Week 6: Salvador & Lencois Brazil
*Sorry there aren’t many pictures this week.  I didn’t want to lose my phone or camera and pickpockets are common at Carnaval. It’s hard to express the experience but imagine being completely surrounded by people and music for miles and miles. It’s also hard to capture on camera but if you google Salvador Carnaval I’m sure there are cool pictures. **My memory card malfunctioned so I may have lost some photos. But I have a brand new memory card and a lot more photos coming. 

Day 36: February 7th, 2016

After a hearty breakfast we packed our bags and took them to the front desk. Then we walked through town for a bit before taking a taxi to our new hotel closer to the ocean. The taxi couldn’t drive through the crowd so we ended up walking a mile carrying everything we own through a very crowded parade. But we made it to the hotel and stayed for awhile but eventually we left to wander the city and look for food. Once we got lunch, we walked a little bit further and then headed back to the hotel. There were already people dressed up for the night! We hung out for a little bit longer then went back to Carnaval in campo grande. This one was very different than the one in Pelourinho. There were a lot more people and there were blocos which were essentially huge moving vehicles the size of a city bus or semi with a band performing on top and speakers that stretched from top to bottom. Around the vehicle were thousands of people with specific tshirts or costumes who walked in pace with the vehicle.  After walking around for a long while we finally ended up in front of a stage with a DJ and some dancers! After watching, we went back to the hotel exhausted. Sarahi fell asleep and I went to look for some food and found some amazing hotdogs for 3$R ($0.75 US).
Day 37:

After another great breakfast, we relaxed in the hotel preparing for an even bigger Carnaval experience. We ended up picking some chips and some more of those amazing hotdogs for lunch. That night we went to the biggest Carnaval of all of them in Barra. The crowds were so full it was extremely hard to walk through without almost losing each other! If you don’t like huge crowds and people all around I suggest going to Pelourinho. It felt like the true Carnaval experience which is impossible to describe. You can walk for miles without breaking away from the parade and it’s almost impossible to escape the loud music. We walked up a hill to a statue and had an amazing view of the oceanside street stretching for miles and completely covered with people. We were exhausted and eventually had to make the long journey home. Luckily, it was getting late and the parade slowed down or it would have been impossible to move against the flow of people. 
Day 38:

We were sad to realize that carnival was almost over. We spent most of the day relaxing and preparing to make the most of our last carnival night. We ate lunch at a local bakery/grocery store. We watched a movie or two and then headed back into the madness that night. We stayed in campo grande and enjoyed many “blocos” and some stage performances. We met a few people and tried to stay at the same pace as the parade. We were exhausted by the end of the night and were a bit relieved Carnaval had ended.
Day 39:

The next day we mostly just relaxed and enjoyed the quiet. We watched some movies and did some laundry. We had McDonald’s for lunch and hotel food for dinner. It wasn’t glamorous but we both needed a day to nap and relax. 
Day 40:

One of the main reasons we traveled to Salvador was for the history and museums. Because of Carnaval all the museums were closed. Finally two days after Carnaval some museums in the area opened up. We walked to three during the day and enjoyed looking at the exhibits of the geology museum, art museum, and nautical museum. Then we took some photos of the sunset and headed back to our hotel. We made travel arrangements for the following day but were sad to leave Salvador. 
Day 41: 

The next day after breakfast and packing we took a taxi to the bus station. From there it was about 7 hours by bus due west from Salvador to Lencois. Lencois is the main town for exploring Chapada Diamantina national park. After arriving we had some awesome sandwiches at a shop where nothing on the menu cost more than $3. We had a lovers quarrel. Then we wandered around looking for our pousada and were soon fast asleep. 

 Day 42:

We had read that many trails originate in Lencois so we set out to find them. After walking briefly up river we decided to try another route. We walked through town until the road ended and turned into a path. We decided to try it but had to guess which fork to take a few times. Eventually we ended up by a beautiful waterfall and river and swam there for a couple of hours. Chapada Diamantina used to be a diamond mining area and several people told us, jokingly, that we might find diamonds while there. We took this as a challenge and while swimming in the river collected around 100 potentially diamond looking stones. We weren’t quite sure the criteria for a rough diamond so we kept them all for future evaluation. Two weeks later we still have them all and after some research I’m pretty sure we didn’t find anything valuable… Anyway we took another trail for awhile but ran out of water and turned around. We spent some more time at the river and took a trail home where we found a much easier trail we failed to see that morning. We returned for more cheap sandwiches before heading back to our place, sunburnt and exhausted. 

  
It was a really fun week. Sarahi loved Salvador and Carnaval. I thought it was fun but was really happy to escape the crowds and go back to a more remote place. Lençois is an amazing town and we were both happy to be there! We’re missing a few things from home but still having a blast on the road!