|
| A
Breathtaking Brazilian Inland Alternative ~ Carnival In Brazil |
| - Heading
off into the interior of Brazil rather than the worn out, overcrowded Brazilian
Coast, could make your Carnival experience much more exciting. Ashley heads
into Minas Gerias province and finds a world of waterfalls, wide-open grasslands
and friendly people as well as some adventure and vivid memories. And if
you know what you're doing during Carnival then that's how it all should
feel when you see the sun come up on Ash Wednesday. |
|
| A
Hidden Wonderland ~ Búzios, Brazil |
| - One hundred
and five miles east of Rio de Janeiro, there is a small peninsula home
to roughly twenty-five beaches, each with its own particular flavor of
paradise. For a thousand years, these beaches were the home of the Tamoio
and Goitacás tribes, who competed to outdo each other at blissful
frolicking in their idyllic surroundings. They drank the sweet milk of
the tucum fruit, which is similar to a coconut, and flirted with members
of the opposite sex while swimming in the surf. In the sixteenth century,
as the European powers cast their greedy glances on the vast wilderness
of Brazil, Búzios remained relatively untouched by the legitimate
forces of military might. |
|
|
|
|
|
| A
Hint Of Indian Adds All The More Flavor To The Tangaráense Mix -
Mato Grosso, Brazil |
| - Tangará
da Serra, Mato Grosso, has become quite “chic” as of late. The city’s 60,000
or so inhabitants have become the envy of many of their fellow Mato Grossenses,
promising residents of the small, peaceful town the advantages of shopping
malls, boutiques and high-speed agribusiness without the scorching heat
of its neighbor Cuiaba or the rough, unbearable roads of Sapezal. |
|
| A
Marriage Map For Brazil ~ Getting Hitched In Brazil |
| - I continue
to get questions about living in Brazil after my article about life in
Belo Horizonte (BH), mostly from those looking to marry or retire there.
Here’s how we got married in Minas Gerias: |
|
| Back
From Being Back In Brazil ~ More From Brazil |
| - My plans
for being the blazing road blogger in Brazil went the way of the four-wheel
in which I surfed the dunes of Ceara. They sunk. I did however, write like
a maniac. Even while bouncing up and over shifting moonscapes through lost-in-time-towns,
I was seen making chicken scratches in notepad after notepad. |
|
|
| Biking
In Brazil ~ Up Into The Mountains |
| - Morning
rolled around and soon my brother-in-law showed up for our Saturday ride.
Anderson, having no fat, weighing 18 lbs less and being 16 years younger
meant I had a good guide and trainer for the days ride. I knew roughly
how to make it back to the peak seen from our veranda. He could ask questions
if need be. I carried only a cell phone and a leatherman. He
carried a small day pack with tools, water, and my digital camera. Our
goal was around 15 miles away and at least 2000’ higher. It was a
hot, dry dusty day. I rode facing traffic on a small dirt trail that
followed the main highway. My first ride on the highway to Ibirité
made it pretty clear one would not live long on the asphalt without a motor.
Stopped at a couple horticultural shops on the outskirts of Ibirité
to marvel at the variety of plants offered and to plan the landscape project
for our place in the bairro. |
|
| Brazil
- Almost Paradise |
| - "Norman
Morrison at OceanView Tours explains that because of the current exchange
rate, there has never been a better time to consider investing in property
in the state of Ceara, [Brazil] where oceanfront properties are available
at a third to a sixth of the cost in prime areas of the U.S.. Ceara has
some 300 miles of great beaches." ~ Ruth Halcomb from the Network for Living
Abroad Newsletter writes about Brazil. |
|
| Brazil
or Bust: Catching Up - |
| - The upshot
of the whole saga was that I bought a car on my own and was left
several thousand Reals short by the crook! I didn’t realize just
how big a crook until my lawyer ran his name on the police computer and
found eight criminal charges and an almost equal number of civil cases
against him. Two lessons can be learned from my experience...Don’t
pay for any services up front, and make sure you get receipts. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Brazil
Or Bust ~ Making A Change |
| - The story
really starts back in 1999, when I moved to San Diego, California to marry
a lady I had met who lived there. We both thought it would be forever.
It wasn’t. |
|
| Brazil
Or Bust Two ~ More On Moving To Fortaleza, Brazil |
| - As I start
to write about the second journey to what I hoped would be my new home
Brazil, it’s exactly one year to the day since I first landed in Fortaleza.
To say I had no idea what was in store for me over the next few months
would be a vast understatement. Let me go back to where Part Two really
begins, February 17th 2004, the day I flew back to the US after my first
ever trip to Brazil and Fortaleza. My month with Anne in Fortaleza was
etched in my mind and the memories created and friendships formed are permanent
reminders of that wonderful time. |
|
| Brazil Or Bust ~ Part III |
| - To quickly
recap previous installments of my continuing saga, I came to Fortaleza,
Brazil in January 2004, following much research and after a rather tough
divorce, determined to discover another life…a better life! My first stay
was a month back in January of 2004. After a couple of months back
in North America, I was ready for chapter two. I came back to Fortaleza
in May and, except for August, have been here since. I pick up the story,
as I’m about to leave for Canada and the US on the 1st of August. |
|
|
| Brazilian
Art - The Culture And Art Of Brazil's Indigenous Community |
| -
It is here in Mato Grosso, Brazil, nestled in the heart of agri-business
country, surrounded by deafening waterfalls, clear-water rivers, fields
of soy as long as the eye can see, we live. Though we choose to live
in a modest house, surrounded by a pleasant garden and small businesses,
not all of our neighbors are what one would call middle-class."Nor are
they modern" they are Indians, descendents of the original peoples who
populated vast Brazil. Not far from our home live tribes like the
Paresi, the Bororo, and the Umutina. |
|
| Buying
A House In Rio - Part 2 |
| - I joined
the Smiles Program offered by Varig Airlines since I was becoming a regular
on the flight to Rio and they now offer an unbelievably low price for the
flight from Miami (MIA) to Rio (GIG) $420 + taxes roundtrip and nonstop,
except for the stop in Sao Paulo, which I still don’t understand what the
nonstop thing was all about since we always stopped in Sao Paulo. |
|
| Devil's
Island - Sailing From Brazil to French Guyana |
| - Devil's
Island conjurs up all kinds of hellish thoughts. The French prison camp
was opened at the end of the 19th century and closed by the middle of the
20th. During the years that it operated it was source of some of the most
grusome survival stories ever. Wonder what it looks like today? Check out
the above article. |
|
| Explorations
In The Amazon Basin ~ Into The Unknown |
| - So I show
up for work one morning - one which began pretty much like every other
day I had faithfully dedicated to the company for the previous sixteen
years - only to be told that tomorrow was to be my last. I suppose at some
subconscious level I had seen it coming. A seed had been planted weeks
earlier when the new president called together his bloated staff to announce
- in a masterful example of the subtle hint - that “…we have way too many
managers”. But being laid off caused no major anxiety on my part. I saw
a rare opportunity. |
|
| Fear
And Loathing In Fortaleza ~ Robin In Brazil's Northeast |
| - Maybe I’m
just tired from having arrived at 2 AM only to be told that my hotel was
full. Or maybe it’s the wind or the high-rise buildings, which appear to
have been planted without any kind of architectural forethought. |
|
| Fear
And Loathing In Fortaleza ~ Robin In Brazil's Northeast - Part Two |
| - It’s true
that Fortaleza has one of the sunniest climates in the world with year-round
temperatures hovering in the low to mid 80's. If you don’t mind relentless
wind, it may be perfect for you. But I happen to dislike wind (a lot),
and the sight of so many aging white men in bermuda shorts on the arms
of young brown women in tight short skirts and stacked heels, just intensified
the ick factor for me. Jan/06 |
|
|
|
