Pousada Porto Da Lua Praia do Forte

... went to a beach town about 60 miles north of Salvador called Praia do Forte. The whole group of students went, and all but a few stayed together for the night in a nice hostel. During the day, we visited a castel constructed by the Portuguese in the 16th century. Very cool. Along side it was a small cathedral whose walls preserved the obsessive drawings of what might have been a mad-man (hundreds of rudimentarily engraved ships) who must ...

... Friday night! For dinner we chose to have a local specialty which is called moqueca which is a kind of fish stew with cream, spice, and veges. It comes with beans, rice, and a strange puree of some sort of root vegetable. Very nice! After dinner we felt like going out. We hunted around for a discoteca but alas, no luck. However, when we were back at the hostel a few hours later, we did heard some disco music. D'oh!

... a samba band played. Samba is a really fast dance with fancy footwork, which I didnīt attempt until I was well and truly drunk. Once I hit the floor all the local girls tried to teach me samba, I picked it up quite easy and they said I had samba and Brazilian in my blood! (Mam, something you are not telling me?) After that we went for pizza to sober up and then hit another party on the street outside Bruno's house, these guys love to party and do it anywhere! From there it ...

... Although I had become quite good at folding my skirt around my legs on the trip there, both to keep it out of harms way and also for padding (possibly helped by the fact that I had walked a fair part of the trip) it came loose on the way back and managed to get a tear in it. All I can say is that I am glad that the ride home was almost all down hill and that the sky was pretty as the sun set. It took 3 days to recover from the evil bike seat.

... I carried nothing on me of value except a few Real$ for some water in my bra so encountered no trouble and had nothing stolen. On my first night there though, one of our group was punched for no apparent reason, many others had money stolen from their boardshorts and another lost his camera. He had it strapped to his wrist and wouldnīt give it up so in the end, he apparently got punched out and the guy bit the strap off his wrist. I always felt very safe though. There ...

... and she is leaning against the fruit that is displayed out front. The guy working says something to her but she doesnīt respond or understand probably and he is clearly getting annoyed. I decide to become a human catalyst and make this situation even better. I look at the dude working and I motion with my eyes towards the chick and I punch my hand, indicating to him that he should punch her. Hah, this totally got him worked up and the next thing I ...

... bob compliments to Sergio. Even after the numerous times we sat and waited - with no show from Sergio, we love him to death. Sergio was the reason for all the good things that we experienced in Rio. The reason we extended our stay in Rio from 1 week to 2 months! We can not thank this guy enough for his genirosity, love and making us feel so welcome. Friends for life!

... same company and route as ours in the service area, upon enquiry it turned out the be the bus that cost 199 Reals, which the saleswoman claimed had no air con or toilet!!!! The bus was identical, the only difference was that it did not have DVD, but given that the DVD on our bus was a promotional film of the bus company, with highlights like showing us the fleet, the bus routes, interviews ...

... to most blocos), of which the night at the Barra circuit was my highlight of the Carnaval. Another night was in the Pelourinho circuit and they were delayed 4-5 hours which was very disappointing and we didnīt really feel in a big party mood after the wait! And the other night was in Campo Grande, where I got some photos but after a few hours the unfriendly, heavy atmosphere of the circuit wore us down. The band was fantastic, they had dancers up the front, and a group of excellent ...

... pousada is basically a family run home/hotel type of thing..pretty cheap, very informal..you just show up, they give you a bed and shower..no forms, no paperwork..just agree on a price..and they open up their place. the owner has an awesome personal library that he let me explore last night. quite the collection of biographies on ...