It's been over a week, so I guess I should update ya'll.
Next stop after my last post was Fortelezza. This involved a bus to a night bus, then a night bus. Fortelezza was a Maimi-esque city, but with a little more prostitution - unfortunately including of the child variety. It was really just a small stop so we could get our transport to the very remote Jericoacoara. The food across the street was delicious for lunch though - massive portions, supposedly for two, but really for four. Then we walked along the beach - full of sewage apparently, but nice to look at. For dinner I just had a side, still recovering from lunch. "Spanish potatos", which turned out to be a bowl of potato chips. A very expensive one too. And then, soon after, the stomach pains started, and that night I was up with a fever and aches. Could it be the Dengue...?
Next day we took a six hour bus to a small town, and from there we got on a big 4wd to go to Jeri. Still feeling unwell, it wasn't as enjoyable as it could've been. We had to drive through remote back roads for about 20 minutes, then along the beach for another 20 to get there. It's a touristy town, surrounded by sand dunes, with unpaved sand streets. It used to just be a fishing village. Now there is horse back riding, dune surfing, the beach... all of which I heard about, from the safety of my airconditioned room. I had a high fever - that was the main thing - and so stayed in all the time and rested, except for short excursions for food. I didn't think I had Dengue, which is a mosquito-borne illness with no vaccine or cure. Most people get over it, but it is really bad when you have it. I decided to take an antibiotic for a gut thing instead. And luckily started to feel better for the onward journey.
Onward it was, and a lot more exciting than the journey in. Small 4wds, which went over the beach, over dunes, and over rivers. This was the most exciting of all - we went on tiny barges - twice. There was a whole system set up to get from Jeri to the next place, including a boy who ran through the water in one part infront of the jeeps to show the driver the shallow part. Oh yeah, that's right, "driver". It just so happened our one decided to get stoned half way through the journey whilst driving. His co-driver assured us though that the weed was "muito bem, very good", thus relieving everyone of their worries.
Next stop was Parnaiba, for two nights. I went to the doctor, and got two blood test which showed I might have Dengue (though they can't actually tell, and it may have been because of the antibiotics). But to be honest I feel better because of the antibiotics methinks, and that's that really. If I had Dengue there's nothing I could do, and I would probably be feeling much worse. So I had my (probable) food poisoning for the trip. No more sickness, knock on wood, ever.
In Parnaiba we went on a boat cruise through a lagoon. We watched the fishmen and the tide go out. There were crabs, mangroves, iguanas and monkeys. And the sand had more consistancies than I thought possible - from condensed milk to concrete. It was very serene and quiet.
From their we took a "crappy public bus" to Tutoiha, a small stop off town, with about two hotels. Most people got smelly rooms with smelly beds, but luckily myself and my roomie got a room in the new part, with new beds. And we only had one frog in the bathroom in the morning. Our group were the only gringos in town, so we got many stares. Gringos don't frequent these poverty-stricken and remote parts of Brazil often. This area is pretty much just run on fishing and some farming.
This morning we left Tutoiha to Barreirinhas, on another 4wd. This time it was four hours, the longest thus far by far. It was literally driving through Nowherenowhereland, passing the odd village, full of piglets and semi-starved cows. It was very bumpy and there were lots of holes with water - which was not unknown to come inside when it was very deep. At least I wasn't crammed outside on the back...
So there's your update. We have about five nights before we get to the mouth of the Amazon, and we are getting to less remote areas now. I've learnt the meaning of being out in the middle of nowhere, but still being close to somewhere. In the Amazon that will all change. I'll try and post before then again, so talk soon.
