Tatuapara Pousada Praia do Forte

... the slippery rock that made up the river bed to the edge of the precipice where the water would normally jump off. I have to say that we were too chicken to stand right on the edge of the fall but we were close enough to feel the strength of the updraft of the air current that showered drops of water over our heads. The volume of water that normally flows through has carved a huge funnel into the mountain rock that curves up high above our heads. It was an interesting ...

What an incredible place. I spent three days there, the latter two on a two-day trek to various waterfalls. It was perfect to recharge my batteries after the excesses of big cities. Highly, highly recommended.

Hint: The treks are a bit expensive. If you want to save some money, walk back to Lencois (if that's where you're based) instead of getting the 4x4

... we had an AC unit that wasn't switched on to look longingly at! Praia do Forte is a (nicely) manufactured town, built for Salvador's wealthy who want to enjoy the beach and purchase T-shirts of said beach, but the big attraction was the Sea Turtle sanctuary which is right on the beach. The reasonable entry fee of R$8 (or half price for senior citizens, brilliantly known as idioses in Portuguese!) allowed us in to the park which had plenty of sea turtles ...

Caros parentes, amigos, colegas, etc,

Para aqueles que queriam notícias minhas em Mundo Novo, seja para saber sobre a cidade, sobre o trabalho ou sobre mim mesmo, escrevo esta carta.

Mundo Novo fica no sertão da Bahia, ao norte da chapada Diamantina. É um microclima tropical de altitude dentro do agreste de caatinga. Quando se chega por aqui, observa-se claramente a rápida mudança dos galhos secos e retorcidos para as verdes ...

... Monday morning came and I left Bruno's and hit the road again. My credit cards had been lost in the post so I had to reorder them again. I still hadn´t got them by the time I left Bruno's but his girlfriend was arriving from Australia today and I didn't want to impose any longer. Plus, I was starting to fall for Bruno, as I had done first time I met him in New Zealand, and being there with his girlfriend would have been to much to take! So I headed into Sao Paulo, and boarded ...

... on the conservation program and cordoned off nesting areas as well. P do F also had more of the little monkeys I saw in Rio running wild. Still cute, but I am beginning to lose interest and am now loving geckos (of which there are plenty here). P do F is a small town and as such, everyone knows everyone. It has one main strip and you bump into the same people every day - like it or not. Unfortunately (for me anyway) it seems that in ...

... a little one-on-one time. I declined gracefully, flirted a little to appease the ego and managed to arrive in Barra (the suburb to be my home for the next week) in one piece. And I say arrived in Barra rather than arrived at the hostel as that is what happened. The festivities were well underway when I arrived and some of the streets were blocked off and others so chocca with traffic that it just wasn´t worth trying. So I walked the last few hundred metres with my heavy pack ...

... 5th November Treated ...

... trail from the town, then bouldering up and across the river before finally reaching it some 3 hours later. Back down near the town, there is another great waterfall that I went sliding down. I spent a couple hours here! The area is a hiking mecca. There are many hikes, ranging from one day up to seven. I could only go on single hikes/tours as I had only 3 days there. One of the most popular hikes is 3 days into the city of Capao.

Click the image to see a Youtube video I ...