahia, so we decided to have a break at the beach...
We are now heading to the island Morro de Sao Paulo, a 2h boat ride !

It s just a typical tropical island, with its palm trees and its warm water... Almost too hot!!

 

It was a good start for our suntanning sessions...

Birthday present - Sunny Rio

However, in the morning of the 3rd (ok, lets say it was a birthday present), we found Rio sunny, for the first day since our arrival (and also our last day there). You may see the view awaiting us early in the morning...

We then went to a viewpoint to see the Corcovado (Cristo Redentor). Every single tourist had been waiting for that day all week, so we did not try to get to the top, which was virtually inaccessible because of the taxis full of tourists.

Here admiring a large panorama over Rio.

In this panorama, you may see on the left the Pao do Azucar, and on the right, on top of the hill, the corcovado. It may seem small from here, but the statue is about 40m tall..

Night in Lapa

Indeed, the 2nd of January was a rainy day. Yet, we went to visit quite a few neighborhoods, starting with the must-do Ipanema beach (but we havent seen the famous girl). Two clues would make the famous Photoshop turning-the-sky-to-blue feature inefficient: Arnaud and I are wearing shoes and the beach is empty...

 

This is still a good situation to show how well the typical sand art pieces resist to rain

 Evening started with the visit of Escadaria Selaron in Lapa, an original fresco with stairs and walls filled with tiles sent from around the world.

 

Arnaud cannot believe what he sees...

 

The visit was followed by a banquet dinner made with the local dishes: grilled chicken, rice, feijao (black bean in sauce), farofa (Manioc - dry - flour, Sevag's favourite), and salad. We were served incredible portions and our three wide-spread stomachs won through a 2-people portions not without difficulty...Arnaud, again, does not believe what is happening.

 

Another lucky pleasure offered by the restaurant was the broadcasting of a local telenova, featuring a great variety of situations and characters, including this one... 

 Lapa is the place to be at night to be at the heart of Brazilian music, with live music at every corner, including on its walls.

 There, we ended up fairly late in a jazz bar, with an excellent concert.