20-25.11.10 Arembepe

Salvador was a brief overnight visit in a dyer hostel before catching a few wrong buses in opposing directions enroute to Arembepe. We are heading back to Salvador next week so watch this space. Arembepe is 50km northeast of Salvador along the Coconut Road. After the mayhem of a few too many concrete jungles we decided to go somewhere well off the beaten track and enjoy some quiet beaches. The bus doesn’t quite reach here so we had a short but a very hot walk into town before miraculously finding our beach chalet on Estrada da Aldeia Hippie (translated means Hippy Village Road) . That said, we did ask a few friendly locals for directions. We are getting plenty of inquisitive looks here. We are the only gringos in town but everybody smiles and shouts ‘Bom dia’.

We had a walk down Arembepe beach into town where we were surprised to see a very vibrant and busy little square. Super friendly with a good family atmosphere. Lots of street food on sale too. I ordered something, with everything on, with something else on it. I think it was a bit like the conversation in the kebab shop on the way home from the pub. I.e. - I said something he didn’t understand, he said ‘everything on mate’ I said something else he didn’t understand, he said ‘chilli sauce mate?’ I said, ‘lots please’ which he understood! What we actually got was a bean cake with shrimp paste, coconut, palm oil, garlic and hot sauce. We later found out it is called acaraje, deap fried bean cake stuffed with vatapa. A traditional Bahian dish with West African routes. (Salvador is in the state of Bahia!).  Afterwards Rach ordered a beef, cheese and banana crepe – when in Rome!  Surprisingly, she thought it was very nice!

Arembepe Beach from our little bungalow. Home for 4 nights.

On Monday we decided it was time for a spot of sunbathing. After getting bored very quickly we headed for the hippy village we had heard about. Once famous because Mick Jagger and Janice Joplin used it as a retreat in the 60’s.  It was an amazing place. Really chilled out as you would expect.  There was obviously a reason for this too...! It was tiny. Home to say 40 to 50 people each skilled with a different craft to try and make money. There was a guest book in the centre of the village which we signed. We had a good look through it. Just Brazilians and Argentines – No Brits or Europeans - Fantasic! Rach bought a bracelet off a guy full of tattooes with a crocodile tooth in one ear and a tiger tooth in the other. Shortly afterwards a guy painted us a picture in 5 minutes from a blank canvas without brushes just using his palms and his fingertips. The picture was amazing. We almost felt guilty saying we didn’t want it because it’ll get ruined in our rucksacks. Which was actually one of our most successful Portuguese language triumphs.

Painting with just his hands hippy man. Hippy village

Heading back into town along Arembepe beach we came across a sea turtle which had come ashore to nest. It’s currently the nesting season and there is a turtle reserve in town protecting their habitat and recording their movements etc. Apparently of the 7 species of sea turtle 4 nest here. Purely by chance the workers from the protection reserve came and tagged, measured and recorded it’s vital stats before letting it go back into the ocean. They turned it on it’s back which looked painful but I guess it’s for the greater good and it didn’t do it any harm. We were extremely fortunate to have seen such an incredible animal in it’s natural habitat up so close.

Turtle we saw being tagged on Arembepe Beach 

On Tuesday we took a day trip down the Coconut Road to a small town called Priah do Forte. On route to the bus stop an unmarked silver van with blacked out windows pulled up besides us. A guy got out and shouted ´Praia do Forte´. The van was full of locals so without even a second thought we climbed in.. (sounds more radical than it was. We had been told about these unofficial taxis the night before). After the short journey we decided to stick to the official buses. The driving was mental. Praia was much more developed than Arembepe but still very laid back and quiet. We had a day exploring this sleepy little town with a few beers on the beach as the tide came in to wash us away. We has a late lunch of a local fish dish called Moqueca Peixe. Fish stew with coconut, palm oil and spices. It was awesome. Met a bloke called Pablo who spoke English and gave us lots of advice about safety in the area and general lack of it. It really brought it home to us that even here in this quiet little town you need to take a few precautions.

Local fishermen at Praia do Forte

Thursday morning we head back to Salvador where we are meeting up with Rachels friend Neto and his wife Carol, both Brazilians who live in Salvador and have very kindly invited us to stay for a few days.