Chapada

Ahhhh, rejuvination. So good to breath again.

I find myself liking Brazil yet again. A seven day vacation will do that to you. As much as I love the diversity of Babylon, there are times when I simply must get away. Witness.

Chapada is a place of marvels. If you come to visit Bahia, you must go! Call it a prime directive. It is a massive national park, full of jungle, and waterfalls, and green plains that stretch on for miles. This is a photo of our drive into the village, which is situated about an hour out of Palmeiras. You have to rent a rickety old transport to get there. The trucks run on propane, and you pray the whole way that you are not going to explode. This is a pic of our driver changing out the propane tank about half way there.

Capão

The village itself is quaint, quirky, and full of Brazilian hippies living the good life. There is a real artistic flavor to the town, including a full permanently situated circus out in the mata.

My friend Sheee's and I stayed at local artists house for the week. The very nice and accommodating owner was a fellow angoleira, a poi player, and wonderfully eccentric on all levels.

When we arrived the town was busy preparing itself for its highest tourist week, with hundreds of Salvadorians flooding into the town for the Sao Joao holiday weekend.

Local bar art. Enough to make any wall happy.

Chapada has enough trails to keep one busy for a year. There are 15 day guided hikes, reppelling adventures, and as we discovered, loads of waterfalls and mini-hikes in the nearyby surrounds.

Up.

Up.

And away.

This is Fumaça, which I was told is the second tallest waterfall in the world. True or not, approaching the thing and the drop off was almost maddening. Gave one the same majestic feeling as staring at the Grand Canyon, except it was the greener Brazilian version. Awesome!

And then there were places like Rio Vermelho--waterfall paridises that spewed out red water from its source. Jump in cold water, watch people play guitar, sit and contemplate how beautiful life is.

Sunday market in the square.

And the night life. Six consecutive days of Forro dancing, a kind of folksy music and step from the interior of Bahia. Spent the nights drinking aged liquors made from fruit, drinking hot chocolate, and scoping out the social scene.

The town kids ran around having fire cracker wars. No safety precations here. No parents freaking out that there kid might loose an eye or offend a passerby by exploding light objects near their face. Chaos has its wonders, upsides and downsides.

All I can say is, God's kingsom.

And I had a very nice time. It was great to see a different side of Brazil than the city. People were concerned about where they threw their trash, what the recycled, and the quality of food they put in their bodies. Fresh air, on a parched and poor mind, can really do wonders.