Mushy beach breaks.

At the Jungle Beach Hostel in the Atlantic Rainforest, only vegetarian food is served. There were lots of discussions about environmental issues. One of them being beef, chicken, or pretty much any farming industry. I added overfishing as being detrimental to Earth’s well being. I think that it is fine for fishermen to go out with a line or spear and catch fish, but trawlers are depleting our fish stocks faster than tourists in Waikiki can say sashimi. I am now an advocate of free range, local beef, chicken, and eggs. Luckily for me, Argentina is supposed to have some of the best free range beef in the world. I may have to go there just to try it. That being said, the vegetarian diet isn’t as bad as I thought that it would be for a meat and potatoes boy like myself.

We have left Jungle Beach and drove to Buzios. Buzios is a small seaside fishing village that has turned into beach resorts. The town sits on a peninsula surrounded by beaches. In the 1960s, Brigitte Bardot “discovered” it and it is now known as Brazil’s St. Tropez. My Rainbow slippers finally broke after years of wear and tear. I had to spend $5 on Havianas. Of course they only had a very inconspicuous white color available in my size. I am afraid that I might look like a tourist now.

 

Unfortunately, the rain has followed us to the beach. So we cleaned the house then relaxed. The owner of Jungle Beach Hostel also owns the Buzio Beach Hostel. But there is nobody here at the Buzios hostel. It is “self service”. That means that 3 of us have a house that sleeps 12 to ourselves. It has a small pool, a couple of barbecues, and a couple dozen beaches nearby. 

   

 

This was a friend of mine in the jungle. He would hide around corners and try to scare me. Usually in the mornings, when I wasn’t really paying attention he would be watching me and probably laughing when I would scream like a girl after nearly putting my hand on him.

xIt has been about 4 months since I left Hawai’i. I haven’t been surfing since then. I had a great time the day that I left O’ahu out at Diamond Head with my friend Nguyen. Today I finally got to surf again. There are a lot of beach breaks in Brazil, something that I am not used to. The short paddle out was fun, but you could almost walk to the break because it was so shallow.

This is the beach near our house, Praia de Geriba.

 

The three of us continue the vegetarianism here at the beach house. Luckily, the girls that I am with like to cook, as I like to eat.

Blogs are a funny thing to me. It gives us a way to express our ideas. If nobody reads them, I don’t think that we are as satisfied. Maybe I read other people’s blogs hoping for some kind of blog karma. It is quite egocentric of us bloggers. So why do we do it? I like to read Tricia’s, Ben’s, and Jim’s as often as possible. I would list more people, but they don’t update their blogs. There is nothing more frustrating than someone starting a blog and not keeping it going. I feel like nobody knows anybody anymore. Blogs allow us a place to share our true feelings. My blog may start to change as I ponder these questions.


Since I love promoting my friends, my friend Kurt is a great free diver (diving just holding your breath) and photographer. He recently combined the two and made freedivephoto.com. It is a great site that he made himself. Check it out to see some amazing pictures of shipwrecks, wildlife, and free divers at their best. The new whale pictures are amazing.

Swinging in the rain.

As I sit in the rain forest, I can see all kinds of natural beauty. There are a lot things that I want to do to help save our environment, but it will take more than just me. I am staying at the Jungle Beach Hostel with people that want to do their part to help the natural world. It is inspiring to see a family, much like I would in the USA, but this family is actually trying to make things better. As un-American as it seems, I would like to see a small shift from the demands of profits to the needs of the people. I have compiled a list of things that I will do when I get home. I hope that you read it and maybe incorporate some of them into your life. Click here.

It rained a lot yesterday and the river turned red. The runoff from the surrounding hills is amazing. Mudslides are not uncommon and roads also serve as tributaries to this river, Rio Macae.

Today we followed the river upstream. It split a few times and the water got clearer. There are numerous waterfalls, spiders, and other animals that I am kind of glad that I didn’t see. 

I got to see more of the landscape by boat. A few of us went white water rafting. The area where we are staying in beautiful. Lush rain forest, charming houses, and exquisite waterfalls are everywhere that we look. The farms that used slash and burn methods a few years ago are in trouble due to the soil erosion. This is the stuff that I saw in my textbooks, but it is something new altogether to see it with my own eyes.

We are 1 km from an amazing town. The town is named for the waterfall that is near by, Cascata. Our hostel is run by an environmentally friendly family. Anthony, the dad, knows which plants to use for medicine, loves to discuss politics, and is desperately trying to encourage thinking about critical issues. The history of the area is amazing. It is set on the Brazilian equivalent of the Freedom Trail in the US. We visited a cave where slaves that had escaped their captors would try and live amongst the indigenous people.

Danielle, Marya, and Aksel getting out of the "slave cave".

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This is the waterfall. Cascata.

Being in a rain forest in Brazil, there are a lot of animals. Most of them are small, but I am constantly on the lookout for something big and dangerous. Here is a leaf cutter ant and caterpillars in different stages.

And the river.

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I like this picture because I took it last night. It looks as bright as day. I left my shutter open for 30 seconds with an aperture of 3.5. The moon was very bright.

Our hostel only makes vegetarian food and we have a buffet every meal. I can’t really call it a hostel. It is an escape. The aren’t dorm rooms. You don’t lock anything. It is more like a resort. There is horseback riding, white water rafting, hiking, yoga, meditation, and lots of reading. It has rained every day, but usually only in the afternoon.

Mai Mai Mai

Our first day in Chiang Mai, we rented a 100 cc motorycle/moped. It has been the best way to get around. We drove about 45 minutes up a large hill to Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep Rajvoravihara.

Holy relics were placed on the back of a white elephant. The elephant died of exhaustion in the area where the Wat was built. All this happened in the 1500’s. This is the Wat.

We sat in this room looking at all of the gold Buddhas until a monk ushered us over to sit in front of him. He splashed his holy water on us and chanted a Buddhist prayer. We think that he wished us good luck and a good life.
Then he tied a string bracelet on Rory’s wrist. He had to have a non monk tie one onto Danielle’s because monks are not allowed to touch women. People are supposed to wear pants, not shorts at the temple.

This is the view from Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep Rajvoravihara overlooking the city of Chiang Mai.
There is a wall and a moat surrounding the square city of Chiang Mai. It was built 700 years ago to keep out the Burmese.We had dinner beside the river. $4 for both of us. 2 drinks, 2 entrees. An 80 year old woman was our hostess and waitress.