Day 411: Salvador to Gamboa, Brazil – 21/02/11

OK.  So it’s not 7 am when we leave as Mike had planned, but 8 am isn’t bad.  We slip the disgusting lazy lines which now feel amazingly clean after all the rain over recent nights, and head out into the Baia de Todos os Santos.  As we leave the bay and enter the Atlantic it feels good to be on the move once more.

Even better, there’s just enough wind on the beam to put the mainsail and genoa out.  And when I say there’s just enough wind, that’s exactly what I mean.  It’s blowing at about 10 knots at the most and with a bit of current going with us we manage about 5 knots which quickly slows down to a rather pathetic 3.5 knots during the afternoon.  However, for the first time in ages, we are in no hurry and just let Jeannius take us at this leisurely pace.

We hug the Brazilian coastline for around 30 miles until we reach Morro de Sao Paulo on the Ilha de Tinhare.

Photo:  Morro de Sao Paulo

This tip of the island was once a major fortification against the marauding French and Dutch in the early 17th century when Salvador was the capital of Brazil.  Now this once sleepy fishing village is a trendy holiday resort which receives 120,000 tourists a year.  There are meant to be a couple of anchorages right here but as we motor past (sails down now) we don’t like the look of them as the only yachts there all have stern anchors out which might mean that the tides and currents can cause a problem and continue instead towards the anchorage at the fishing village of Gamboa.

Arriving at around 4.30 pm is obviously arriving in rush hour.  For an island that has no cars, transport by water is the only way and there are ferries and water taxis galore – all of whom seem to need to zoom by our boat and make us rock around in their wake.  This continues until way past 6 pm but by then we are used to the strange rocking sensation.  We are zoned out and ready for rest.  After an early supper of steak and salad, we watch TV and head to bed ready for a night of being rocked to sleep.  We keep the anchor alarm on though … just in case!

 

Our position is:  13 deg 23 min S, 38 deg 56 min W

Distance so far:  21805 nautical miles

Day 410: Salvador, Brazil – 20/02/11

Mike brings me a cup of tea when I wake along with the wonderful news that he thinks the freezer is playing up again as he can’t hear the compressor working.  I don’t believe it.  He waits for a suitable hour then goes in search of Bill to talk to.  Bill’s up to his neck in his own water maker problems and promises to come along to the boat when he’s finished.  In the meantime Mike goes off to have a look at David’s computer which is in need of a bit of TLC.

While he is gone I give my hair a little trim.  It really seems to work best if I have a go every couple of weeks.  In this way I am not tempted to take too much off in one go and make a mess.

That done and a spot of tidying later, I take a small amount of truffle flavoured olive oil over to Rosemary for her to try and she exchanges it for some lovely balsamic vinegar which contains nuts that she bought by accident (she and Matt have nut allergies).  I stop to chat for a while and she asks if Mike and I would like to join them and Annie and Jim for lunch at the cookery school that we have heard so much about.  On the way out of Crazy Horse I fail to notice that the perspex hatch is closed and walk straight up the stairs crashing my head into it.  It really hurt!  Stupid me.  Still rubbing my head I go back to Jeannius and check with Mike as we are on a bit on an economy drive at the moment and as he has heard that it is very reasonably priced and very good, he says yes.

Jutta and Jochem also join us and as soon as we get out of the taxi we realise that there has been some mis-communication along the line as we are not at the cookery school but the rather beautiful Pestana Convento do Carmo, a converted convent, now a hotel in the Leading Hotels of the World Chain.  Oops, this is not going to be cheap!  I suppose the economy drive will start tomorrow.

The setting of the restaurant, around the former cloisters of the convent is beautiful.  All the tables are mirrored glass and there are antiques and opulent drapes everywhere.  Beautiful.  I have to say I am less enthusiastic about the service.  I don’t think our two waiters could have been any more slow and communication is a major problem as none of them speak any English at all.  Now I’m not one of these people who think everyone abroad should speak English, but in a classy joint like this where you imagine they get international guests, being able to understand that your guest wants her steak cooked rare should not be a problem.  But everything is.  Still, the company is good and while we wait for an hour for our food order to be taken (and by this time we are the only table occupied) we entertain each other.

Photo:  Jutta and Jochem

 Photo:  Bill and Rosemary

Photo:  Jim and Annie

Photo:  Mike and me

Mike and I don’t order any wine as the prices are exorbitant.  Well, we try to order a half bottle, but this one is obviously off as it fails to materialise.  That keeps the bill down anyway! 

The food, when it eventually materialises, is distinctly disappointing, especially for the price.  There’s nothing wrong with it but it just sounds and looks far more interesting than it tastes, and is far less than it should be for a hotel restaurant of this calibre.

Three hours later we have finished eating and I go in search of the loo.  I find it but there doesn’t appear to be a lock on the door, then I realise that I can’t actually find the toilet itself.  I stare around the room.  There is no toilet, just a wash basin.  I look again, totally confused and go in search of someone to help.  I end up just finding a male guest who points out that the wall at the back of the room is actually a frosted glass door beyond which, hey presto, is the toilet.  How stupid do I feel?

We have a look around the hotel before we leave.  It really is beautiful.

Photos:  The cloisters of the Pestana Convento do Carmo

Of course, I doubt it looked quite this beautiful when the nuns lived here.  Rosemary explains that the job of the nuns here had been to pray for all the troubles of the world all day and they were not allowed out at all.  Once you were in, you stayed in.

We leave and walk through Pelourinho.  Eventually we leave the others and head back to the boat.  My head is still thumping from the whack I gave it on Crazy Horse this morning.  We have a little snooze then I spend the evening trying to catch up on the blog as I have got so far behind.  By late evening I have nearly managed it and treat myself to some cake and some ice cold passion fruit liquor.  Lovely.

Day 409: Salvador, Brazil – 19/02/11

Today’s news?  Yesterday Annie and Jim got engaged.  Well done guys!  I demand to see the proof and she hot foots it onto the boat to get the rock out to show me then sensibly puts it away to be worn where you are less likely to get your finger chopped off for wearing it.

Sad news though is that yet another yacht and its crew have been kidnapped by Somali pirates.  There are currently over 30 yachts and 660 people being held captive by pirates, most of them in the treacherous waters of the north Indian Ocean towards the Gulf of Aden, Yemen and Somalia.  It can’t be long now before people stop taking these routes altogether as the pace of pirating is escalating all the time and warship protection is only available for commercial vessels.

As we intend taking off tomorrow for a couple of days at an island 30 miles south of Salvador before heading north to Recife, we need to do a supermarket run for our fresh produce, and join Maggie and Bob in a taxi.

We have no need for any condiments, canned or dried goods as I am still running my stocks down in preparation for leaving the boat at the end of April but it’s amazing how much you can spend on fresh and frozen stuff.  We haul it all back to the boat and I spend the next couple of hours cutting up the filet mignon into steaks, and dividing up the chicken portions into meal size portions.  Having been delighted to find chicken thighs (for our Friday night curries) I am not so happy when I open the packets to discover a slightly unpleasant smell.  Mike insists it’s fine but I am not so sure.  I give them a good rinse and put them at the bottom of the freezer where they will only be used if we run out of everything else.  Even then, Mike will be my canary bird.  He thinks they are OK.  He can eat them first.  If nothing happens, I’ll eat it the next day.  Or I will just chuck them overboard when he’s not looking!!!

Another afternoon snooze is in order then we get ourselves ready for Annie and Jim’s engagement drinks and nibbles do where I am nominated as the official photographer, somewhat of a surprise as I normally drive Jim mad taking photos.

Photo:  Annie and Jim – the happy couple

They have made an Ocean Jasper cocktail – vodka, more vodka, coconut milk and something fruity – quite yummy!  Most of the fleet are there to celebrate with them.

Photo:  Me, Annie and Judith

Photo:  Mike and me

Of course, cocktails and I don’t mix very well and I get just a little squiffy quite quickly.  It’s a good job it’s not far back to the boat.

Day 408: Salvador, Brazil – 18/02/11

Today we fully intend to have a day doing nothing, and we almost get what we wish for.  The day starts off with torrential rain and we get a few cloud bursts throughout the day although it’s swelteringly hot in between.

Mike has one job today – to change the oil in the starboard engine.  He’s got it down to a fine art but it still takes a couple of hours.

I take the opportunity of using my little green wonderbroom and get all sorts of muck up.  I wish I knew where it all comes from, or do I?

I then set about dealing with the huge jaca that I bought yesterday.  I cut it in half but it’s still unwieldy so I just chop a lump off and attempt to turn it inside out so that the kernels pop up from the strange stringy stuff that surrounds them.  I can see sap oozing out over my fingers but don’t take too much notice until I feel my fingers starting to stick together.  This sap, as it dries, seems to undergo some sort of molecular change … for the worse!  What starts off looking innocuously like milk, soon turns into a disgusting mix of what seems like superglue, copydex and chewing gum and is next to impossible to get off.  It deposits itself on everything you touch.  I wash my hands six times, first with gentle soap (you must be joking), then washing up liquid, then washing up liquid and a scourer. 

Nothing works.

Eventually I resort to a scourer and nail polish remover.  I get the worst of it off but strings of it remain like fresh chewing gum on the bottom of your shoe.  NOW I know why the man in the market used plastic bags to get the kernels out!  Leaving one half untouched, I go and have a shower and wash my hair, and by the end of this and over half an hour later, most of the repulsive stuff has gone.  But there’s still the other half.  When I start up again I put on my rubber gloves which saves my hands but renders the gloves useless for anything else and they are binned when I have finished.

Photo:  Demolition of the jaca in progress

Still, the jaca is delicious and there’s loads of it.  I go on to the internet after this and discover that to deal with a jaca you should oil your hands, knife, gloves and probably the whole kitchen before you start doing anything with it.  So now I know!  For next time!!

Jobs done for the day, we have a sleep in the afternoon.  We eat so much jaca (I don’t know how long it keeps and don’t want it to go off after all that work) that neither of us fancy an evening meal.

Day 407: Salvador, Brazil – 17/02/11

We get up early ready for our trip out.  Amazingly I am hangover free.  I didn’t really have that much to drink, it was just in a short space of time and on an empty stomach.  That’s my story and I am sticking to it.

We are a bit late but the bus is even later and standing in the sun, even at 8.15 am, is really hot.  The bus though, when it arrives, redeems itself as it has comfy seats, tinted windows and is fully air conditioned.  We clamber on.  We have 110 kilometres and three villages/towns to go to before lunch!

Around the outskirts of Salvador are the usual shanty towns, favelas as they are called in Brazil.  These look a little sturdier built than the townships in South Africa, being made of brick rather than wood and tin, but are just as crammed together with all the associated problems.  An estimated fifth of Brazil’s population live in these shanty towns.

Photo:  Favela on the outskirts of Salvador

On the motorway and once out beyond the city the landscape opens out to the usual tropical scene complete with palm trees and sugar cane.  It’s comfortable in the bus, but not for everyone.  Poor Matt gets taken down by a sickness bug and is discretely throwing up into numerous plastic bags on the way, and Jared looks distinctly the worse for wear with another bug.  With one of them behind me and the other one in front of me, I wonder what I will go down with tomorrow in the sealed bus of recirculated air!

Our first stop is Santo Amaro.  We pile off the bus leaving Matt in the tender care of his mum.  He’s now too weak to walk, poor lamb.

Photo:  A family in traditional wear stop to buy from a street vendor

We walk through the market.  Here you can buy anything, not just fruit and vegetables.  There’s plenty to look at and our guide, Carol, gets some of the vendors to let us try things that we are not familiar with.  I manage to buy some jaca (also known as jack fruit), the wonderful fruit that I bought peeled and in cellophane from the supermarket with Johanne last week.  The fruit in its plain state is huge – about 15 inches long and about 9 inches in diameter – so very heavy.  The vendor lets everyone try some, urging us to peel out the kernels using a plastic bag.  I find out why another day but that’s a whole new story!  I also buy a net of passion fruits and the palm oil that is used to make moqueca as I am going to have a go at making this.

Photo:  Wonderful vegetables and fruit

Photo:  I think these are all drinks but they could be cleaning fluids too

Photo:  Some people sell from wheelbarrows

Photo:  Eggs galore

Photo:  Live land crabs tied to sticks wriggle around

Photo:  Chewing tobacco and camphor oil – ugh!

There’s an amazing array of produce.  Fresh, dried and smoked meat, animal fat, spices, dried goods, live animals, cheese, oils, drinks – the list is endless.  I could have bought loads but the thought of leaving it in a bus (or carrying it around) puts us off.  The live crabs give me a fright as there is a plastic bag moving around of its own accord as some of them try to get out.

We are nearly through the market when the kids find us – you know, the little street urchins who want you to photograph them for money.  Knowing I have a few coins I take a photograph of one and give him a little money (yes I know – sucker!) and then the others descend on me.  The little buggers are difficult to fend off and I have to resort to walking away, a huge amount of Western guilt sitting heavily on my shoulders. 

Photo:  The one who got my money

The convent that we are due to visit is closed and Mike breathes a sigh of relief as we get back on the bus without having to see anything religious.

Photo:  Our little group heading for the closed convent

Because Matt and Jared are feeling so bad, our guide re-orders our itinerary and we head next to the hacienda for lunch.  On our way we cross the river we sailed up just a few days ago (further inland than we sailed though) via an iron bridge made of steel imported from the UK many years ago.

Photo:  Crossing the Rio Paraguacu

Arriving at the hacienda, the lads are led away to lie down in the cool and we are given a complementary drink of passion fruit liquor which is absolutely delicious and naturally, available to buy!

We wander around the hacienda for a while while the finishing touches are made to our lunch.  Mike finds a comfortable place to sit – in front of a large screen TV which fortunately is turned off.  I’m sure it would have made his day to find some football or other boring sport to watch.

Photo:  Mike finds a comfy chair in a cool spot

I find my way to the kitchen and find the staff preparing our lunch which certainly smells good.

Photo:  Preparing our lunch

Photo:  One of the formal dining rooms

Photo:  View of the dam from the hacienda

Lunch is a buffet.  The steaks are huge and there are lots of vegetable dishes to go with them.  Everything is wholesome if not particularly flavoursome.  Good but not exciting.

Photo:  Our lunch is served on the terrace

We leave, me armed with two bottles of the liquor, but without our two little invalids – they need to get a bit more rest.  Our next stop is Sao Felix and the Contro Cultural Dannemann, the cigar factory which also houses an exhibition of modern art.  Most of this is lost on me but here are some of the exhibits.

Photo:  A sculpture of a dead or sleeping cardboard seller

Photo:  A painting of a woman with a rather nasty looking skin disease

Photo:  A dressing table covered in lipsticks (Mike said they must have found my cast offs)

The above was next to a pipe with a tap at the end which I thought was just a bit of random plumbing except it had a plaque next to it which said it was an installation by an artist.  Go figure!  I couldn’t!!

The only one I liked was a huge mosaic glass cross adorned with photos of models, pearl necklaces, high heeled shoes, a corset, a hairdryer, straighteners and other bits and bobs of necessary female accoutrements.  It was probably saying something about us girls worshiping at the alter of beauty.  It just made me wish I was skinny enough to fit into the corset.

Photo:  And the point is?

The cigar factory is fascinating.  Only about 400 cigars are hand made every day.  The dry leaves are first moistened then rolled and pummelled into shape, tested for how tight they are wrapped, then sealed.  One lady sat smoking them but I think she was just enjoying the perks of the job rather than doing any sort of quality control exercise!

Photo:  Making (and smoking) the cigars

Photo:  The girls have a bonding session

We are then taken to the beautiful town on Cachoeira and while we walk around, the bus goes back to pick up the two poorly lads.  Cachoeira is beautiful with brightly coloured houses and rich colonial architecture.  It’s unbelievably quiet and cars, donkeys and mules carry around the few people we see.  It is a million miles away from Salvador and a welcome respite.

Photos:  Views of the beautiful town on Cachoeira

The bus arrives with the walking wounded, now at least able to walk around without throwing up.  The ride back is quiet.  It’s amazing how sitting in a bus for ages and then walking around in the sun takes it out of you.  As we hit the almost standstill traffic that surrounds Salvador in the late rush hour, and take another look at the favelas, the stark contrast between that and the beauty of towns like Cachoeira hits once more.  Not even the golden glow of the setting sun can make the favelas look good.

It’s dark when we arrive back and I stop at the marina office to pick up my washing and then for one little drink on Chessie before going back to Jeannius and hitting the sack.  We are going to do nothing tomorrow.

Day 406: Salvador, Brazil – 16/02/11

We dither around for the morning then after lunch Mike gets cracking on changing the oil filter on the port engine and I go off with Maggie for a spot of sightseeing.

We go up the elevator to the Pelourinho district.  I now know my way around quite well and can act as a guide for Maggie although I know she’s quite capable of finding her own way around.

Photos:  Views from the top of the elevator

Photo:  The usual militia presence

We decide to visit the “Golden Church” again as Maggie hasn’t seen it and doesn’t know whether she will have time to visit with Bob.  I try to take different photos to last time but they all just look … golden!

 Photos:  Inside the “Golden Church” again

When we come out Maggie goes over on the side of one of the cobbles and breaks her flip flop.  There’s nothing else for it, it’s down to the Havaiana shop for us and she has to go barefoot.  We stop at another shop on the way but have a bit of trouble with the language.  Maggie tries to explain that she wants a blue pair a bit bigger that the one she has tried on but the guy pulls out everything but!  He obviously doesn’t have the blue one in a bigger size and hopes she will give in and have something different.  There’s one of the militia guys in there as well and even he gets involved in the non-sale.  We smile and leave.

We do get to the Havaiana shop and she manages to get a blue pair which fit.  We venture a little further down than I did with the other day and we both start to feel a little uncomfortable and go back up the hill.

Photo:  As far as we dare go!

Photos:  Street scenes

Photo:  Maggie buys a scarf

I go to draw some money out of an ATM for tomorrow’s trip and realise that I have left my cash card back on the boat so  Maggie kindly acts as my personal banker.  We manage to get down in the elevator thankful that the queue is somewhat smaller than coming up and head back to the marina with aching feet as we have been walking around in the heat for nearly four hours.  We meet Jutta, Rosemary and Lee on the way back and Jutta invites us for a drink on Chessie.

  Photo:  A game of dominoes taking place at the fishing port

Mike is asleep when I get back to Jeannius so I go over alone where one small quick drink turns into about five small quick drinks and I wobble my way back to Jeannius just as the alcohol hits me.  I am just about able to fix dinner for Mike and I (thank God for the soup in the freezer) and watch TV is a rather relaxed fashion before falling into bed.