Howdy Everyone!!
Hope everyone is doing well! We have left Brazil and are now headed home. It’s hard to believe that in 9 short days this epic journey will come to an end. No more foreign ports, no more languages to learn, our journey is rapidly ending. The worst part is that we are now entering our version of finals week and you know that sucks. Definitely not what I would call a good time lol.
Shout Out – Definitely want to give a shout out to my sista! It was senior night on Monday at her soccer game and I am so pissed I had to miss it. Definitely not cool! Anyways just wanted to say I love you girl and you better lay someone out for me in the first round of playoffs. If I don’t hear about it from dad then you didn’t lay them out hard enough. Show em what’s up baby!! Love you and play hard!
Picture – The picture I chose is from my 4th Day in Brazil when we went hiking to the top of a mountain…I don’t want to say anything more because you can read about the rest below. Anyways, the mountain as you can tell was gorgeous and the people I was with were (from left to right) Bridgette, Becca, Brooke, me, Adam, and Theresa. Our guide Matteo took the picture. (click on pic to make it bigger)
Alright so Brazil was insane! Definitely had our share of ups and downs due to weather and other incidents but all in all it was a good time. The first day in Brazil was unique for several reasons that I won’t go into. Some really cool things happened and some really bad things happened. Out of respect for some of my fellow shipmates I have decided to not blog about day 1 because that would not be appropriate based on several things. When I get home I will be happy to tell you all about day 1 but it is not something I am going to post on this blog.
Now the rest of Brazil I will be happy to tell you about!! It was crazy awesome!! This blog is also unique because this is the first (and only) port where no one (not even my parents) had any clue what I was doing…so this is news for everyone.
Brazil was the first port where I didn’t do anything through SAS. Everything I did was independent and it was SAAAWWWEEETTTT!!! We decided to travel to a small little backpacking village called Lencois that is located in one of Brazil’s best known national parks, Chapada Diamantina. Okay so this national park was absolutely gorgeous. Think of the prettiest place you have ever been, multiply it by 10 and that is this place. Everything was green, there were birds everywhere, waterfalls, rivers, streams, rocks, just everything. Mountains as far as the eye could see…it was absolutely incredible. The town is extremely small, about .2 miles by 1 mile, very quaint and absolutely gorgeous. It is tucked into a valley bordered by mountains with a river running through the middle. The town contains about 6 hostels, one hotel, and numerous little shops and restaurants. By far one of the coolest town/villages (not really sure which one it is classified as lol) that I have ever been to. The people were so chill and everyone was so neighborly. They all knew each other and the locals were always smiling and asking us if we needed anything and how we were doing. There were dogs, cats, donkeys, and horses just roaming around the streets and no one even cared. All the streets were cobblestone and for the restaurants they set up plastic tables and chairs in the middle of the street and that is how we ate.
Our group for Lencois consisted of Adam, Theresa, Brooke, Bridgette, Becca, Mem, Lettie, Zach, Lauren, and myself. We left the first night on the 11:30 pm bus from Salvador. The bus ride was 6.5 hours so we decided to take the overnight bus so that we didn’t waste half a day traveling. I actually slept a little too…I usually can’t fall asleep on buses but this one was super comfy and I was able to grab some shuteye. We arrived in Lencois around 6 am on the second day in Brazil right as the sun was coming up. The town didn’t really come alive until around 8 am so for the first couple hours we wandered around to get used to the town and found one stall that opened early to buy breakfast and coffee (water for me…you know I don’t like coffee haha, although they said the Brazilian coffee was AMAZING). Anyways then we headed to the hostel where we were staying called Pousada Daimesona. It was a simple place owned by a woman named Patricia and her husband. It was simply a lofted room above their house that consisted of 8 beds and a hammock. Very simple layout and it couldn’t have been sweeter. Our lofted room had windows on all sides that looked out over the rooftops of the town and offered amazing views of the surrounding mountains. Patricia was absolutely amazing and made some really nice breakfast spreads for us every morning. It was so legit and we were all just amazed at how friendly and welcoming she was towards all of us.
After dropping off our bags we hung around the town and the girls did some shopping. I chose to sit in one of the town squares and read (Cussler trumps shopping anyday). We grabbed an early lunch, which was absolutely delicious (I didn’t eat one Brazilian meal that I didn’t like) and headed off on our first of many adventures into the national park. We went alone, no guide for us, in search of one of the highlights of the area around Lencois, the natural rock waterslides!! They were located about 4 km away from the city so it was a nice hike down to the area. By the time we got there we were all nice and sweaty and the water looked absolutely amazing (in reality it was definitely not clean water, mom no way you would have gotten in it). There was a local boy there who was chilling and he was sitting on a cliff/rock overhang when we got there. He waved at us and jumped off the cliff into the water. Well Adam and I were like “Dude if he can do it, we can do it!” So we did. It was SICK!!!
From that point on I was absolutely in love with Brazil. Our trip got better every minute! Hitting the water was awesome. It was refreshingly cool without being too cold…just perfect!! Okay then for the water slide. It was a huge section of rock at something close to a 45 degree slant and about 80 yards long? Not quite sure how long on the length but I have pictures for you all to make your own judgment call. To get up to the point where you can start to slide you had to climb up the side on the dry rocks and then cross over into the water without losing your balance and go down the middle, that was the smooth slide part. Our little local friend helped show us. The far side was too rocky and the water was too quick and the near side where we climbed up had a huge trench and was rocky near the bottom. We had to cross at the point where the trench was narrow enough to step over and keep our balance…mind you we were stepping onto slick rock covered with moving water so it was tricky getting into position to slide. Several of the girls didn’t do it because of this which was fine…but you know I did it more than once. Adam was the first one to go and I was right behind him! It was WICKED SWEET!! I was riding down a natural rock slide in the middle of Brazil with 9 of my friends into a huge pool at the end. How sweet is life?!!??! Freaking sweet!
Alright so the boys had done the waterslide and we talked some of the girls into doing it after seeing that we had done it safely. We are climbing up the side to get to the top when a nice little injury occurred. It was Adam, Mem, Brooke, and me because we had finally talked Mem and Brooke into doing it. Adam was in front so that he could get into the middle and help Mem step over the trench with me helping her from the other side and then we were gunna help Brooke. So Adam gets out there no problem and we are both ready to help Mem. Well she goes to plant her foot on the other side (like in the water on the rocks) and doesn’t do it right (like just had her weight all wrong and wasn’t ready for the water) and she totally loses her balance and falls. Well with her momentum and Adam’s help she was still able to clear the trench and ended up being fine…I on the other hand got the brunt end of the deal. She definitely didn’t let go of my hand and pulled me straight into the trench, AKA the one part of the slide our little guide friend told us not to go into. All I could think was “Well this is great, I’m gunna snap my leg in between these rocks and we are an hour hike from the town that doesn’t even have a hospital. This is just peachy.” When I fell I couldn’t really brace myself because that would have just made it worse so I just fell and tried to swivel so my body was in a feet first position. Well the upper part of the trench wasn’t the bad part; it was the lower part that really screwed me over. The trench narrowed to about 6 inches real quick and my left leg got wedged pretty good. Well that didn’t stop me because the water kept me going so my body got torque around and I felt my hip pop (pretty loud pop) but somehow my leg came free and I kept going. Only problem was now not only was I backward going down (which would have been fine cause that is what we were doing on the “safe” part for fun) but I was on the rocky part that wasn’t as smooth. Well of course I ran into a rock that was jutting out which felt just lovely before I tumbled in the water. This all happened in the span of about 25 seconds mind you. All in all I ended up a lot better than I thought when I initially fell in. Now I definitely tweaked my hip because it had a nice bump (actually it still does 5 days later) and it was a nasty blue/purple (again there is still a blue spot). Then I either bruised, cracked, or broke my tailbone, not really sure how to tell the difference, but since then (again this was last Thursday) I haven’t been able to sit down on my butt comfortably and I can’t sleep on my left side. Now feel free to laugh…I know I did, hey it was a funny looking accident, so I was told by everyone who saw it. Yeah it kinda sucks but no way was I going to let that slow me down, I just didn’t do the water slide anymore after that haha. I just jumped off the cliff a couple more times!
We hung out at the water hole for around an hour and a half because there were all kinds of rocks on the sides that we sat on and just chilled until we got hot enough to jump in again and cool off. Or we would just sit at the bottom of the waterslide and chill too while the water hit our backs. After we had chilled for awhile we decided to hike down the river a little farther just to see where it went. Now when I say hike I mean jump from rock to rock and climb from rock to rock down the middle of the river. Some of the girls didn’t think that was the safest idea (probably wasn’t but oh well) and they decided to head back to town. So Bridgette, Brooke, Zach, Adam, Theresa, and I headed off not knowing where we were going and just winging it like any good SASer has learned to do the past 4 months. We hop scotched our way down the river a ways until we came across a small natural lake tucked in between two of the mountains. It was so peaceful we just sat there and took it all in for a little while, although I wasn’t sitting, partly because I can’t sit still but mainly because my butt really hurt from falling haha.
After chillaxing we started heading back to the water slide/swimming hole and eventually the town because it was getting late and we didn’t think it would be the best idea to be hopping across a stream on rocks in the dark. We made it back to the hostel and caught up with the other girls. We hung around the hostel and sat in the street for a little while before going to dinner at one of the restaurants recommended by Patricia for dinner. Like I said earlier, the food was incredible and I thoroughly enjoyed everything I ate. We took our time at dinner just enjoying eating at a table in the middle of the street and listening to the local sounds and enjoying each other’s company. After dinner we walked around the town for a while and got some ice cream before calling it a night and falling asleep at the hostel. Zach tried to sleep in the hammock but gave up after a while and fell asleep in a bed. We went to sleep with the windows open and the sounds of the city winding down outside. It was awesome!
Day 2 in Lencois (3rd day in Brazil overall) was a more laid back day. We semi slept in, although I wouldn’t consider it sleeping in, and woke up to a breakfast at the hostel. We took our time eating and waking up before heading out for a morning hike. Mem, Lettie, and Lauren decided to take a guided tour to some of the highlights of the park that you had to drive to because they were leaving that night, so it was just Zach, Brooke, Bridgette, Adam, Theresa, and I for the day. We didn’t really have a specific goal in mind and just kinda asked random locals where waterfalls were. They said to head up the mountain above the town and so we did. We hiked for an hour and a half along a trail but never found the waterfall which was supposed to be semi close according to one villager. Oh well we didn’t really care because the hike was legit and we got some really cool views of the surrounding valleys and an overall shot of the entire city of Lencois tucked in between the surrounding hills and mountains. Bridgette, Brooke, and Becca decided to head back because Bridgette had to register for classes but the rest of us were determined to find these waterfalls/pools. Toward the beginning of the hike we had heard water and there had been a smaller path that branched off that we had neglected to take so we headed back till we hit that path. We followed it for like less than 10 minutes before it took us straight to the top of the waterfall. We were able to hike/jump down the side to get to the pools at the bottom which we were able to relax in awhile and rest in the cool water. The waterfall was super small but it was more of the pools that we were interested in. It was just a landscape that I have never been around before. There were just huge rocks everywhere with water flowing over and around them that emptied into pools. It was surreal man and I already really miss it.
We relaxed in the pools for a while before finding our way back to the trail and heading back into town. It was around 230 when we got back into Lencois and we were starving so the first place we went was somewhere for lunch. Our group split into 2 groups to eat and Zach, Becca, Brooke, and I decided to eat at a little restaurant that was owned by one of Patricia’s friends. Again the food was just unbelievably good and it was worth every penny! There is also this special Brazilian soft drink called Guarana which is super popular over there so we drank plenty of that. It reminded us of a sort of Cherry Cream Soda but better. For the rest of the afternoon we bummed around the city, some of the girls did some shopping, some people napped, I chose to sit in the city square with my book (can’t get enough of Cussler) and a nice cold Guarana with some ice cream after a little while. It was so relaxing. Just being around the locals and seeing them going about their lives while sitting in the middle of the perfect little town in the middle of one of the coolest places I have EVER been! It was absolutely unbelievable! Everything was just perfect, except for the fact that I had a blue hip and couldn’t sit down straight, but hey that stuff will heal eventually so I didn’t let it affect me. We all met up again later that night and then met up with Micha (spelled that wrong probably), Ali, and Sarah who were also in Lencois to go grab some dinner. We decided to eat at a local pizzeria that was having a special that night for two people. So the majority of us just paired up and shared pizzas because it was such a good deal. Bridgette and I shared a large Margharita Pizza and it was absolutely delicious!! Polished that baby off quick haha. Afterwards we walked around the town again, including another stop at the ice cream place (there is no ice cream on the ship except for soft serve which costs $3…so we take advantage of ice cream opportunities in port haha). Most of us crashed pretty early again because hiking just wears us out so that was day 2 in Lencois! Oh and Mem, Lettie, Lauren, and Zach decided to take the overnight bus that night home so they left us after dinner and our group was now just Brooke, Bridgette, Becca, Adam, Theresa, and I.
For our last day in Lencois (day 4 overall in Brazil) we decided to take a guided tour around the park to reach some of the sights that were farther away. The six of us left around 8 am with our guide for the day, Mateo. We had our own car and so we could go pretty much wherever we wanted. Patricia recommended several sights and we chose a tour that consisted of 6 spots along the way. Our first stop was about a 20 minute drive. After the drive we took a short 15-20 minute hike to get to an absolutely gorgeous waterfall. It was the tallest and widest waterfall we saw in Brazil. Not nearly as big as the one in Hawaii or Ghana but definitely wider and just a really cool looking falls. The waterfall emptied into a very large pool which was super deep…you know what that means…cliff jumping baby!!! Probably the first thing I asked my guide and he was like “Oh yeah you can jump if you want.” It was a pretty tall waterfall but the trick is to not think about it and just jump, that way you can’t psych yourself out. So I just ran out to the edge and jumped. It was such a rush…pretty much like the cliff diving we do at the lakes back home, but for some reason it was just way cooler to jump off a waterfall. Being in the air with the waterfall next to me was a SAWWWEEEETTTTTT feeling, and hitting the cool water felt absolutely amazing. Adam and Brooke were right behind me and then we were able to talk Bridgette into it after she saw that the three of us were fine. Nothing like jumping off a waterfall to start the day huh?!?
After swimming around and jumping off a couple more times it was time to hike back to the car and head to our next stop of the tour, one of the mountains that provided a stellar view of the surrounding area. The hike to the top of the mountain was pretty easy compared to some of the stuff I have done the past 3 months but still a stinking awesome hike!! The top was just a bunch of flat rocks with a complete 360 degree view. Kinda scary because there were no railings or anything, you could pretty much walk straight off the edge if you really wanted to, although we were pretty high up (called a mountain for a reason) so that probably wouldn’t have been the best idea haha. It was also super windy which added to the experience. The picture above was taken on this mountain and we were all just so happy to be there. We took our time taking it all in and just sitting and looking. It’s not every day that you get a view like that and we wanted to take it in as much as we could before we had to leave and hike back down to the car.
The next stop for us was lunch which happened to be at the 3rd and 4th stops as well. Lunch was buffet style where you pay for your food by weight at the end, a popular style of eating in Brazil that we took advantage of on a couple occasions. I especially liked it because I was able to try a bunch of different Brazilian dishes and not just get stuck with ordering one thing. Very tasty meal again, I’m sure you guys are sick of me saying that haha. Down the hill from lunch was a natural swimming pool that emptied out of a hole in a cliff so we relaxed there for an hour and a half to swim around with all these tiny fish and then the girls decided to lay out for a little while. It was just another amazing little slice of nature that I still can’t believe we got to experience. After relaxing at the pool we took a short walk to a naturally blue luminescent pool. Now we weren’t allowed to get in the water because whatever natural chemicals causes it to be that color are apparently really bad for humans so it is strictly off limits. Figured it would be a good idea to listen to my guide and not jump in haha. All we really did at that particular spot was take pictures, which is fine because it was stinking cool to see something like that occurring naturally in the environment.
Our last stop of the day was to the famous caves of Chapada Diamantina. This spot was a little bit of a drive away but that was okay. We get to the spot and the first thing they made us do was sign a waiver saying that if we got lost or fell down somewhere that we couldn’t sue the people. Again fine with me, I have “signed my life away” so many times on this trip it is like second nature now…shoot we had to do it just to get on the ship! Haha anyways…we followed a different cave guide for this portion and he took us off into the jungle to find the cave entrance. Okay so this sucker was a really big cave…I was expecting something smaller but NOOOO. This thing was massive! We start hiking down into the cave following close to our guide because he had the kerosene lamp that was our only source of light. The only other thing manmade was rope going through so that if you got separated you could use it to make your way back to the entrance. Our guide only spoke Portuguese so I didn’t necessarily learn anything but that doesn’t matter, I’ve learned about stalagmites and stalactites before, no sense in hearing it all again. We spent about 1.5 hours going through the cave and in the middle he turned off the light so that we could all experience true darkness. They say there is no such thing as absolute darkness unless you are in a cave and after Hawaii and now this I would say that is definitely true! We are talking like pitch black with no sounds but the dropping of water from the ceiling onto the floor.
After the cave hiking our tour was over for the day and we headed back to Lencois. We arrived around 530 and proceeded to say goodbye to Patricia and check out of our hostel. She was so nice that it was actually really hard to say goodbye, and considering all of us had such a good time that no one wanted to leave at all. We ate one last meal at a burrito restaurant in Lencois and enjoyed the city life one more time with our traditional ice cream stop after dinner. We took the 1130 bus back to Salvador again. The bus ride was uneventful and we arrived at the Salvador bus station a little before 6 am. We took a taxi back to the ship and I took the first shower I had taken in 4 days. The only thing close to a shower that I had was swimming in the waterfalls and natural pools every day, and they were not what I would call clean, but oh well. After showering I proceeded to sleep because I was physically exhausted and “sleeping” on a bus definitely doesn’t count.
And that concluded my time in Salvador. I can’t say enough about my time in Lencois and hiking/exploring through Chapada Diamantina. The stories I have portrayed above don’t do it justice (I know, I know… “I say that a lot”…but it’s true…I will just have to explain it to you all better in person). Everywhere we went was just another breathtaking view or experience. This national park really was absolutely amazing and I am so glad I got to experience it. This was definitely one of my highlights of Semester at Sea and it was an absolutely perfect way to spend my time in our last port.
The best part of being in Lencois and the national park was getting to experience the beauty of God’s creation first hand. I know that God’s creation is everywhere but this place was absolutely gorgeous. It took my breath away looking at these waterfalls and seeing green hills and mountains as far as the eye could see (look at the picture…it is green and beautiful as far as the eye can see). God is so amazing you guys…nature sings praise to Him constantly…now are we? The creator’s touch is blatantly obvious all around us, in the trees, the flowers, the rocks, the water…what about us? Do people see Christ through us when they are around us? We should constantly be mirror images of Christ…we should love like He loves…forgive like He forgave us. It’s simple when you think about it…so why do we make it hard. Mark Shultz paints an amazing picture in his song Broken and Beautiful.
“We’ll he’d never been to church before, but he came today as a last resort. His world was crashing in, and he was suffocating in his sin. But tears rolled his home-brushed hair, he closed his eyes, raised his hands, worshipping, the God who can, BRING HIM BACK TO LIFE AGAIN!! And it’s beautiful, beautiful. Come as you are. Surrender your heart. Broken and beautiful, beautiful, come as you are. Surrender your heart, broken and beautiful.”
Are we like the man in this song? Do we realize that we are nothing without Christ? When this finally clicks for us, then and only then can we portray an image of Christ for others to see. We have to surrender whole-heartedly, making ourselves nothing. This is what we should strive for.
Love you guys and I can’t wait to hang out with you guys!! I’m posting this on Tuesday April 27. One week from tomorrow I get home. Crazy to think how soon this is all coming to a close…it’s scary lol. But I am SOOOOOO excited to finally get to see all of you guys and hang out and catch up! Praying for you all!!
T
2 Corinthians 12:7-10
