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Ghosts from the past
Entry 15 of 83 | show all | print this entry |
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This beautiful little town sits along Brazil´s 4,603 mile long Atlantic Ocean coastline, not far south of the equator, across the city of Sao Luis, around the other side of a large bay. We fell in love with Alcantara, maybe due to the quaint little chalet we stayed at the edge of town, or maybe due to the flocks of brilliant red colored ibis birds that decorated the sky and sand, or maybe because of its colonial ghost-town atmosphere, or maybe because we let ourselves enjoy it. Who knows?
On a bluff overlooking the bay at the foot of ruins and a beautiful stretch of sand, it felt like an oasis. Only accessible by a 1.5 hour boat ride from Sao Luis, we were forced to traverse over life-threatening, extremely disorienting, 10meter waves (or at least that´s what it felt like as Reeshma was digging her nails into many of Ashif´s limbs). In addition to its interesting past, Alcantra is a sleepy and peculiar colonial town, that also boasts a Rocket Launching Facility. Brazilian scientists have launched hundreds of sounding rockets since the mid-1960's, but their attempt to try and be the first Latin American nation to put a satellite in orbit has failed in the last 3 attempts. The latest one ended in a devastating explosion that killed 21 technicians in 2003. A huge setback to Brazil´s attempt to advance their nation´s space program and join the handful of countries that have successfully launched satellites into space.
While we were checking out the Rocket Launching Museum, a reporter from UAE´s Al-Jazeera TV (what the hell was he doing there??) asked Ashif if he would like to be interviewed. "Uh-OK, but what should I talk about?", Ashif asked. The reporter replied, "Oh, just talk to this fellow, the Museum Administrator, he will be your interviewer". "But, he doesn´t speak English, and I don´t speak Portuguese!", responded Ashif. "Well, then, just pretend he´s asked you a question, and talk about whatever you want. Ok, now, In 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...We´re Rolling!..."
So, Ashif spent the next 10 minutes speaking of Brazil, the culture, the people, the fascinating Rocket Launching Facility, and even slipped in the concern that there was no mention in the museum of any of the numerous accidents that have plagued the program. It was a rather fine "interview", and, if you ever happen to be watching Al-Jazeera TV one day, and chance upon a shabby looking Indo-Canadian backpacker being interviewed in a Rocket Launching Museum in a tiny town in Brazil, all dubbed in Arabic, you can say you heard it here first!
 
In Alcantara´s main square, there exists, perhaps, the most well preserved Whipping Post in all of Brazil. The area is a sombre reminder of the exact spot where African slaves used to be punished and sold by Portuguese colonialist enslavers. The square is now a large playground for children, and around it live 5 large bodhi trees as the only remaining witnesses to the brutality of the past. Here we sat, watching life go by, under the shade of the trees, contemplating what must have occurred here 500 years ago.
We´d then retreat to our chalet, a gorgeous little spot with hammocks to laze about in, and a beach right next door. We made friends with a large brown tarantula (may have just been an ugly spider), a turtle who knocked on our door, a baby anteater who kept budding his snout in the kitchen (you could pick him up from his long tail), a large crocodile (may have just been a good looking iguana), massive ant-like bees (making their home on the roof of our home) and a litter of kittens (that had just been born in the garden a few days ago and liked to use Ashif´s guitar case as a scratching post). We were also awoken each morning at 5am due to an over-eager rooster, and spent each evening gazing at the southern hemisphere twilight stars at a fire in the sand on the beach discussing politics and life with a Rastafarian loner named Jair who spent his days making a living at the guesthouse.
  
  
A local guide, Chico takes us on a small canoe at low tide to a nearby oasis of a beach, vast and deserted. We traverse through deep mud and catch bright red crabs shyly crawling back into their holes. We have a swim in what seems like warm bath water, and collect many sand dollars. We row back in the dusk hours through narrow channels, hearing the simple sounds of birds and frogs, and watching fish with eyes on top of their heads hop across the surface of the water. We arrive at the far end of a beach, and climb to a vantage point above the boulders, where we can see distant stretches of coastline. We´re bit by sand flies (they sting!) as we rush back to the canoe. As night approaches, we row quietly with only the sound of the paddles stroking the water, and realize how peaceful life can be. Tiny little "estrelas" (stars) are peeking out of the sky as we return to our chalet. Looking back, Alcantara was an absolutely blissful place, and we want to go back.
  
DID YOU KNOW? The Alcantara base is considered a near-ideal launch because of its location, just 2.3 degrees south of the Equator. The Earth moves faster at the equator, which helps propel rockets into space with up to 13 percent less fuel, allowing heavier payloads.
(View this entry´s Slide Show/Photo Album above)
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