Where Is Ron?
Latin America, 10 November 2008 - 3 March 2009
Ron in Sipascancha, Peru, November 2008
Lençois, Brazil, 22 January 2009
22 January 2009
Afton, Virginia, USADear family and friends,
We've had a siege of frigid weather in Virginia, Ron is hot in Brazil, and Steven and Laurie are wet and chilly in Peru!
I think all of us, however, are still experiencing post-event euphoria following the inauguration of President Obama a few days ago. What an exciting and moving and hopeful event it was! Although I know he won't be able to do everything everyone wants, I believe he does have the ability to move the country towards positive and much-needed change.
Reports follow from Ron and from Steven and Laurie. (The first part of Ron's message repeats parts of what he wrote 10 days ago, although with more and different details.)
Love to all,
Ellen
To see photos of Ilha de Boipeba, click on the thumbnail at the left.
Cold, hot, wet
To see photos of Porto Sauipe, click on the thumbnail at the left.
22 January 2009
Lençois, BrazilHello, my dear,
As I type this, the pictures from my camera chip are being transferred to my thumb drive so George can bring them to you when he goes home Sunday.
We are in Lençois and have our bus tickets for returning to Salvador early Saturday morning, January 24.
It has been a good experience traveling with George and I have enjoyed the opportunity to get to know Bharbreh better.
I arrived in Salvador by a 33 hour long bus trip from Sao Paulo. The roads are fine but the country is very large. I don't mind overnight 12 hour bus rides - but this was too much.
Salvador was a very unique city and I stayed in the historical section filled with hundreds of other tourists. It did not feel safe, with armed cops and soldiers on most of the street corners, and everyone saying to stay within the main area and not to use the small roads outside of the protected area. Later I finally figured out where and when I was safe and brought out my camera for some pictures.
I stayed in a dorm room in the Hostel International facility and made reservations for a single room when I returned. After getting familiar with the Historical section and finding and checking out the hotel that George had a reservation in, I left for the Island of Boipeba, getting up at 6:30 to catch the elevator down to the lower city where I caught a bus to the ferry dock. Yes - they had four large Otis elevators that moved people between the two levels of the city.
The ferry took me across the bay where I caught a bus to Valencia where there was a ferry to take me to Boipeba. Everything was timed well and I arrived in late afternoon.
I really enjoyed village and Island of Boipeba.
From my posada Rasgo de Lua in the back of the village I walked away from the beach and then found a path leading to the left which took me to a small beach named Praia de Cueira which was quite beautiful, with few people on it. I walked up the beach until I came to a river, and with some other people waded across. Later when the tide came back in some people had some major difficulty returning.
I spent the afternoon with a German guy and his girl friend from the Czech Republic and her girlfriend. Later we walked back around the coast to his posada run by a German guy. There were a couple of difficult parts with the high tide. I had an excellent fish dinner at his posada.
The next day I explored the paths behind my posada a bit more and found a bridge to cross the river and then a way to get to the beach, and found a wonderful small beach named Praia do Morere. I enjoyed the day talking to some young ladies from Belo Horizonte, a large city in the center of Brazil, and they invited me to visit their town. After a wonderful fish dinner I headed back to across the Island. There was a tractor with a passenger cart behind waiting for a full load to take people back to Boipeba, but I decided to go ahead and walk. I got more than half way back when I found that the area of the river bridge was below water - again the high tide. About 5 minutes later the tractor came along and picked me up.
After dinner I met another couple who had just bought a map of the Island that had the paths (tractor roads) on it. They were talking about the beach on the opposite side of the Island as the most beautiful. So I bought a map and the next day set out to walk across the Island. It took me over three hours. I figured out an alternative route to get around the high tide backwaters but really didn't want to walk back. Cova da Onca was a beautiful beach and I found a restaurant to have my fish lunch. I heard someone talking English and asked for help ordering my fish. He turned out to be a doctor from Sao Paulo who had rented a boat that brought his family and some others around the Island, and he invited me to return with them. I was happy with both my fish and not having to walk back.
That evening I joined them for a wonderful dinner at an upscale restaurant run by a guy from New York. I look forward to getting together with the doctor again when I return to Sao Paulo.
Finally I left Boipeba and returned to Salvador. On the second ferry across the bay to Salvador, I was on my way up the steps to the top of the ferry when someone called out my name. It was Bharbreh , George's wife and her friend Marieange. What a small world! In the excitement of following them down to their car I forgot my cane, which I'd originally used for my knee and then enjoyed using for defense. (Sorry Laurie, but it really helped me get across South America.)
After two more nights in Salvador we (George, Bharbreh, Marieange, and I) drove north to Praia do Forte to see the turtle reserve. It was a neat little town with a walking street, with lots of stores and restaurants, with palm trees, and at the end the turtle reserve and some beautiful beaches. They had a large area with several different pools with turtles and other water life. I think the turtles were injured and could not survive on their own. After being tourists for a while, we drove further north to Porto Sauipe, which we thought would be a sleepy fishing village. But it turned out to be having a major festival with lots of loud music all hours of the day and into the late night. I liked the small beach/fishing village and found the people to be very friendly. There was a restaurant along the beach where we hung out and had some excellent food. It was run by Jack Nicholson's double - really; he got a grand [$1000] a night to appear at parties in the place of Jack. Nice guy and we enjoyed talking with him.
Up the beach a couple of kilometers the river met the beach, and along the river was a beautiful beach with palm trees where people hung out during the day. We ate there a couple of nights.
After a few nights we packed up and drove back towards Salvador and then west and inland to Lençois, an old diamond mining town that is in the middle of a large park and has replaced the mining with tourism.
We have walked up to the waterfalls and around town for a couple of days. Today George, Barbara and Marieange have gone on a trip with a guide to see some other waterfalls. I opted to not go, which worked out fine since there was only room for them and the guide in the car.
The guide is a Frenchman who moved here and married a local lady and now has a son. He says this town is really growing fast, and I have seen a lot of Brazilian and some European tourists.
George and I have purchased our tickets for an early morning return to Salvador on Saturday the 24th so George can catch his Sunday flight home. I will then catch a bus north to Recife.
I don't have a clear plan but think I will keep working my way north to Belem before turning around and heading south again.
My health is fine, my knee has recovered, the food is good and I am losing weight. Now some adventure as I go off on my own again.
Love and miss you,
Ron
Forward to Recife, Brazil
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Last updated: 11 April 2009
