Onwards north from Salvador, and the equator is making it's presence more clearly felt.
The night bus to Olinda wasn't half bad actually - for me anyway. I slept like a baby. I can sleep pretty much anywhere if I'm tired, including standing up in line one time.
Anway, Olinda is just north of Recife, a large coastal city. Recife is a bit of a skyscraper-land, but apparently quite cultural once you get to know it. I didn't, so it remains skyscraper-land in my mind.
Olinda is a bit of a town, with more old buildings, like Salvador. There are registered "guides in training", who don't really speak english, but really want to show you around. Well, they really just want to take you to all the churches nearby. They are free (plus a tip of course, so not free at all), but we decided against using them and their enthusiasm. Anyway, by the coast the pace of life is getting more and more laid back. And the humidity and the heat is increasing. I spent the afternoon sitting by the water watching the boats and people fish, whilst drinking beer and eating ridiculously cheap crab - R$2.30 (about NZ$1.80) for a whole one!
The next day we continued our journey to Praia de Pipa, a beach town that is very popular with tourists, as well as holidaying Brazilians, but being the low season it's not too busy. It was about three and a half hours from Olinda, and it is hotter and more humid. It's a village with lots of restaurants and shops, and beaches galore. Beautiful beaches.
The beach nearest is a little rocky, but still really nice, with bathwater pools at low tide. There is a bus that is really cheap and goes to other beaches nearby. I went to dolphin beach yesterday afternoon and had a really nice swim - the water is so warm here. We saw really only one dolphin properly, teasing us with flashes of fins and small splashes. The best time to see them though is in the morning when they feed in groups, so methinks we will be checking them out tomorrow.
This morning I and five others went a little further than dolphin beach to a river that mixes with the sea. We went kayacking in amongst the mangroves and jumping fish, and went swimming - whether we liked it or not. It poured with rain for a bit, but it was just warm enough for it not to matter. And the water for swimming was nice and warm too, with black squishy mud that sucks you in to your knees. And I can also confirm that if you rub it on your face you look like Rambo.
The temperature is quite amazing for this time of year, but being so close to the equator now and all, winter really doesn't exist. According to my own measurements, at the beach yesterday it was 37°C+ in the sun, and 30°C in the shade. At 10am yesterday it was 33°C, with 93% humidity. So it's "pleasantly" warm, and warming up today now that it's no longer raining.
Tomorrow night we move on, to Fortalezza I believe, on another night bus. We stay there only one day, then go to Jeri-something, which is a small fishing village, now being tourist-ised with lots of activities available, such as surf lessons.
Life is hard, but someone has to take one for the team and spend some hard hours in the sun on the beyatch.
