Although every day was an event there were certain key events that defined the days. For example taking Israels boat down the water fall from where it was built by hand. This involved 5 of us partially rowing it down the rocky rapids and manouvering it by hand around rocks while in fast flowing water. Some of the waterfalls are narrow and a wrong move could see it cracked or dashed before it had been used. All the boys set off and with me at the helm I was given a punting rod. As the water was too deep I used it to maintain distance from the side. But I was quickly usered away as "Cashoera" (his nickname meaning waterfall) took over and used the pole to row, punt and manouver at the same time. Curse the gringoes inability in face of the locals. Either way it was a good mission, accomplished and was the first walking, swimming and crawling expedition through the faster rapids of the river. It was also good to see the locals in full swing and how they organise themselves. There were two boats at the bottom of the waterfalls to catch it if it came loose.
People were using the chain that moors the boat to pull it while stood on a bank while others in the river guiding it. Unfortunately as all times the dogs, Natti and Cali follow us, whether walking to get bamboo and wood, to the river itself for a swim or through the jungle they follow. Cali is a poor swimmer though and ended up getting sucked down the waterfall as Alex guided Natti down a safe path. So really we guided a boat and a dog down the waterfalls, but lost one. Cali was swept into the bottom river bedraggled and very upset. She looks like a thin rat, kind of old man and wet this is a sorry sight. She ran back to the house and waited for us there instead of following as usual.
I learnt the local technique of rowing in about week 2 of 6. It is quite straight forward, but the boat we use is a tree trunk hollowed out and it literally weighs just over half a ton. Turning it therefore means being pre emptive and knowing it is slow to respond. The locals only row on one side of the boat. I picked it up quickly and was soon taking a few people across. Unfortunately sometimes were better than others, as the current increases and decreases as a result of rains that have occurred. The river is always changing and that means a different trip across always occurs. Water weed is also a massive problem as it clogs up the "ports" and river making it hard to cross.
This problem was eliminated when we had "the great flood".
We experienced a period of 4 days when there was lightning constantly seen on the horizon and heavy rains for most of the night and morning. One day we had rain all day. Large rain. Large drops and a lot of them. Work stopped. We waited. The next morning we awoke to the local workers, Netto, Cashoera and Israel coming to the house and watching the river. It was massive and fast flowing. Water weed was moving down the river in islands. It was immense. We had been told of flooding that over took and island and rose to over 2 meters that meant it overed the locals foodtball pitch on the other side of the river. This flood had not happened in 5 years. It was happening now! The next day the river was higher again, the pace of flow was increasing and the rain didn`t stop. We were stranded on the farm as it was too dangerous to cross. It took 4 days for the water level to start to subside, when the locals struggled with two men to get across between massive patches of water weed that would carry them down stream to the sea. After it has returned to normal everything was clean. The island in the middle of the river was 1/2 its size and stripped back to rock. Branches and weed were wrapped around rocks and trees. Impressive.
Another hazard of rowing across is after drinking and rowing in the dark. We have never appreciated the moon as much as we have on the farm. We learnt that plants grow in different ways across the moon`s cycle and so it needs to be watched to see which activities are most beneficial for the plant at that time. We also noticed its presence in terms of the light it produces, which you tend to when you have no electricity. Things like rowing across a river for example is much easier with the moon in the sky and when it is fuller. No moon, no see. That simple. This is especially problematic with quite a few people in the boat and no idea where you are going. We did a complete 360 degree turn approaching the waterfalls one night as I was rowing with 6 people in the boat, making it harder than normal to cross under the weight. We made it, but it is a bit hairy sometimes and makes you realise that a fairly straightforward task can often be far from straight forward. It did mean that we knew when the moon would be rising and how full it was at all times however. We developed a true appreciation for our moon.
We didn`t really explore the area as much as we perhaps should have done and kept in our fazenda bubble. We did set off on two expeditions to another waterfall, and to the jungle itself. The waterfalls were nice and had worn down the rock in places to make them smooth enough to slide down. Some 5 meters of falls at different levels and channels that looked like guttering made them a nice place to hangout for the afternoon. They were good to look at but we all agreed that the waterfalls in front of the fazenda were more than comparable. Cali followed us up the waterfall through being carried and pushed up via her backside. The dogs were a daily source of entertainment in being pathetic, jungle, guard dogs, barking at little girls and toads, but running away from everything.
We also headed out for a morning in the Mata Atlantica jungle. This was a patch of old forest remaining and an area that is being used by the locals and slowly being ebbed away through logging for local use. The jungle was dense and the wildlife large and exotic. A spider with a spikey back and massive butterflies, tarantulas around the place. Vines strangling trees and making a matted canope. Yet a well defined path made things not too "jungle explorer". The heat and humidity though did make it feel like we had finally visited the real jungle that we were trying to do, but failed at in Bolivia. We also walked across the fazenda territory which stretches 1.5km through cacau plantations.
We knew how hard it was to carry things back but this far? Crazy.
A month and 2 days after we arrived Mariana, our house mate for a month finally had to leave us after expending her stay as much as possible, an occurence that happened to all of us. It was crazy to finally see someone leave and we realised that we were truly entrenched into farm life. We were all dirty, looking a bit more hairy (girls included) and ragged in general. We had bonded and shared experiences and knowledge. To say goodbye was the end of an era it seemed.
Soon it was Christmas. Everyone had chipped in Rs 5 (2 pounds for lunch) and pulled a name from a hat as a secret Santa. I pulled out "moma"... errr "moma"? Who is moma. No one knew. Either way I bought a unisex present, a chalk board with chalk. Laura had Bruno, a touch one and had pictures of the farm we had taken developed and then made a nice frame. People were working on their secret santa for a few days before Christmas as work slowed down. We decided to make the tree in front of the lawn into a Christmas tree, with homemade decorations. It was beautiful. Everyone hung something or made something to hang on the tree and it ended up being really special.
When Christmas Eve came we sat around it and sang some Brazilian songs, while Alex played the guitar and sang beautifully. We finally made it down to the bar where events were to take place and as is Brazilian custom the group always has a tab and helps themselves to the beers that are going. Cashoera was all over this and determined to drink more so that the gringoes would pay for his great stamina. Most of the girls left at around 2am, as a few people didn`t drink. The rest of us stayed until 5am. The food was not as good as promised though. The usual fare of rice, beans, green salad with tomato, a little chicken or fish and a kind of coleslaw. Either way everyone was suitably red cheeked and the bill reflected that. The dancing was great though and after I had talked to Simon about the English stiff hips compared to the Brazilian "snake hips" was determined to let loose. I think I have got to grips with losing the inhabitions associated with the Brazilian snake hips...
Local pool was played and a local guy was showing us how it is done. We all then stood around in a circle to exchange secret santas that suddenly was done by all the village- not the scale I was was expecting. We needed to speak portugese and explain who our person was... I dont even know who my person was and neither did anyone else. When I got up these I gave a weak "the person is Brazilian and lives in Agua Fria" line and said the name... it was the guy we were playing pool with a notching up score on a chalk board. Ace! Laura and I seemingly received presents from the same person. A synthetic tight srmless T-shirt!. We worn it with pride.
Christmas day itself we were invited to Cashoeras house. He had not slept or stopped since the night before and was staggering to say the least. We had a nice meal of fish and the usual fare again including farina (manioc flour fried in butter and onion or vegetables). Cashoera fell asleep at 11pm, but there were lots of instruments that people jammed with accompanied with Boca Mole (another farm worker`s nickname literally meaning "soft lip") singing. You could always hear where Boca was around the farm as he has a great sense of pitch and his singing or whistling would always carry, sombre Brazilian slave tunes. Simple, but memorable. Staring at a fire with capirinias getting stronger and stronger as a result of reducing limes and sugar, listening to Boca until the sun started to rise yet again.
Recovery and an assessment of the farms New Year took the place between Christmas and New Year itself. Deciding on how the farm should make money and whether the debt that was impending at the end of the year was actually paid. Complexities were slowing things down and if it was not paid then massive trouble erupt with a collossal extra charge.
New Year was more of the same really. The food price rose to Rs10 though and extra food promised. We all made chocolates and Bruno his fish balls dish. The idea was everyone made a dish, but two families ended up making it. This resulted in the same food as before plus a BBQ that the gringoes didnt know existed! Typical Brazilian food of salad, potato salad with mayo, meat (chewy), beans and farina was the deal, although no one was happy about it. Either way we were all together, shared more beers. By this time we knew the locals and all hanging around on a cobbled street in the middle of a small village in Bahia was special. Cold beer, sharing and new friends.
The last week went very quickly as our time was expiring, as it usually does. The toilet area had been fully adopted by myself and the extention to this was a washing line, path around the front of the verandah, around our herb spiral that we created and watched grow over the time we had been there. I used a thick piece of bark as a basin and fixed a tap off a hose that poked out of a piece of bamboo. A completely natural sink to compliment the toilet. I started a changing room out of more dende, taught more people how to weave, but never finished it. Yet the area that I feel I developed was certainly acknowledged and appreciated by all.
We also realised how far we had come in so many ways and reflected back to Alex`s comments on people leaving with new skills and knowledge. I was an expert on bamboo and weaving. We were both experts in wood fire cooking using native vegetarian ingredients. Laura was now able to cook a dish of tasty dal, fried vegetables, rice, salad, boiled ipeem and fried ipeem for 14 people alone. People asked for my opinion on construction. My machete was no longer rusty, but after being sharpened every day for a month was razor sharp and a useful tool once again. We understood the problems and process of cacau production. The thing that we take so much for granted like a lot of things as we eat a chocolate bar from the shops, but could tell you that it is no way as good as pure cacau with a little powdered milk, honey and ginger!
We had seen and taken pictures of so many bugs and animals. A venomous green snake, was bitted by a baby brown tarantula, a solitary blue hornet, massive catepillars of all colours, giant moths, our tree frog "tic toc", the resident toad, soldier ants biting simon on the end of the penis. We were infested with "Bishu de pe", or foot worm, that burrows under the skin eats your flesh and then lays eggs in you. We all had at least one of these each. I had a large one. The list goes on, but everything makes you realise that it is all relative. Nothing was that bad really. It all sounds worse than it is and makes you a part of the eco system that you live in. We shouldn`t be above it and here nature ensures you are not at the top of the food chain but part of a food circle.
This eventual experience and Laura and I`s motivation was relayed to us by everyone. We were touched by how everyone spoke of us as the people that made people laugh and were always busy doing things to help and laughing on the way. On our second to last night we were given a basket of 2 bottles of imported spirit and enough ingredients to make some ace cocktails, olives and peanuts. We were saluted and could see that we would be missed as much as we were going to miss the people and PuraVida itself. The next day we wound things down and packed, dulled by the sense of loss we knew we would experience the next day. That evening we were ushered onto the roof and saw a new moon rise. We would have left on a full moon as we started our journey, but due to our extension we left on a new moon just setting in the sky as we sat down to a long table adorned with a banana leaf table cloth and flowers beautifully arranged. Sandy cooked this time and it was clear that although we would be missed we can be replaced, which is just how it should be.
Ending how we started maked us reflect on the journey we went through and how things concluded. We had nothing but positive conclusions. Cashouera`s family came up to spent the night, the kids ran around and were being cheeky as usual. With everyone together as one we relaxed. We admired the view. We ate chocolate.
People were using the chain that moors the boat to pull it while stood on a bank while others in the river guiding it. Unfortunately as all times the dogs, Natti and Cali follow us, whether walking to get bamboo and wood, to the river itself for a swim or through the jungle they follow. Cali is a poor swimmer though and ended up getting sucked down the waterfall as Alex guided Natti down a safe path. So really we guided a boat and a dog down the waterfalls, but lost one. Cali was swept into the bottom river bedraggled and very upset. She looks like a thin rat, kind of old man and wet this is a sorry sight. She ran back to the house and waited for us there instead of following as usual.
I learnt the local technique of rowing in about week 2 of 6. It is quite straight forward, but the boat we use is a tree trunk hollowed out and it literally weighs just over half a ton. Turning it therefore means being pre emptive and knowing it is slow to respond. The locals only row on one side of the boat. I picked it up quickly and was soon taking a few people across. Unfortunately sometimes were better than others, as the current increases and decreases as a result of rains that have occurred. The river is always changing and that means a different trip across always occurs. Water weed is also a massive problem as it clogs up the "ports" and river making it hard to cross.
This problem was eliminated when we had "the great flood".
We experienced a period of 4 days when there was lightning constantly seen on the horizon and heavy rains for most of the night and morning. One day we had rain all day. Large rain. Large drops and a lot of them. Work stopped. We waited. The next morning we awoke to the local workers, Netto, Cashoera and Israel coming to the house and watching the river. It was massive and fast flowing. Water weed was moving down the river in islands. It was immense. We had been told of flooding that over took and island and rose to over 2 meters that meant it overed the locals foodtball pitch on the other side of the river. This flood had not happened in 5 years. It was happening now! The next day the river was higher again, the pace of flow was increasing and the rain didn`t stop. We were stranded on the farm as it was too dangerous to cross. It took 4 days for the water level to start to subside, when the locals struggled with two men to get across between massive patches of water weed that would carry them down stream to the sea. After it has returned to normal everything was clean. The island in the middle of the river was 1/2 its size and stripped back to rock. Branches and weed were wrapped around rocks and trees. Impressive.
Another hazard of rowing across is after drinking and rowing in the dark. We have never appreciated the moon as much as we have on the farm. We learnt that plants grow in different ways across the moon`s cycle and so it needs to be watched to see which activities are most beneficial for the plant at that time. We also noticed its presence in terms of the light it produces, which you tend to when you have no electricity. Things like rowing across a river for example is much easier with the moon in the sky and when it is fuller. No moon, no see. That simple. This is especially problematic with quite a few people in the boat and no idea where you are going. We did a complete 360 degree turn approaching the waterfalls one night as I was rowing with 6 people in the boat, making it harder than normal to cross under the weight. We made it, but it is a bit hairy sometimes and makes you realise that a fairly straightforward task can often be far from straight forward. It did mean that we knew when the moon would be rising and how full it was at all times however. We developed a true appreciation for our moon.
We didn`t really explore the area as much as we perhaps should have done and kept in our fazenda bubble. We did set off on two expeditions to another waterfall, and to the jungle itself. The waterfalls were nice and had worn down the rock in places to make them smooth enough to slide down. Some 5 meters of falls at different levels and channels that looked like guttering made them a nice place to hangout for the afternoon. They were good to look at but we all agreed that the waterfalls in front of the fazenda were more than comparable. Cali followed us up the waterfall through being carried and pushed up via her backside. The dogs were a daily source of entertainment in being pathetic, jungle, guard dogs, barking at little girls and toads, but running away from everything.
We also headed out for a morning in the Mata Atlantica jungle. This was a patch of old forest remaining and an area that is being used by the locals and slowly being ebbed away through logging for local use. The jungle was dense and the wildlife large and exotic. A spider with a spikey back and massive butterflies, tarantulas around the place. Vines strangling trees and making a matted canope. Yet a well defined path made things not too "jungle explorer". The heat and humidity though did make it feel like we had finally visited the real jungle that we were trying to do, but failed at in Bolivia. We also walked across the fazenda territory which stretches 1.5km through cacau plantations.
We knew how hard it was to carry things back but this far? Crazy.
A month and 2 days after we arrived Mariana, our house mate for a month finally had to leave us after expending her stay as much as possible, an occurence that happened to all of us. It was crazy to finally see someone leave and we realised that we were truly entrenched into farm life. We were all dirty, looking a bit more hairy (girls included) and ragged in general. We had bonded and shared experiences and knowledge. To say goodbye was the end of an era it seemed.
Soon it was Christmas. Everyone had chipped in Rs 5 (2 pounds for lunch) and pulled a name from a hat as a secret Santa. I pulled out "moma"... errr "moma"? Who is moma. No one knew. Either way I bought a unisex present, a chalk board with chalk. Laura had Bruno, a touch one and had pictures of the farm we had taken developed and then made a nice frame. People were working on their secret santa for a few days before Christmas as work slowed down. We decided to make the tree in front of the lawn into a Christmas tree, with homemade decorations. It was beautiful. Everyone hung something or made something to hang on the tree and it ended up being really special.
When Christmas Eve came we sat around it and sang some Brazilian songs, while Alex played the guitar and sang beautifully. We finally made it down to the bar where events were to take place and as is Brazilian custom the group always has a tab and helps themselves to the beers that are going. Cashoera was all over this and determined to drink more so that the gringoes would pay for his great stamina. Most of the girls left at around 2am, as a few people didn`t drink. The rest of us stayed until 5am. The food was not as good as promised though. The usual fare of rice, beans, green salad with tomato, a little chicken or fish and a kind of coleslaw. Either way everyone was suitably red cheeked and the bill reflected that. The dancing was great though and after I had talked to Simon about the English stiff hips compared to the Brazilian "snake hips" was determined to let loose. I think I have got to grips with losing the inhabitions associated with the Brazilian snake hips...
Local pool was played and a local guy was showing us how it is done. We all then stood around in a circle to exchange secret santas that suddenly was done by all the village- not the scale I was was expecting. We needed to speak portugese and explain who our person was... I dont even know who my person was and neither did anyone else. When I got up these I gave a weak "the person is Brazilian and lives in Agua Fria" line and said the name... it was the guy we were playing pool with a notching up score on a chalk board. Ace! Laura and I seemingly received presents from the same person. A synthetic tight srmless T-shirt!. We worn it with pride.
Christmas day itself we were invited to Cashoeras house. He had not slept or stopped since the night before and was staggering to say the least. We had a nice meal of fish and the usual fare again including farina (manioc flour fried in butter and onion or vegetables). Cashoera fell asleep at 11pm, but there were lots of instruments that people jammed with accompanied with Boca Mole (another farm worker`s nickname literally meaning "soft lip") singing. You could always hear where Boca was around the farm as he has a great sense of pitch and his singing or whistling would always carry, sombre Brazilian slave tunes. Simple, but memorable. Staring at a fire with capirinias getting stronger and stronger as a result of reducing limes and sugar, listening to Boca until the sun started to rise yet again.
Recovery and an assessment of the farms New Year took the place between Christmas and New Year itself. Deciding on how the farm should make money and whether the debt that was impending at the end of the year was actually paid. Complexities were slowing things down and if it was not paid then massive trouble erupt with a collossal extra charge.
New Year was more of the same really. The food price rose to Rs10 though and extra food promised. We all made chocolates and Bruno his fish balls dish. The idea was everyone made a dish, but two families ended up making it. This resulted in the same food as before plus a BBQ that the gringoes didnt know existed! Typical Brazilian food of salad, potato salad with mayo, meat (chewy), beans and farina was the deal, although no one was happy about it. Either way we were all together, shared more beers. By this time we knew the locals and all hanging around on a cobbled street in the middle of a small village in Bahia was special. Cold beer, sharing and new friends.
The last week went very quickly as our time was expiring, as it usually does. The toilet area had been fully adopted by myself and the extention to this was a washing line, path around the front of the verandah, around our herb spiral that we created and watched grow over the time we had been there. I used a thick piece of bark as a basin and fixed a tap off a hose that poked out of a piece of bamboo. A completely natural sink to compliment the toilet. I started a changing room out of more dende, taught more people how to weave, but never finished it. Yet the area that I feel I developed was certainly acknowledged and appreciated by all.
We also realised how far we had come in so many ways and reflected back to Alex`s comments on people leaving with new skills and knowledge. I was an expert on bamboo and weaving. We were both experts in wood fire cooking using native vegetarian ingredients. Laura was now able to cook a dish of tasty dal, fried vegetables, rice, salad, boiled ipeem and fried ipeem for 14 people alone. People asked for my opinion on construction. My machete was no longer rusty, but after being sharpened every day for a month was razor sharp and a useful tool once again. We understood the problems and process of cacau production. The thing that we take so much for granted like a lot of things as we eat a chocolate bar from the shops, but could tell you that it is no way as good as pure cacau with a little powdered milk, honey and ginger!
We had seen and taken pictures of so many bugs and animals. A venomous green snake, was bitted by a baby brown tarantula, a solitary blue hornet, massive catepillars of all colours, giant moths, our tree frog "tic toc", the resident toad, soldier ants biting simon on the end of the penis. We were infested with "Bishu de pe", or foot worm, that burrows under the skin eats your flesh and then lays eggs in you. We all had at least one of these each. I had a large one. The list goes on, but everything makes you realise that it is all relative. Nothing was that bad really. It all sounds worse than it is and makes you a part of the eco system that you live in. We shouldn`t be above it and here nature ensures you are not at the top of the food chain but part of a food circle.
This eventual experience and Laura and I`s motivation was relayed to us by everyone. We were touched by how everyone spoke of us as the people that made people laugh and were always busy doing things to help and laughing on the way. On our second to last night we were given a basket of 2 bottles of imported spirit and enough ingredients to make some ace cocktails, olives and peanuts. We were saluted and could see that we would be missed as much as we were going to miss the people and PuraVida itself. The next day we wound things down and packed, dulled by the sense of loss we knew we would experience the next day. That evening we were ushered onto the roof and saw a new moon rise. We would have left on a full moon as we started our journey, but due to our extension we left on a new moon just setting in the sky as we sat down to a long table adorned with a banana leaf table cloth and flowers beautifully arranged. Sandy cooked this time and it was clear that although we would be missed we can be replaced, which is just how it should be.
Ending how we started maked us reflect on the journey we went through and how things concluded. We had nothing but positive conclusions. Cashouera`s family came up to spent the night, the kids ran around and were being cheeky as usual. With everyone together as one we relaxed. We admired the view. We ate chocolate.
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