We live in a tiny triangle in the woods! (Vale do Capão)

Hey folks, Lener here!

So I guess I'll begin by giving you a little background on Vale do Capão. Capão is a teeny-weeny village on the western side of the immense mountain range that is the Parque Nacional da Chapada Diamantina, which is in the interior of the state of Bahia. The town seems to be pretty much built by and for a very earthy, hippie crowd of people from many different parts of the world. It's a very pleasant, friendly place with a very warm community of people. However, the setting is totally the most attractive part. The Parque Nacional da Chapada Diamantina, which was named for it's abundance of diamonds and precious gems found in the rocks and riverbeds, is an amazing mass of mountains, valleys, rivers, platueas and waterfalls. It is absolutely gorgeous. The tropical vegetation is lush and abundant with many different species of monkeys, birds, and some ridiculously terrifying insects. On of first day there, we heard fireworks go off somewhere in the town and the resonance it made was totally unique as you could hear the echo moving swiftly through the whole valley.

We came to Capão specifically on a recommendation from Guru João, which was excellent advice. We ended up spending our first five nights there camping at a small campground with kitchen use, which ended up being a huge money saver. There is no ATM in Capão, and we came there with little cash, so we worked pretty hard at making it last until we reached another ATM. While we were staying at the campground, we spent our time cooking with delicious organic fruits and vegetables, practicing yoga with the beautiful mountain range view, and taking some short excursions into the mountains. The first excursion we took, and one of the most noteworthy, was up to the top of the Cachoiera da Fumaça (smoke waterfall) which gets it name because it's more than 420 meters high, so the water becomes mist before it hits the grounds. The actual waterfall is pretty puny though, but the view is absolutely amazing. Another excursion we took was to the very picturesque Purificação waterfall. This was a bit difficult to find though, since we had basic directions. We followed along the river, hopping from rock to rock most of the way there.  When we finally did arrive we were facing the front of the waterfall and decided to climb up the rocks. I climbed up first and Tiago was coming up after me with the camera hanging around his neck. He was close to the top when he slipped and ended up falling head first, about ten feet, back down into the water onto the rocks. Thankfully, he managed to land himself well enough to only end up with a few cuts and scrapes. The water at the bottom wasn't very deep. Unfortunately though, the camera got wet and is no longer with us. We got some great pictures of Capão and the park before that happened, but there was a good amount that was missed. We have another camera here in Valadares though, so the very end of our trip will still be able to be photographed.

One of the most incredible parts of our trip to Capão was meeting a very interesting Austrian woman named Dula. Dula works as a ayurvedic massage therapist as well as with some interesting meditation techniques like the practice of re-birthing. Re-birthing is basically a form of very deep meditation where, with the help and guidance of a teacher, as well as deep breathing techniques, you are able to leave your body on a trip to the astral plane. She explained this when we met and we told her that we were very interested in trying the technique. So we went with her to her temple where she led us through the whole process. It began with the two of us looking intently into each other's eyes (specifically the left eye, which is the gateway to one's intuition, she told us) while we practiced what she called "circular breathing". Our breathing got strong and louder and everything got more and more intense. She laid us down and continued to guide us, telling us where to breath from, how to breath and when to relax. I felt hypnotized by the rhythm of our heavy breathing noises. All of the sudden, after a short while, my body started to tingle and numbness enveloped me.  I then realized that I couldn't feel by body anymore. I still knew where I was and I could feel the room around me, but my body didn't exist to me. And then at that point, I realized that I couldn't hear myself breathing anymore. Everything from there on felt like a whirlwind of thoughts, images, dreams, and emotions all dancing around me way too fast for me catch anything. I was then left with brief foggy non-memories, like when you wake up from a dream and you know lots of things happened but you can't manage to hold on to them. At that point I was very much aware of the room around me, I could even hear a fly buzzing around. I was trying to make sense of all of this, and I could still not feel my body or hear my own breath. Then Dula gently asked for us to slowly move our fingers, then hands and legs, and feel our bodies coming back to us... and very slowly, we did. She asked us afterward to share our experiences. Tiago too had left his body, stopped breathing, and experienced the same strange awakening to reality. The whole thing had lasted two hours, though it felt to us very brief and very long at the same time. Dula had been making observations the whole time and jotting them down. She used a pendulum to keep track of our chakras. I really don't know how she did it, but she managed to find that we both had all of the same chakras open and in harmony with each other. She said she found this interesting since it is a bit uncommon for a couples chakras to be in harmony when they are no longer awake or looking at each other. We spoke to her afterwards for a while on the subject and a bit about some other types of meditation. She told us that our memories being foggy was quite a normal experience for the first time. When people do this more often, they get more comfortable and are eventually able to explore and remember a lot more during their trip. She encouraged us to try to find this same technique in America, and I totally would love to do it again. You really can't do it on your own without a lot more practice, since it can be dangerous. Dula actually said that she had to call me back, I apparently wasn't coming out on my own. She told us that a warning sign for this is when the person's lips turn blue, which is what happened to me. It was an incredibly interesting experience.

As I had mentioned earlier, there is no ATM in Capão. We were running very low on cash and needed to find a way to Lençois, which is a larger town outside the eastern side of the park that mainly thrives on the parks tourism, and has an ATM. You can take a bus there from Capão, but it has to go all the way around the mountain range, and it costs money which we didn't have. So the other option was to hike directly through the mountain range for 18 kilometers to Lençois... so that's what we did! We picked up a cheap pan as well as some oatmeal, tea, rice, noodles and other vaious things and began our trek with everything we had on our backs. I must say that the two of us have become pretty damn good campers over the course of this trip. Between our excursion to the Purificação waterfall and our trek to Lençois we ended up spending three days and three nights living, hiking, climbing, and cooking in the mountainous tropical jungle of Bahia. We picked up some innovative techniques from our guide while camping in the Amazon, including a "small tree for shoes", which is a small branch planted in the ground that you hang your shoes from to avoid getting tarantulas and other frightful bugs in them. Speaking of tarantulas, we actually saw one walk directly past our tent! Our life in the jungle was a very crazy experience, but one that we actually had a pretty good grasp on.

We made it to Lençois mid-morning filthy, sweaty and probably looking like hell, but we felt very accomplished. It's an attractive, pleasant place so we stayed there for a few days to see what the city might have to offer. This really wasn't much for us since it's filled with tourist agencies who want to take people on treks through the park, and charge a lot of money for it. Since we didn't need, want or have the money for this, we basically decided to mosey our way back to Valadares. Surprisingly enough, we found a bus that went to Valadares directly, so we hopped on it. And after a 13 hour ride, we were home..sort of, or at least back where we began, and it felt wonderful.  We did almost miss our stop, not even realizing that we were in the city until the bus was ready to drive off again!

We surprised Tiago's Vovo (grandmother), Aunt Bia and little cousin Amanda (who we visit daily in Valadares. They all live together) with our homecoming. We spent the past 6 days here relaxing, sleeping, reading or hanging out with them. Valadares is Tiago's first home, and has become one to me as well. We've spent so much time here with the above mentioned family members. Much of it playing donkey kong and mario, drawing and making crafts with Tiago's 8 year old cousin Amanda. I've found her to be an excellent portuguese teacher and I've grown very fond of her. They are kind and generous people who have all welcomed me very sincerely, and I am going to be very sad when we leave them tomorrow morning.

Today was the most eventful day we've had in the past week. This afternoon we went up to the top of Mt. Ibituruna and went paragliding off of it. We flew separately, each of us attached to a pilot. Our flights were about 20 minutes long, comfortably floating in a harness in the sky above the mountain and city with a cool breeze and an incredible view. We weren't frightened at all, it felt very safe, though I did get a bit nauseated at one point. It was an amazing feeling, and we're both dying to learn how to do it on our own!

Lastly I have an important part of our trip that deserves mention. On the day we arrived to Valadares, Tiago's vovo gave us an abacate (avocado) and told us to blend it with milk and sugar. We tried it, and immediately fell in love. We've been making it or ordering it consistently throughout our trip. Now I know that this is unheard of in America, and probably thought to be "icky", but please give it a chance. It's worth it.

We're leaving tomorrow afternoon for Belo Horizonte, the city that we are flying home from. We plan to spend our last few days visiting Ouro Preto, a beautiful and historically rich colonial village, a large modern art museum, and some other sites around the city. We leave for America on Tuesday the 19th and will be arriving the next day. We're very happy and excited to come home and see everyone again, though it's very sad to see this adventure come to an end. But I am happy to be able to truly call it an adventure, an experience that we can both grow from in many ways.

With much love,

Lena and Tiago

Vale do Capão

Cachoeira da Fumaça

Re-birthing with Dula

at Sitio Renascer

Purificação

And the final pictures before the camera was destroyed

Lençois

...is beyond these mountains

(No pictures of Lençois itself)

Paragliding off of Mt. Ibituruna

 

Family

The End

So, I did say I'd explain myself... (Our time in Jericoacoara and Salvador)

The reason for my oh so belated update can be summed in a brilliant sentence Lena said; "we live in a tiny triangle in the woods".  For over a week, we've been living in our small tent in Vale do Capão, which is a small town in a valley (as the name suggests) smack in the middle of a national park (Chapada Diamantina).  But first, I'd like to address the pictures from before and then I'll get to this story.  Oh!  I nearly forgot!  I am now writing to you in comfort I have not felt in months.  Lena and I have safely returned to Governador Valadares and will be returning to the States in a mere five days.  On to our story...

Last I had written, we were in Jericoacoara (or "Jeri" as the locals refer to it).  This seems a lifetime ago now.  Jeri is a small beach town situated in the northeast of Brasil.  It truly did earn its value in beauty.  Soft sands, warm clear waters, the most delicious piña coladas, interesting lot of people, and being alone in the nature is only a 5 minute walk in any direction.  The downsides: tourist-driven to the core, expensive, far too many hippies trying to sell you earrings, and did I mention expensive?  Quite honestly, Lena and I didn't actually do a whole bunch.  In my memory of the experience, I feel much of our time was spent eating delicious sweets, ice cream, or something of the sort.  To save on money, we stayed in a campground.  What was nice about that was that they provided tents and our tent had a couple of mattresses in it too.  This was very much a step up from the small tent we've been traveling around with.  One of the highlights was having gone horseback riding around the dunes that surround the village.  Unfortunately my horse was very much on autopilot and I had very little control over any of its actions.  It did everything Lena's horse would do.  Including pit-stops to eat grass.

We met an important figure in our stay at the campground in Jeri.  He introduced himself as João, and he is from Vale do Capão.  We called him "Guru João do Capão".  He talked to us for great lengths of time on a couple occasions as though we were disciples of his.  He talked of Osho, the Indian philosopher, and spoke of him as his own personal guide or guru.  "...however, do not rely on your guide.  They will and can only bring you to the edge of the cliff, but you must be ready to take the plunge", he said.  João taught us a meditative breathing technique that is said to open the third eye.  He spoke much on finding oneself through meditation and yoga, of his life conquest and purpose to discover true, real happiness.  Real happiness is encapsulated within us but our energy cannot leak through any outlets.  He spoke of his thoughts on 2012, his idea of it is that there will be a reciprocal effect, where the "old world" becomes the "new world" and vice versa.  The new world will crumble to the ground and fall into the sea, the old world will rise again and those who remain will lead the world into the next cycle.  Whether literal, metaphysical, or whatnot does not matter, the principle remains the same.  Though, João did believe this to be a physical and literal transformation and claimed that he is very much prepared to die when the event takes place.  Take it or leave it, this was one amazing person to chat with and listen to.

Guru João do Capão doing yoga at the campground

After a long series of bus rides that lead us to a day in the large northeast city of Fortaleza, we eventually made our way south to the state of Bahia, into the grand city of Salvador.  A city so fine, with a beautiful aesthetic and colorful culture, one could not begin to dip their fingers in all of the textures it had to offer in the short period of our visit - a mere six days.  We spent much of our time in the Pelourinho, a very famous section of the city, and a gorgeous historical center.  Samba music provides the backdrop and rhythm as you navigate the skinny cobblestone streets.  A deliciously vibrant palette of pastel colors decorate the homes, shops and clothing of passer-byers.  And as you breath in the likely polluted air, you become aware that this is not a place to take lightly.  Crime is very high.  And I have the unfortunate curse that, even as a genuine Brazilian, I am deemed a foreigner from afar solely due to my beard, a highly atypical appearance in Brasil.

The city of Salvador is split in half by a large hill that some of the city rests on, while the other half sits below.  They aptly named this the Cidade Alta (Upper City) and Cidade Baixa (Lower City), respectively.  Traversing from one to the other means walking up a steep hill, or taking one of two methods of transportation.  One is a cart that scales up a track, the other takes form of an elevator that scales 80 meters in about 5 seconds, each costs R$0.15 centavos to get up or down.

We visited a number of churches, Salvador most abundant resource.  The most famous, Igreja de Nosso Senhor do Bonfim, is responsible for the many "fitas" (ribbons) scattered about the city.  You learn quickly that these have been adopted by many beggars and pickpockets as a way to get the attention, and eventually money, of foreigners.  They are given as "gifts" and "blessings", or at least that was the original intent, and are tied around ones wrist and knotted three times, each representing a prayer or wish that will be granted to the bearer of the fita.  In order for it manifest, it must fall off naturally, and cannot be cut or untied.  I, of course, cut mine off - it's not good for my circulation.  Alongside the sanctuary of the aforementioned church, in a room called the Sala dos Milagres (Room of Miracles), a bizarre display of wax hands, feet, arms, legs, heads, and even organs hang from the ceiling.  Posted on the walls are pictures and notes, some of people in hospital beds, in bandages, some of families with smiles, all of which are praying for a miracle, or thanking for those prayers granted to them.

Igreja de Nosso Senhor do Bonfim

Fitas

Sala dos Milagres (Room of Miracles)

Along with several churches, we visited a couple museums.  This includes the Museu da Musica Brasileira (Museum of Brazilian Music), where we got to watch a Disney special, Donald Duck & Los Bandoleiros, and later we visited the Museu de Arte Moderno (Museum of Modern Art), which hosted a live jazz jam session and two standout art exhibits by artists Eduardo Berliner and Henrique Oliveira.  As we arbitrarily roamed about the city, we could hear samba beats off in the distance and decided to follow our ears.  We happened upon a samba party that was taking place in a private club.  We walked right on in, no questions asked, and with the smell of beer and spirit of celebration we got to watch a free show as people danced all around us.

Another most intriguing event that we attended was a Candomblé ceremony.  Candomblé is an Afro-Brazilian religion that originated from and was developed by black African priests and priestesses who were enslaved and brought to Brasil.  The religion is a fundamental part of the mythology, music, language and culture of Bahia and Salvador.  The intention of the practiced ritual by the candomblistas (participants of the ritual) is to become overtaken and possessed by the spirits of the Orixas (the deities of the Candomblé religion).  The "god of gods", if you will, in the belief system is called Oxalá.  The various terreiros (houses of Candomblé worship) tend to focus on a single deity.  The one which we attended, called Casa de Mãe Menininha, poured its attention and celebration on Oxum.  The ceremony lasted for five hours, literally non-stop.  The drums, playing a very odd yet consistent beat structure, rambled on seemlessly from beginning to end.  They stopped infrequently and sporadically, only to allow a new chant to begin, and they would pick right back up again.  Everything is white.  Everyone wears only white - down to belts and shoe laces.  White streamers and white doves hang from the ceiling.  Of course, seeing as Lena and I are traveling and have limited clothing, Lena's tie-dye skirt and my navy blue pin-striped pants stood out.  Luckily, we weren't the only ones to attend out of "dress code" and were never spoken to about it, which eased the awkward obviousness of our inconsistency.  I was, however, called out on a different issue.  At the very onset of our arrival, I was caught taking pictures and forced not only to stop and put the camera away, but a man even stood beside me and made sure I deleted every photo off the camera.  Men and women were separated at the door.  Women must stand on the left side of the room, men on the right.  In the back center of the room, on a throne sat Mãe de Santo, the matriarchal figurehead of this particular terreiro.

The candomblistas paraded counter-clockwise around the room.  Round and round they went, dancing, chanting, singing, and succumbing fully to the spirit that enveloped them.  The pseudo-melodic mantras were long, repetitive, and of some foreign tongue.  I am certain that no Portuguese was uttered that night.  The dances were dramatic and methodical, precisely representing and emoting along with the battering beat.  As the hits grew louder and faster, the dancers movements became pungent with quickness and enthusiasm.  Whenever the beat would stop, as zombies, the candomblistas would pause in position, wavering side-to-side, eyes rolled to the back of their heads, completely possessed and entranced.  Many of the observers were still very much a part of the ceremony, interacting with the candomblistas and participating in singing and dancing.  Some people, including some in the observers, actually began seizing right where they stood.  I mean literally seizing!  One man standing directly next to me actually began seizing; stiffened and shaking from head to toe, and only the whites of his eyes visible.  The fellow members around these fallen possessed would catch them and hold them, wiping the sweat from their faces and pouring water on their heads.  We were fed in this five hour ceremony.  Several members would walk around the room with trays of grapes and apples, passing them to us observers.  I never did see a single candomblista, the ones actually exerting themselves, drink a cup of water or eat anything.  The highlight to me was this one 15 year old girl whose dancing was out of this world.  She actually put on a "performance" by herself, as she flamboyantly heaved across the room at super speed in excellent rhythm.  And after five hours we were left dumbfounded.

A beautiful wood-carved depiction of the Candomblé deity Oxum, by Argentinean artist Carybé

Another wood-carved display of Candomblé's highest deity, Oxalá

One last, highly important, final notation on Salvador.  There was this small "lanchonette" (a small restaurant where you can buy hot snacks, juices, and many other totally random things) that Lena and I found one night in Salvador.  We stopped in and glanced at the menu posted on the wall where we found and ordered a banana milkshake for each of us.  I must add, this is no ordinary banana milkshake.  It was made with chocolaty milk!  But it isn't just the flavor I'm raving about here.  The portions were ridiculous.  They brought out two small pitchers and large cups for each of us.  And best of all, they cost only R$2.50 each, which is a price you'd normally pay for a small cup of juice anywhere else in Brasil.  Anyway, I suppose that's enough about that.  I do intend to write more, since our adventure did not end there and I do have more I'd like to write to you about, but I've been doing this for way too long, need a break, and this seems like a good place to stop.  I would like to mention, I added some captions to the pictures from the previous blog post to help explain the situations a little better, so check those out.  Lastly, Lena and I intend on jumping off Mt. Ibituruna (the mountain here in Valadares) today.  Well, not to our deaths I hope.  We've been talking to a professional paraglider who will be taking the plunge with us and I think the idea is that we hover over the city... you know, rather than falling to our doom.  Byebye!