Fortaleza, Brazil

The hot weather, beautiful beaches and delicious food continued in Fortaleza as I continued to make my around Brazil’s northern coastline.

Whilst a big city, I only spent 4 nights here as I’m eager to get started on the trail towards Manaus - i.e. Jericoaoara, Barreirinhas, Lençóis National Park, São Luis and Belém. I’m trying to strike a balance between being able to spend as much time in each place as I like, and making sure I’m at a suitable city to see the Federal Police and extend my tourist visa, which runs out on June 2.

On Thursday I took another tour of some beautiful beaches on the back of a buggy - Morro Branco and Canoa Quebrada. This type of tour seems to be the norm in most cities I visit in the north. Whilst on the tour, we had to form smaller groups and yet again NO ONE spoke English! But lucky enough I was offered by a nice Brazilian guy to join him and his family. We only spoke in very broken Portuguese over the course of the day but it was nice to have a group of people to enjoy the experience with.

Finding good food and coffee being one of my favourite hobbies on this trip, I decided to take a walk around the Varjota district, which is supposed to be famous for its abundance of cafes and restaurants. It didn’t disappoint and I found myself returning the next day to visit Amika Coffee House, and then Recanto da Varjota for their superb meats and salad. To top it off, I treated myself to an ice cream from San Paolo. Brazilian’s seem to have a bit of a fetish with Nutella, so I opted for the Nutella Ice cream with Kit Kat, Brownie, and M&M filling - and it’s safe to say I’ve rarely had so much enjoyment from food in that small space of time (Mum: besides your cooking of course!).

On Friday night I went out with some new friends (friends of Sálua whom I met in Salvador), but the shots of Cachaça left me with a rotten hangover on Saturday morning. So off to the beach again it was to try and shake it off. Simone and Alfredo (both who work at the hostel) took me to Praia do Futuro - a beautiful surfing beach lined with restaurants and beach clubs. We spent the afternoon looking out across the water, sipping on coconut water and listening to music - a superb way to cure my hangover and end my time in Fortaleza.

Natal, Brazil

A fairly relaxing 5 hour bus ride from Recife brought me to Natal, in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte. I like to mix up my time between Couchsurfing and hostels - being around people and then spending some time on my own. It gives me a chance to zone out/relax/recharge/whatever you want to call it - and not have to worry about someone else's plans. It's good to have time like this to think only about yourself and do whatever you want... in moderation of course. 

Anyway. Natal seems to be used more as a hub to visit other nearby beaches. With only 5 nights here, I only really had time to venture out to 1 beach. One that almost every Brazilian recommended to me - Praia da Pipa. 

Before I took the bus to Pipa, I spent a whole day taking a buggy around various beaches close to Natal. I couldn't remember the name of any of the places that we went to, just that it was so refreshing to be sat on the back of that buggy driving across the sand, wind in your face and beautiful scenery all around you. It was only myself and another Brazilian guy on the tour (who speak absolutely no English), but we had a great day and took some pretty impressive photos. 

The next day I traveled to Pipa, on a bus that took the best part of 2 hours. I checked in to a hostel recommended to me by a girl at the hostel in Natal, then took a walk down to the beach to take some photos and enjoy the sunset.  

On Monday I woke up early to go for a run along the beach, just after sunrise. I ran across to Baia dos Golfinhos, a beach people told me it was common to see dolphins. Whilst I didn't see any dolphins, the view was beautiful. After breakfast I took another tour to some nearby beaches, this time with a bigger group on the back of an old Army style 4WD. Again, I got some more amazing photos, tried slacklining for the first time, did some sandboarding and finished off the day with another beautiful sunset. 

I took another gamble with a run to the dolphin beach on my last morning in Pipa, but no luck! I'll have to wait until my tour of the Amazon in Manaus I think. In the meantime, it's off to Fortaleza. Another new city to explore, more hot weather and more beaches!

Recife, Brazil

After my time in Salvador, I was looking forward to visiting a new city where I hadn’t had any previous experiences. Recife was to be one of the biggest cities in the north of Brazil I would visit, so I gave myself a week there to take in as much as possible.

I’d made contact with a number of people from Couchsurfing, which seemed to have quite a large community in Recife. By the time I checked in to the hostel, I’d already been having a bit of a conversation with a girl named Marcelle, so we decided to meet up for dinner in Boa Viagem (The main beach of Recife, and where my hostel was located).

On Saturday night I hung out with Marcelle and her friend JP in Recife Antigo, where we chilled out in Marko Zero and sampled a few of the cheap cachaças being sold by vendors on the street. The next day I was off to Porto de Galinhas with Zach, an American guy (living in Brazil teaching English) I met at the hostel. Relaxing on the beach with a juice in hand, we spent the afternoon talking aimlessly, taking in the sights and sounds and getting a tan.

Monday was spent walking around Olinda with another friend from Couchsurfing, then finished off with an awesome (and cheap) all you can eat Japanese lunch – for just under AUD$20. This was to be my last day at the hostel in Boa Viagem, as I then moved to stay with a Couchsurfing host in a nearby suburb called Torre. Thiago was extremely generous in taking me in to his new apartment for 3 nights and not only feeding my huge appetite, also showing me around Recife and teaching me about his city and it’s culture.

For my last full day in Recife I met up with Marcelle again in Recife Antigo, and we visited Paço do Frevo (a museum dedicated to the culture and history of Carnaval in Recife), a train museum, and had lunch in Mercado da Boa Vista. I had a shot at another local dish ‘Arrumadinho de Carne do Sol’ - which was fantastic. JP met up with us after lunch and we took a couple of buses to Instituto Ricardo Brennand – a castle-like museum which holds a very impressive collection of Brazilian and European historical artefacts from the 15th to 19th centuries.

In the evening, we met up with Thiago in Recife Antigo and shared dinner together. We stopped for a while to enjoy a concert in the street, then it was time to say goodbye to Marcelle and JP.

In Recife I walked a lot of miles, took plenty of buses and topped up on my tan in what felt like a round-the-clock 35 degrees sun. I made some great friends from which I was sad to leave, but I guess that is the beauty of the Couchsurfing community - there’s a kind of unspoken agreement that one day, you’ll see them again and return the favour when they visit your hometown.

Salvador, Brazil

My stay in Salvador started off pretty hectic. Our bus in to the city arrived 3 hours late as we were stuck in traffic. The traffic was caused by a huge storm that saw more rainfall in one night than all of April last year. Houses were ruined, traffic came to a standstill, and sadly lives were lost.

The poor weather continued throughout the start of the week, gradually getting better. But my friends in Salvador told me this was the case for the majority of the year.

Still, this being my second time in Salvador meant I could skip the typical tourist spots and seek out sights. Luckily I was put in touch with Sálua, a friend of one of the staff at a hostel I stayed at in Rio, who was able to give me some tips on what to see.

After the first night, I switched hostels to the one I stayed at last year during the World Cup - Barra Guest Hostel. This place I knew was well kept, clean and served a great breakfast. I was almost considering a stay at a new hostel in Salvador - Açai hostel - that is, until I read a recent review from a guest explaining how the hostel was robbed at gunpoint at 4AM a couple of weeks ago ... pass!

On Wednesday I took a trip to the Museu de Arte Moderna da Bahia, which had a very interesting exhibition on the history of slavery in Bahia. A lot of photographs were matched up to locations from the famous Tintin comics, which brought back memories of my childhood reading these with my Dad. Afterwards, I stopped for a juice in the cafe, then went back to the iconic lighthouse in Barra to try some Acarajé and see the sunset.

On my last night, I met up with Sálua and her friends in Rio Vermelho for a drink and some more Bahian food - more Acarajé and I also tried some Abara. It was a great night and while Sálua's friends could barely speak English, we had great fun. Unfortunately I couldn't stay the weekend to spend more time with them, but my visa in Brazil is coming to an end so I need to move on!

The lighthouse at Farol da Barra.

Porto Seguro, Brazil

I've just arrived in Salvador, after a quick 2 night stop in Porto Seguro. I stopped there to break up the otherwise long trip from Vitória, and had also heard some good things about the beaches party atmosphere.

I stayed at Hotel Terra, which was recommended by Wikitravel for having a good breakfast … I’m gonna be honest and say that that was mainly what sold me on it. They had a lady there making tapioca and it was delicious, definitely a recipe to bring home!

I only had two full days here, so on the first day I spent some time walked around the beach and the famous Passarela do Alcool - pretty much a big street full of alcohol, food and souvenir stalls.

The highlight of my stop here being the day trip to Recife do Fora. We took a boat out to a reef that you can walk around during low tide, and we spent the next hour snorkelling around and appreciating the reef and sea life.

In the end, I learnt the hard way not to choose a hotel purely based on it’s breakfast - on Saturday night my room became infested with some sort of flying ant. After swatting about 100 ants with my thongs and still not getting them all, I was able to convince the hotel staff to change my room and got a decent night’s sleep.

And what was supposed to be a 12 hour bus from Porto Seguro to Salvador ended up being more like 15 hours, due to heavy traffic caused by the storms. Also, considering I was sat directly in front of a sick and crying baby all night, I did well to get a good sleep! The joys of travel...

Vitória, Brazil

Following my amazing yet exhausting time in Belo Horizonte, I needed a bit of downtime to recharge the batteries. This brought me to the city of Vitória in Espírito Santo, where the Australian Football (Soccer) Team's camp was based during the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

I only spent 3 nights here. Initially I felt like this place was too quiet, and grew frustrated trying to get any information on the city's bus routes. Luckily, on my second day here I was taken out with Marcio (a friend of Maria, who I stayed with in Belo Horizonte).  We drove up to the top of Parque da Fonte Grande, which provided a beautiful vantage point of this city, then stopped for some Arroz de Polvo (Octopus rice) at Kiosque do Alemão.

Yesterday I relaxed at Café Bamboo in Praia do Canto for a few hours over some fresh juice and coffee, then tried out the local Moqueca at Restaurante São Pedro. It was delicious.

Tonight I've got a long bus ride to Porto Seguro, where it's time for some more sun (hopefully) and relaxing before heading up to Salvador.

Belo Horizonte, Brazil

I recently decided to try out Couchsurfing properly for the first time, so when I was in Rio de Janeiro I began to look for someone in Belo Horizonte who would be willing to put up with me for a few nights. I ended up finding much more than that, and left this city not only staying much longer than I originally intended, but also making some great new friends. 

My bus from Rio was delayed by a couple of hours, so it was quite late when I arrived. I felt bad for my host Maria who had been waiting there for a while with two of her other Couchsurfing guests Dave and Gabby (who both happened to be Australian). She took us back to her place for dinner, then we went out to a party in town and hung out with some of her friends. 

Maria was fantastic in showing us around the city, and the weekend was packed with activities. We visited Inhotim, a massive open air museum in Brumadinho; got tickets to see the Atlético Mineiro vs Cruzeiro game (the local derby); and went to a few parties and nightclubs. We also walked around Mangabeiras Park, which has a beautiful panorama of the city:

We visited Pampulha, Praça da Liberdade and had lunch at the Museum of Arts and Crafts, and took a tour of the Estádio Mineirão - Cruzeiro's stadium that was used for the World Cup last year. 

On Thursday we drove to Ouro Preto, an old colonial town that was once the epicenter of a huge gold rush. A tour guide took us through a few old gold mines, then we visited an old church and finished off with some coffee and cake.

For our last bit of sightseeing Maria took me to Gruta Rei do Mato, a cave located about 1 hours drive from Belo Horizonte. The rest of the weekend was spent eating lots of great food, partying and hanging out with our new friends.

And then the time comes to an end, and you have to say goodbye to the great people you've spent almost every minute with for the past week and a bit. What I've come to realise on this trip is the continual disappointment you feel when you have to move on from the amazing people you meet. It's one of the only downsides of travelling around the world, but you hope one day you will cross paths with these people again. It was however a great experience with great people, and although I might not find a Couchsurfing host quite as generous as Maria and her family, I'm definitely keen to try it again.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Staying at one of - No, THE worst hostel I’ve ever stayed at in my life - somehow still didn’t spoil a memorable time in Rio de Janeiro.

I had booked a 5 night stay at the Rio Nature Hostel with Daniela, a girl I met in Porto Alegre (I first talked about her during my stay in Curitiba here). From the pictures on Booking.com, it looked like a pleasant hostel perched high up a giant rock face in Botafogo.

Long story short - it was horrible. The toilet was constantly blocked, the bathroom rarely cleaned, the water was always cold and they didn’t have any towels to rent. The staff were rarely present and if they were, very unhelpful. But I won’t go on any more about the hostel. Daniela and I had an amazing time over the Easter long weekend, and sampled some of Rio’s best coffee, food and sights.

We both arrived Thursday evening, and took a walk to the Humaitá district to have dinner at Pizza Park. The food was alright, however the location was quite nice - sitting down in a packed gastronomic area outside, we had a nice view of Christ the Redeemer perched atop Corcovado mountain.

On Saturday we ventured into Centro and stopped at the famous Confeitaria Colombo for some coffee and cake. At night, we had some drinks looking across Ipanema beach, then had an amazing dinner at Giuseppe’s Grill. This place came highly recommended from a local and we weren’t disappointed.

A weekend in Rio wouldn’t be right without a day at the beach, so on Sunday morning we sat under an umbrella at Copacabana beach and took in the beautiful weather - and got burned. In the afternoon we picked up some chocolate for Easter and watched a movie (Rio - how fitting!) at the hostel.

On Monday we went for breakfast at Terzetto Café. Somehow it was my first experience eating a papaya and it was amazing. We stopped at Shopping Leblon for some lunch, then had another superb dinner at Tragga in Botafogo.

Unfortunately, the weekend had come to an end and I had to say goodbye to Dani. On top of that, the weather was horrible and we had to run to the bank to get some money to pay for our stay at the hostel.  We got out of there as quickly as we could, then had a nice breakfast a few blocks away at Le Dépanneur.

The last thing on my to-do list in Rio was to take a tour of the Maracanã, then take a trek up Pedra Bonita for this view of Rio de Janeiro:

It was truly breathtaking, and a great way to spend my last afternoon in Rio.

Bragança, Brazil

My ticket to see Lollapalooza in Brazil took my travels to a town just outside of São Paulo called Bragança. When I was in Brazil with my best friend for the World Cup I was introduced to Vanessa, who took us out for dinner and drinks one night in São Paulo. We have been in contact ever since then and she very kindly offered to have me stay at her house.

Van picked me up from the airport with her Mum and friend on Thursday and it didn’t take long for me to experience their kindness and generosity. Not long after putting my bags down at their house I was being fed a home cooked meal and my clothes were being washed!

The weekend was spent at the Autodromo de Interlagos for Lollapalooza. I was here to see Jack White again who was headlining the festival on Saturday. I went with Van’s friend Marina, her cousin and his fiancée, who again were amazingly nice people. We grabbed a few beers (called 'chopp' in Brasil) and sat down to see Kasabian, then went and picked a good spot for Robert Plant and Jack White. Needless to say Jack’s performance was again amazing, and I really enjoyed seeing his show at a festival, which did had a lot more atmosphere to it than the smaller side shows. At night we needed a place nearby to stay, so we settled on a cheap motel. It did the job, but I spent most of the night sweating and swatting mosquitos.

Sunday we met up with more of Vanessa’s friends and saw a bunch of great bands - Interpol, The Kooks, Foster The People, Calvin Harris and The Smashing Pumpkins. One of the cool things about Lollapalooza was the “Chef Stage” they had, where famous chefs from around Brazil had stalls selling interesting food - I tried a Donut Hamburger and some Tapioca cubes, both of which were really tasty. It was an absolute nightmare to get home that night - we waited for over an hour in the rain to get a taxi back to Marina’s, then Vanessa picked me up at about 1AM to take us back to her place.

The rest of my time here was spent hanging out with Vanessa, her brother Gustavo and their parents. My search for the best coffee in each city continued, so this time I dragged Vanessa to a place called The Coffee Lab in the Pinheiros district of São Paulo. I splurged on a coffee tasting ritual which involved 3 different types of pour over coffee from around Brazil. They were all superb coffees. We tried a Japanese restaurant in Liberdade (a big Japanese district) for dinner, and although the menu was confusing, we had a nice meal.

I had such a great time in Bragança, and Vanessa and her family really made it feel like a home away from home for me. I never once felt hungry in my whole time at their place - I was constantly being fed amazing Brazilian food and going back for more. Unfortunately it was time to leave but I’ll never forget this place, the friends I made and the memories that were shared.

My 8 Must Have Items for Overseas Travel

So after a month into my 1 year trip around South and Central America, I thought  about writing a blog post that could actually provide some use to people reading it. I feel like I've now had enough time to get a good feel for how well (and how poorly) I planned and packed for this trip, so I'd like to share my advice and experience with fellow travellers. 

Below are the 8 most useful things I've brought with me (in no particular order), and would highly recommend to anyone considering extended overseas travel. I've linked to each products' original website, but you can generally find them all on Amazon or eBay for cheaper.

Platypus SoftBottle - When I first saw one of these, I thought it was one of those "solution to a non existent problem" items. But it's probably the one thing I use the most on my travels. This has not only saved me lots of money buying bottles of water every where I go, but it also collapses down when empty and takes up almost zero space. Take it with you whenever you're out and about and fill it up anywhere you find a water fountain.

NYC Subway Map Mighty Wallet - I really like this one. I originally bought it back home for something different to my usual wallets, but it's actually come in really handy while travelling. It looks just like a map (technically it is!) so you're less likely to have your wallet stolen. It's also slim, water and rip proof, and I surprisingly get a lot of people making comments when I take it out to buy something.

Pack-It Specter™ Compression Cube Set - Since deciding I would make every effort to travel as light as I can on this trip (see my first blog post), I thought I would give these a shot. Whilst the compression feature is pretty handy, the main benefit I get out of these is having my bulkier clothes (e.g. jeans) that I don't use as much tucked away, so I don't have to constantly repack these clothes when I'm foraging through my bag.

Icebreaker Tech T Lite Short Sleeve - I'd like to say these are worth their weight in gold, but they practically weigh nothing. I bought 2 of these before I left and now I kind of wish I bought more. I wear these all the time. You could probably get a week of heavy use out of one, but I usually wash it after a couple of days in the shower, then it's dry by the morning. I brought a couple of cotton t-shirts with me which I haven't touched since I left, and I pretty much consider them a waste of space seeing as though they get dirty quickly and take longer to clean.

Olivers All Over Short - I found out about these on another travel blog and thought I'd try them out. They are just as good as the Icebreaker shirts I mentioned above - after heavy wear they rarely smell at all. They are also splash proof, durable and light yet still quite fashionable. They are also easily cleaned and dried. I also wear these shorts almost every day.

Dr. Bronner's Pure Castile Soap - A highly concentrated, natural, organic soap that claims to have over 18 uses including shampoo, toothpaste, body wash, deodorant, household cleaner, and more. A couple of drops per use does the job, so one bottle will go a long way on your travels.

Pocket 15L Packaway Backpack - I've linked to the particular one I bought from Kathmandu, but I don't think the brand would really matter in this case. Having a compressible day pack to take out on short notice, without having to empty your other backpack is really handy. I think any brand of a similar item would do the same job.

Anker 2nd Gen Astro E5 16000mAh External Battery - Not having to constantly watch my device's battery percentage when I'm out for long periods of time is great. I went for the slightly larger size to get more charges out of it (it can do a full charge of an iPhone 5S over 7 times), but I think a smaller one would be just as useful if you're looking to save room. It takes about 8 hours to fully charge overnight, and you can charge it from anything that has a USB port.

Of course there are other great things that I've brought with me, but I feel like these are the most beneficial for their price. If you have any questions, feel free to drop me a line!