By now, if you have been reading this blog over the course of my last two years in Brazil, I hope you have realized that the capital of Brazil is indeed Brasilia and not Rio de Janeiro:), or even Buenos Aires as some Americans have been known to say, which is in another country all together! Although Brasilia is the current capital, the diverse history of Brazil really begins in the Northeast of the country where I was on this trip in January. So I hope you will enjoy following along with the photos, but also reading a bit of the historical background that accompanies this culturally fascinating part of the country.
OlindaI left São Paulo on Jan 2 and flew into Recife(major hub of the Northeast - see map above), but stayed in Olinda, an historic town 30 minutes outside of Recife. Olinda is very charming and one of the best preseved colonial cities of Brazil. "Ó, linda!" is Portuguese for "Oh, beautiful!" which is apparently what Captain Durate Coelho said when he first arrived at this spot in 1535. And it truly was beautiful there: very hilly with views of the ocean and Recife in the distance, you can lose yourself walking along the cobblestone streets, visiting church after church and market after market. Olinda is famous for its music and art community, along with the spectactular Carnaval that lasts for 6 weeks!:) Olinda was also once a huge slave area, mainly due to sugarcane production, and you can still visit an original slave market square, Mercado Ribeira, from the 17th century. In the cells where slaves used to be kept there are now purses, postcards, tee-shirts, etc. I did end up buying a purse there, but the energy of the whole place was quite eerie.
Mercado Ribeira, formerly the slave market, now an arts/crafts market
This is part of the Mercado Ribeira, but they keep the huge Carnaval dolls here in waiting for Feb. each year:)
What Olinda Carnaval looks like in Feb. with these traditional dolls
Beautiful cobblestone streets of Olinda
A bit of background on Olinda, PernambucoThe history of Brazil starts officially on April 22nd 1500, when the Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral reached the coast of Bahia (Salvador). But Portugal didn't really have the financial or human resources to settle the new lands until 1535 when Captain Duarte Coelho Perreira arrived in Olinda, Pernambuco.
This region had long distance viewing of the sea, was easy to defend and the land was fertile, with plenty of water. Plus it was beautiful (O linda), as you can see in these few pictures below. There were also natural reefs which formed a natural port, necessary for the exportation of goods, and that's how its neighboring city got its name: Recife (reefs).
Olinda grew really quickly thanks to the exploration of pau-brazil (brazilwood) and later the plantation of sugar cane, which was perfect for the soil and climate of Pernambuco. From the 1530s to 1630s, many cane farms established all over Pernambuco and most of the land lords lived in Olinda. So, as you can imagine, this kind of work required lots of labor, so millions of slaves also started to arrive in Olinda from Africa. At the same time, in order to doctrinate the local Indians and slaves, the Catholic Church promoted missions by several orders: Carmelites (the first one arrived in 1580), Jesuites (1583), Franciscans (1585) and Benedictines (1586). Most of the Historic Churches that you can visit in Olinda date back to that epoch.
The sepulchre of this church had been on display at the Guggenheim museum in NY in exchange for which the Guggenheim agreed to completely restore it before returning it to Olinda
Until 1580, Portugal and Holland had made a commercial agreement; Portugal would produce the sugar, and the Dutch would use their commercial network to distribute it across Europe. But in 1580, the King of Portugal died leaving no heirs, and the kingdoms of Portugal and Spain merged; Spain and Holland didn't have good relations, and the Dutch lost their distribution monopoly. Then in 1621, the Dutch created the West Indian Company, supposedly a trading company, but aiming at conquering new territories.
The Dutch tried to capture Salvador (Bahia), the then capital of Brazil, in 1624, but were forced out after one year. However, they did succeed in invading Olinda in 1630 and were able to dominate the state of Pernambuco from 1630 to 1654. They decided to burn Olinda to the ground and move the government power to Recife instead, which resembles Amersterdam with all of its waterways and canals.
What's also interesting at this time is that unlike the Catholic missions, Nassau, leader of the Dutch government, was tolerant towards other religions, and allowed the Jewish commmunity to come to Recife and open the first synagogue in the Americas. Some of the first Jews in New York came from Recife, Brazil.
Recife is still today the much larger and more important city of Pernambuco, but is not as charming as Olinda. I didn't spend much time in Recife, just one day at the beach and a quick tour of downtown. But of course I did go to the beach:) Recife's beach, Boa Viagem is the longest city beach anywhere in Brazil. Unfortunately, it is is also known as, the shark capital of Brazil! But because of all the reefs, really the main problems are with surfers who go beyond the immediate beach areas. Still, I was a little hesitant to enter the water:)
Boa viagem beach, Recife
The Dutch were eventually expelled by the Portuguese in 1654 and Olinda had to be completely rebuilt in the 17th century by the Portuguese. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982. Of course there are many churches throughout the city, but there is also a really famous Carnaval, which is more like a popular street party similar to traditional Portuguese carnivals, with the addition of African influenced dances. Unlike in Rio de Janeiro and Salvador, in Olinda, admission to Carnival is free and all the festivities are celebrated on the streets with great dolls and hundreds of small musical groups.
Carnaval starts 6 weeks early here and I happened to be lucky enough to be there for the opening weekend:) All the streets of old Olinda are blocked off and only local cars can circulate. I was staying at a wonderful pousada (small pension) called Quatro Cantos and all the street parties pass right in front. So I could just sit on the balcony drinking caprinhas and watch all the bands:) You can see a little of my pousada and what it was like at the beginning of Carnaval in the photos and videos below.
Pousada de Quatro Cantos
The breakfast room at my pousada
Opening of the street Carnaval
Great drumming and street groups, although am I the only one that gets a little bored after 3 hours of the exact same drum beat?:)Porto de Galinhas
Just a couple of hours south of Recife is the beautiful town of Porto de Galinhas, one of the most beautiful and famous of Brazil. This area has tons of reefs with natural swimming pools and the water is usually a turquoise blue-green, just spectacular. Of course, with my luck it was overcast and a little rainy that day, so although it was still lovely, I couldn't see the fantastic colors that it is known for. I did, however, have a wonderful lunch of fresh shrimp and capirinha, so it wasn't a total loss:)
Drinking a capirinha de morango (strawberry) at the beach of Porto de Galinhas
The beach when I was there in January
What Porto de Galinhas looks like in good weather!
Beautiful as it is, the name Porto de Galinhas (Port of Chickens) has a very sinister origin. In the second half of the 19th century, the Brazilian government imposed more restrictions on the commerce of slavery. Obviously Pernambuco was a major slave state with its sugarcane production, in order to circumvent the prohibition, ships looked for other areas to harbor outside of Recife. Many ships ended up going to the port 60 km south around Suape and Ipojuca, the area which is now known as Porto de Galinhas. Since it was forbidden to mention slavery, when a ship arrived at the port, instead of shouting that a slave ship had arrived, they would shout "there are new chickens" in the port. Not only did they use the term chickens to hide the fact that slaves were arriving (although everyone knew that this was going on), but also, it is speculated, to allude to the way the slaves had been shipped (in horribly tight quarters and cages like chickens). Amazing to think of this as you swim in the unbelievably beautiful waters there.
TamandaréAnother hour or so south of Porto de Galinhas is a town called Tamandaré. I only had a couple of hours to spend there, unfortunately. It would be wonderful to retreat there for a few days. Tamandaré is similar to Porto de Galinhas with its natural swimming pools, but is a lot more isolated and less well known, so you can really have parts of the beach to yourself - it was just gorgeous. Here is what the most famous beach, Praia dos Carneiros, looks like.
Maceió, Alagoas
I was in Pernambuco (Recife, Olinda, Porto de Galinhas & Tamandare) for about 4 days and then I made my way down the coast to the state of Alagoas and the capital, Maceió for another 4 days. Maceió is about 3 hours from Recife and was perhaps my favorite area of the trip. The state is one of the poorest in Brazil, but it is comprised of white sand beaches and turquoise waters everywhere - gorgeous.
I found Alagoas fascinating since it was full of stories and legends. They even had their own icons similar to Bonnie and Clyde, also in the 1930s, called Lampião and Maria Bonita. Except instead of robbing banks they killed and robbed from the rich; a bit like Robin Hood. There were novels and film versions of this story and today in Alagoas you can buy tons of souvenirs with sayings or logos of them - loved it.
Another amazing story in Alagoas was how part of the Black slave population escaped and formed their own free communities in the 17th century until they were killed by Brazilian fighters. Alagoas used to be part of the state of Pernambuco so was under the Dutch influence for a while as well. But after the Dutch were expelled, a new war happened in Alagoas. Some black slaves had escaped from various "engenhos" (sugar cane processing farms) and tried to live freely in communities known as "quilombos". The quilombos were a State, organized in ways similar to the African tribes: the largest quilombo ever formed in Brazil was the Quilombo dos Palmares, chiefed for a long time by Zumbi dos Palmares (today the icon of Brazilian blacks). This Quilombo lasted more than one century, and at its peak occupied a large area, covering parts of Pernambuco and Alagoas. The landlords financed several expeditions to try to kill Zumbi and destroy the Quilombo. Finally in 1694, after decades of failed attacks, the Quilombo was finally taken and Zumbi fled, but was killed - in battle on November 20th 1695. Nov 20 today is a holiday in Brazil in some parts of the country - Day of the Black Conscience.
Here you can see a bit of the layout of Alagoas
The people in this state were also super friendly and I felt like it was a real coconut & beach culture with lots of forró:) (Brazilian dance close to a mix of swing and country - see youtube video under links on my blog). Maceió was touristy, but I think overall less known with international tourists than Brazilians. There are so many coconut trees in certain areas of Alagoas, such as São Miguel dos Milagres that Agua de Coco (coconut water) is cheaper than regular water!:) Here I met Mariana, a friend from Londrina who was staying with her friend and friend's family in the city for a couple of days. Then I had another couple of days to take excursions to near-by beaches and the river São Francisco (2 hours south of Maceió), similar to the Mississippi in size and importance. Below are a few of my favorite photos of Alagoas.
Barra de São Miguel - 1 hour north of Maceió
Praia de Gunga - a short boat trip from Barra de São Miguel, it's considered one of the most beautiful beaches of Brazil
Video -Praia de GungaA beach crab (Siri) - looked like a Sesame Street character!:)
In purple on the beaches north of Maceió:)
Drinking wonderful coconut water in São Miguel dos Milagres
Tapioca stands (Brazilian style crepe found everywhere in the NE) on the beaches of Maceió
With Neiva and Mariana at Divina Gula in Maceió(almost starting to get tan:))
The Northeast of Brazil has to be one of the most religious parts of the country, Catholic and Evangelical alike. I was struck as we drove north how people lived so simply and in very small houses, many of them with religious writing like the one below (Jesus is Salvation). Many people just sitting outside their homes talking or biking together relaxing on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Every shot just reminded me of a spread you might see in National Geographic.
On of my last days in Maceió Nevia and I visited the Rio São Francisco, 2 hours south, near Penedo. As you can see on this map, the river runs through 5 states - North from Minas Gerais, through Bahia and Pernambuco and then down the border of Sergipe and Alagoas where it enters the Atlantic ocean. It reminds me of the Mississippi in that it has been incredibly important to the cultural and livelihood of these areas, especially since it runs through very diverse climates and drought-ridden states.
We took a day boat trip down the river and it was raining and really cold. But as we approached the natural dunes that form near the end of the river when it empties into the ocean,the sun came out and we were able to walk around a bit. The landscape there reminded me of the deserts I saw in Tunisia, it was just amazing. Here are a few photos of the trip there.
Salvador, Bahia
When we imagine Brazil, at least from North America, most of our stereotypes of the beautiful beaches, people and Carnaval dancers really fit to the state of Bahia. It is amazing here, so diverse and tropical with all kinds of music, dance and culture.
Salvador is known as Brazil's capital of happiness (and sometimes laziness too:))due to its easygoing population and countless popular outdoor parties, including its street carnival.The city of Salvador is notable in Brazil for its cuisine, music, architecture, and literature (famous writer Jorge Amado, one of Brazil's greatest authors, was from here).
Over 80% of the population of metropolitan region of Salvador has Black African ancestry and yet residential segregation by race in Salvador is comparable to major U.S. cities like New York and Chicago. The African influence in many cultural aspects of the city makes it the center of Afro-Brazilian culture, but sadly Black Bahians, due to their low income, are apart from most of the city life. Although in Salvador it is not really a racial segregation, but an economic segregation, since black people with high income have no problem living in "white people neighborhoods".
Walking around Salvador, you really feel like you are in another country all together. It doesn't have a Latino feel like you might think of when imagining Buenos Aires, Argentina, for example. But it feels like you have stepped off a boat and are walking through Nigeria, Africa, where most of the Brazilian slaves were actually taken from.
As I mentioned above, this was the very first landing spot of the Portuguese in 1500 and was the capital until 1763 when it moved to Rio de Janeiro. It is the 4th largest city of Brazil and one of the oldest in the New world. Since Salvador was a major slave port for nearly three hundred years as well, there is obviously a lot of African flavor, from food to religious practices, to crazy nightlife - a very fascinating place! The beaches are also spectacular stretching for hundreds of miles along the coast.
Here are the beaches directly in the city of Salvador (my pousada was one block from Barra!)
It was difficult to leave Maceió but I wanted to be sure to see at least a little of Salvador before I left Brazil. It certainly merits a visit of at least a week, but I had about 4 days, and since it was the end of my trip, and it was soooo hot, I really just wanted to take advantage of the beaches this trip. I will need to go back to explore all the other facets. I arrived by bus from Maceió (about 8 hours) very early in the morning and I just remember the huge cockroaches running around the bus station. I literally had to jump over a few, they kept coming near my suitcase! Actually, the cockroaches were ever prevalent in Alagoas and Pernambuco too, and as much as I love the tropical weather, this is one aspect I can definitely do without!!
Anyway, I made it to my pousada - Estrela do Mar - around 5:00am and they offered me a hammock outside to sleep for a few hours:) This was very nice, but with the cockroaches and mosquitoes at that hour, I only lasted about 40 minutes before I ended up waiting inside until it was light. Since we were only about a block from the beach, I could sleep there from 7-11am while waiting for my room. Excellent!
Beach closest to the pousada with the lighthouse and fort in the distance
In the afternoon I toured a bit of the Pelourinho, the old historic part of Salvador renowned for its Portuguese colonial architecture with monuments dating from the
17th-19th century. It is also a UNESCO world heritage site, from 1985. Pelourinho means
whipping post in Portuguese, and this was the old slave auction location until 1835 when slavery was outlawed. Over time, this portion of the city, though home to artists and musicians, fell into disrepair, but in the 1990's, a major restoration effort resulted in making the area a highly desirable tourist attraction. You can see why from the photos below.
Streets of the Pelourinho
In front of São Francisco church in the Pelourinho
Inside São Francisco church - it was pure gold; I've never seen anything like it!Inside São Francisco churchListening to music in the Pelourinho
Symbol of Salvador, next to the famous Elevador Lacerda
Elevador Lacerda, first elevador of Brazil, has connected the two sections of the city since 1873
Mercado Municipal in the lower part of town just beyond the Elevador Lacerda (formerly a slave market that is supposedly still haunted!)
While walking around the Pelourinho you will see people everywhere practicing Capoeira everywhere. But from Pernambuco down to Bahia, Capoeira, a mix of dance and martial art, is really incredibly popular. I tried it last year when I was in Fortaleza and it is SO hard, too hard for me. The art of Capoeira is uniquely identified by swinging hips, arm stands, head butts and sweeping feet movements. The art requires a good level of agility and core strength. Maybe that's why you rarely see any white girls trying this:)
The origin of Capoeria is fascinating. In Portuguese it literally means "chicken coop". The presence of capoeira in Brazil is directly connected to the importation of African slaves by the Portuguese, and Salvador is considered the centre of origin of the modern capoeira branches. The initial purpose of Capoeira's emergence was to boost the slaves morale, remind them of their homeland through music and to defend themselves against aggression from their owners. The practice of Capoeira was banned in 1892, though in 1937 it was made legal again and is popular all over the world, but especially in Northern Brazil.
If you're interested in learning more about capoeira: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capoeira
One other thing that I loved about Salvador was its food. Most of Brazil has rather bland food, not using too many spices or much peppr. But in Bahia the local cuisine is very spicy and based on seafood (shrimp, fish), using lots of African ingredients and popular worldwide. The most typical ingredient is azeite-de-dendê, an oil extracted from a palm tree brought from West Africa to Brazil during colonial times.
Traditional dishes include caruru, vatapá, acarajé, bobó-de-camarão, moqueca baiana, and abará. The most famous snack is acarajé, basically a deep-fried "bread" made from mashed beans from which the skins have been removed. But the dendê oil they use is really strong and I got pretty sick off of the acarajé actually.
Woman making acarajé
Selling acarajé in the Pelourinho
Since I was in Salvador such a short time, I didn't really have a chance to soak up all the cultural events, but I did happen to be there for the most important religious festival of the year - the "Lavagem de Bomfim". Religon in Salvador is so interesting because the African slaves managed to preserve their own religion by syncretising everything with the imposed Catholic religion, attributing names and characterisitcs of their Candomblé deities -like Obatala (Oxalá), father of humankind; Ogoun (Ogum), god of the war and iron; Yemanja (Iemanjá), goddess of the sea, rivers and lakes - to Catholic saints with similar qualities. So the Feast of Bonfim, celebrated in January, is dedicated to both Our Lord of Bonfim (Jesus Christ) and Oxalá, the Candomblé African god.
This is the church of Bomfim with its bracelets tied to the fence. You are supposed to buy one and tie it around your wrist, make three wishes, and wait for it to fall off naturally for your wishes to come true (this can take months!) But if you cut it off, your wishes will not come true.
Lavagem de BomfimOn this feast day, around the same time as Epiphany, people dress all in white and walk 5 kilometers from the bottom of the famous Elevador (seen above) to the church of Bomfim, where they then wash the statues of Jesus and celebrate. However, most of the million people in the crowd, following the faithful, are simply dancing and drinking beer, dumping trash everywhere in 100 degree heat at 10am! Beer and fried foods in incredible heat, early in the morning??? As much as I would like to, I guess I really don't fit into Afro-Brazilian culture 100%!:)
This year animal rights groups were also trying to get the festival to take better care of the donkeys and give them more water because the poor animals are decorated for the event and then have to carry people and supplies on their back for hours in the scorching heat!! That made me really sad to see; hopefully people became more aware of these issues with the ad campaigns of this year at least.
The idea of the festival is wonderful, but for me there were just too many people and after getting trampled a few times I couldn't breathe anymore and had to step out. I had to buy a disposable camera because people told me it wouldn't be safe to bring my regular one. Since I didn't feel comfortable taking pictures right in the middle of the crowd, you can't really see how crowded it was, but you can get some idea of the streets and type of people there - lots of beautiful African-Brazilian men:) but really a crazy atmosphere, like another Carnaval.
I probably will need to come back to Salvador when it's not the height of summer and there aren't so many people. It was difficult to fully soak up all the cultural activities when it was so hot. After about 2 or 3 hours of touring I just wanted to go to the beach:) Which was fine too. I definitely enjoyed myself. And the sunsets of Salvador were absolutely incredible! I ended up sitting by the lighthouse near my pousada every night to see them. Definitely one of the most interesting and unique cities I visited in Brazil. I will have to go back!!!:)
Sunsets of Salvador
Tchau, tchau for now!
The lines are always long & chaotic, with nothing seeming to function, yet in Brazil, when your plane departure time is getting close they call your flight and allow anyone still checking-in to move to the front of the line. The plane rarely leaves without you – a good & secure feeling!:) Plus going through security is MUCH easier in Brazil than the U.S. You can even walk through with a bottle of water, no problem. So, despite the craziness, I guess overall I thought it was a better experience than American airports.
Boa noite e boa sorte!
