Salvador

Salvador is in Bahia, Brazil, which is in the far Northeast area of the country. It is a beautiful area, with a truly tropical atmosphere due to its proximity to the equator. This city reminds me at once of both carribean cultures and of Cusco, Peru. It has a carribean feel because of the raw heat in climate as well as in the food. It has similarities to Cusco in its architecture and general attitude. The food is excellent, although very different from what I have experienced in Rio, because it is heavily influenced by African culture. Last night I had an inredible fish stew that was like nothing I had ever had before. African culture also influences the Samba, which is neverending here. The caipirinhas are as much a part of the dance as anything because the extreme sugar level is really the fuel that keeps everyone moving at such a fast pace. Works for me, anyway.

We are staying in the Pelourinho, the historic district of Salvador, in a very nice guesthouse called Redfish. It is a beautiful and very well run guesthouse, with a large room on the top floor that easily accomodates Berger, Lanza and myself, and that has a balcony fashioned with a cloth hammock. Nearby there is a fantastic local produce shop, where yesterday I bought a pineapple and a banana which were both amazing. I have spent the majority of my time here either on the beach or sampling the regional specialties from rolling food vendors. Lazy days, indeed, but much needed after Rio and to make my vacation complete.

The craziness really starts here after dinner, when the streets of Pelourinho fill up with locals, tourists, musicians and artists and everyone dances in the streets, in the bars, in the restaurants, in the clubs. The dance is the Samba, and the craziest night of all is Tuesday night (What!? This seems strange, but it is one hundred percent true), the night we arrived.


To say that this is the craziest street party I have ever been to would not do it justice. The narrow roads of this district are over-run with people going in every which direction, dancing as they go, eating all sorts of food and drinking the sugary drinks typical to the region and necessary to facilitate the energy levels needed for this type of party. There are multiple stages where the roads open up into public squares, the largest of these in the main center square of the district, and there is live music all night. The bars all have hired professional musicians or complete samba ensambles to entertain anyone who will sit for any amount of time. It was truly crazy. Everyone was kind to us, despite our relatively feeble attempts to participate in the samba. The three of us wandered around, purchasing drinks and foods and took it all in. We ended up, finally, at a small danceclub where we were ill equipped to do anything other than watch in astonishment.


Morro de Sao Paolo, our next destination, will be even more isolated and beach-centric than our current location. This is welcome as I hope to turn the red of my sunburn into a brown before I return to the chilly east coast, and because the descriptions I have read of the place are similar to what I read about some of the islands in Thailand before Mike and I went there.

Paragliding

Rio is an unbelievable city, one of the most unbelievable I have ever been to. A unique entry could be written about the the beaches, the people, the food (both the street vendors and the fantastic restaurants), the nightlife, the music or the general feeling of excitement that accompanies all these elements while in the city.

One of the best days I had in Rio, I was sitting on the beach in Ipenema. This was another experience where I was limited only by my imagination, as practically anything you would want while sitting on the beach is yours for the asking. Would you like a whole sliced pineapple? No problem; a guy calling himself John Travolta will walk by wearing a basket on his head filled with the organically grown fruit, and will cut one up for you. How about a water, fresh squeezed fruit juice, tea, soda, beer, mixed drink (caipirinha anyone?) or whole coconut to drink? Of course these are available, and will be brought to you. Then it gets interesting. There are also countless other foods being sold by walking vendors. You can buy ice cream, beef tenderloin, sandwiches, empenadas, shrimp on a stick, banana bread, peanuts and roasted cashews. My personal favorites were a grilled cheese, which was literally a piece of white cheese that had been skewered and that is cooked over a small charcoal stove the vendor carries with him, and acai, a smoothy-like substance that is a blend of bananas, ice and the fruit the product is named after, mixed with granola. If you factor in that all these food vendors wander the beach along with others who sell hats, sunglasses, sunscreen, shirts, jerseys, jewelry and who knows what else, it probably sounds pretty overwhelming. It´s actually not bad, though, and the convenience and extremely low price of what is being sold make it easy to tune everything out and simply watch the waves or the locals playing futevolly, a sport I had never seen before that mixes elements of soccer and volleyball (consider two on two volleyball where the contestants cannot use their hands). Pretty cool scene, all in all.

This entry, however, is not about the fantastic beach scene, or any of the other fun that we got into in Rio. This is about paragliding, an activity that conforms to what seems to be my typical "adventure tourism."

Now, I probably would not have seeked out paragliding as an activity in Rio. There are many other things to do in the city, and hanging out there doesn´t really make you want to jump off a large rock strapped to an oversized kite. Berger was really interested in checking it out, though, as he had decided that he had never really had the opportunity to hang glide before and probably would not have the opportunity again (don´t worry, many of us pointed out the flaw in this argument). I support Berger in his decisions, though, and it turns out that Mike and I will follow him to the ends of the earth, and then to jump off. Here is a picture of Mike when he took off from the platform:

The process is actually pretty interesting. When hang gliding for the first time you ride with a certified instructor (of course). The main concern that the instructor has before leaving the ground is that you are prepared to run off the platform. If you stop running, say, near the end of the platform, it could cause some problems. Yikes. With instructions to look into the horizon and to run, without jumping, with the instructor until we are airborn, each of us took our turn defying death.

I was surprised with how calm I was during the take-off, although my instructor did do a great job of putting my mind at ease. We had a good launch because I was determined to keep running until there was nothing to run on, and we ran hard. Once airborn we quickly soared up in the sky as we caught a gust of wind. I could not help but think that it was as close to flying like a bird that people have ever done; this perspective was aided by the fact that as we twisted and turned, back and forth flirting with the wind currents that were sending gusts northeast, there were birds who were essentially doing the exact same movements as us. It was really sublime.

The views were incredible: We soared over a huge expanse of beach, next to a large mountain and over large estates and tall apartment buildings, all with views of the hillside favelas.

It was an amazing experience, and one for which I owe Berger thanks for being the engine behind the decision to pursue it. Once again, I am happy to report of an extreme adventure that has turned out well, as I am safely here in Salvador giving news about it. In all truth, I called my mother right before going up the mountain, but I did not tell her I was about to hang glide.

Tomorrow I will post a story about the street festival in Salvador, which was off the chain.

Rio Cast of Characters - Some New, Some Balls

Prelude number two to the Rio adventures is a quick description of those who were in Rio. The four below that accompanied me on my adventures were truly central to the good times that I have had. They are as follows:

OK, so I have no introduction for myself. It´s EKO. I put this in so you can see everyone involved at the same time, and because this picture is pretty sweet.

















Mike. You might remember him from EKO World Tour, the Argentina, Peru and Thailand episodes. Specific adventures included such blogged stories as Scooters in Peru, Thailand Scuba Fiasco and Best Ski Day Ever and such unblogged stories as Ko Phi Phi Accident. Always a good addition, many a trip has been contemplated with this field general who is not afraid to change the play at the line of scrimmage. I think he looks like he is adjudicating someone in the below picture.






















Ben AKA Cousin Balls AKA The Bear AKA The Bailif. This piece of work accompanied the EKO World Tour in Argentina last year and all members are still recovering from that set of misadventures. Chandler will not talk about it. Needless to say, we could not have proceeded to another South American country without him. He looks pretty disco.

















Steve Lanza AKA The Mastermind AKA The Planner AKA The Man with Lists. Without Steve, much of this two week world tour would have been impossible. He knows 17 languages, including sign language, and has written guide books regarding most of the cities we will visit although he has never been to any of them. Truly an amazing addition to the trip, he brings the perspective that only a New Yorker can. Although I am not sure he knew what he was getting into with this group, he has demonstrated time and time again that he is cool under pressure. Tenacity.

















Berger AKA The Consumer. Berger has a hot tub and he is not afraid to use it. I like to call it a perk of my living situation, of which there are many others that should not be mentioned here. Berger has done an incredible job thus far of ordering huge espressos and doing his signature dance. A true utility man, the EKO World Tour would have stalled multiple times had he not been present.

















I´m sad to say that when we left Rio this morning, we left without Mike and Ben, who should be home by now. Lanza, Berger and I will have to go forward alone, and we will miss the unique talents and perspectives these two brought to the trip.

That is all for now. This internet connection is very slow and I need another nap before the festival party here in Salvador tonight. On an unrelated but very important note, please keep your fingers crossed for my father´s election tonight. Tomorrow I will post some substantive stories about Rio.

EKO World Tour - Brazil Episode Prelude

So it has been just over a year since I have written a blog entry. Many things have happened, but they have been on the domestic tip, and therefore they do not qualify for World Tour coverage. Needless to say, I am happy to be able to write a new entry, mostly because it signals that I have once again made my way across United States borders and into foreign countries where there are international friends and death-defying adventures. In many ways, my trip thus far (at least after settling in to my surroundings a little) feels like a continuation of the original EKO World Tour, and beyond that, to the as of now nameless trip I took to Europe five years ago.

I have been in Rio de Jeneiro, Brazil for the last 5 days. Rio is the kind of place that is difficult to write about because there is too much to do. Any moment you get to catch your breath should be used for sleep or relaxing on the beach, so please accept my apologies for my inability to give updates until now.

My trip will only last for 5 more days, and will take me to Salvador (where I am now, sitting in a computer cafe that costs the equivelant of one dollar per hour) and to Morro de Sao Paulo. I plan to give updates from each of the three places, so stay tuned.