Itacaré, Bahia, Brasil

I have to admit, I’ve never been a big fan of beach holidays. There’s not much to do besides sit on the beach all day and occasionally going for a swim between eating. That’s exactly what the last few days in Itacaré have been like and I have to say, it’s absolutely perfect.

Itacaré is the quintessential beach town with a very chilled mood, lots of Bob Marley and breath taking beaches. It’s also the last stop for Hamish and Kiera, who leave tomorrow, and the scene of Danny’s 31st birthday, also tomorrow.

The days have been taken up with a quick breakfast at Mary’s Aloha café, comprising of an egg sandwich and an acai, which is an icy treat made with berries and guarana, that I usually get on fruit salad and topped with muesli. After breakfast it’s down to the beach for a swim before lunch at a great falafel place then back to the beach before a shower, surfing the net and dinner. Yeah, life’s pretty tough here.


Overlooking Praia da Tiririca

More photos from Itacaré on my Flickr page.

Life is so tough in fact that I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about my next move. My current plan is to travel to Belém at the mouth of the Amazon and spend a week on a boat to Manaus, which is about halfway up the Amazon. From there I’ll do a jungle trip, possibly taking it as far as the Venezuelan border where I will, oddly enough, cross over into Venezuela. From there it’s Angel Falls, Caracas and then a drive to Mérida, where I’ll spend a couple of weeks doing hikes and taking more Spanish classes. Of course, plans are only good for breaking, so I might change my mind completely in the next couple of days. The main problem for me at the moment is how I get to Belém. It’s about 45 hours away by bus and about AUD$500 away by plane. I would like to avoid both, but think I'll have to swallow one. It’s certainly nice that that’s the biggest problem in my life right now.

Nearly 2 months into my trip, I know that I’m not going to have long enough to do and see everything that I would like, but have been having an absolutely wonderful time. I’ve met lots of great people and seen some incredible things, both uplifting, depressing and violent. I’ve only visited 2 countries so far, but the feel of South America is amazing and I really feel at home here. I can’t recommend a holiday here enough, be it for 2 weeks or 2 years.

Luego!