Bahia

Having got up at 5 am (Julia managing to oversleep her alarm), we made it to the aiport in plenty of time.

Three and half hours later we arrived at Costa do Sauipe, and met up with the Matias family. Instantly, we were all mesmerised by the beauty of the place and the rustic look of the house we would be staying in for the next 10 days. This place looked close to paradise.

We dropped our bags, caught up with the family and then decided to take a walk on the beach, which was about 200 from the house. We crossed a bridge over a small laguna and climbed the sand dune before we found a completely deserted and simply beautiful beach.

Sam, Julia and Nick immediately ran straight into the sea, while the rest of us enjoyed the view from the beach and also wanted to avoid the fatal 'portuguese man of war' jellfish.

After a brief stroll along the beach, we headed back to the house. We had a few delicious proseca drinks before heading to Praia do Forte, another beach resort twenty minutes away.

We had a few drinks and an unfortunate situation with a lack of service from the restaurant we had planned to eat in, ending the evening in a great bar with live singers and a couple of Caipiroskas. This left us all rather over refreshed by the end of the night.

Waking up to a great breakfast we relaxed by the pool. The usual indulgent 12 a clock caipiroska, made by the Caip runner himself, was then followed by a delicious, plentiful lunch. In the evening we headed to the village of Costa do Sauipe, which situates the three main luxury five star hotels. In this area there are also a few boutiques and restaurants. We all had a bite to eat and then watched an impressive samba band perform in the street.

After this, we watched a Brazilian live band perform on a stage in the middle of the village. Julia and E-J tried to get into the swing of the Brazilian dancing, but didn't feel they had quite the right technique when it came to shaking their bundas! (bottoms)

The next day was New Year's Eve and it continued in the same indulgent style as the previous two as we were treated by the Matias' extreme generosity.

When it came to the evening, the traditional Brazilian style of New Year, began to happen. Firstly, we all got dressed into white, which is what all the Brazilians do to bring peace and good luck to the New Year. We then had a big meal, with lots of delicious proseca and by 11am we headed to the small port where we caught a boat over the laguna to a part of the beach further down from the Matias' place. Armed with bottles of champagne, we all made our way down the beach to the waters edge and watched the waves glistering in the moonlight as we waited for midnight. All very excited, the Matias explained to us that at midnight, we would all go into the sea, ankle length and jump seven waves, making seven wishes. Also it is traditional to throw white flowers into the sea as an offering to the sea Goddess, Iemanjá.

When it was midnight an array of firelights lit up the sky and reflected in the sea, making it look so special and we all wished each other a Happy New Year before all running into the sea, hand in hand and jumping the waves.

We then returned to the beach (E-J, a bit more soaked than most, thanks to Sam´s over excitable leaps...)

We spent the next half hour drinking champagne and toasting to the New Year, then we headed to a bar, which looked more like a palm leaf, deserted shack (the only bar found on this stretch of beach for a good 300m) on the top of the dunes and had our first (of many) of the New Year's caipiroskas.

As we headed back to the house through the condominium, we passed a house that was covered in white balloons, blarring music with a load of people having a partying and celebrating the New Year. Before we knew it we were invited to join them and told to help ourselves to the open bar, overflowing with champagne and caipiroskas. Within minutes we were in the middle of the swell of people on the dance floor. E-J, Julia and Sach proceeded to spend the next three hours on the dance floor, taking over the place and letting the rest of the party know they had arrived!

At 4 am it was time to go. We said our goodbyes and thank yous and headed back to the Matias' place. When we got there, daylight was beginning to dawn. Sam and Nick had the great idea of watching the sunrise from the beach, so ran down, with beers in hand. E-J, Julia and Sach, slowly and more unsteadily followed. Young Chris, at this point had passed out on the outside bench.

When we got to the beach we all sat together on the steps at the top watching the sun slowly rise. We then walked down to the waters edge and sat on the sand, just by the sea. There wasn't another person in site.

All the colours of the morning light looked so crisp and so vibrant. It was such a magical feeling to be sitting there at 6:30 am in the morning and already feeling the heat of the morning sun on our faces.

We slowly stumbled back to the house, finding the walk along the bridge to be more of a challenge than normal. Julia and Sam also took great pleasure in repeating what they found to be a hysterical phrase of 'needing a night caip'. Sach and E-J just tried to humour them and stop them from shouting these words as we made our way back to the condominium.

When we finally reached the house, it was now 7:30 am and the sun was high in the sky. Chris was still passed out on the outside bench, with little chance of being awoken from his deep sleep. We all headed to bed, to wake up a few hours later to enjoy the day.

New Year´s day was a day of recovery and we spent most of the time on the terrace by the pool. E-J and Julia managed to go for a walk along the beach, but everyone else remained homebound. That evening, too exhausted to even talk we watched a movie before going to bed.

The following day we went to the Mango Tree for lunch, which was this wonderful restaurant underneath the most gigantic mango tree. The meal was delicious and after this we spent the rest of the day basking in the sun.

On the 3rd of January we headed past the North of Bahia into Sergipe and to another beach resort called Mange Seco (which means dried swamp).

To actually get to the beach it was a two hour drive from Costa do Sauipe, followed by a boat over a river, which took 40 mins and then a sand dune buggy ride over the dunes, which was brilliant fun. We were surrounded by palm trees, which made it look very tropical and beautiful. We were also told by the driver that the dunes are constantly moving due to the winds, changing the buggy's paths each day.

When we reached the beach, it stretched as far as the eye could see and the sand was so white and the sea, crystal blue. We felt so spoilt to see another absolutely, beautiful beach in Brazil. We spent the rest of the day enjoying the beach. To get back to our car we did the same journey as before. By the end, we were all exhausted (especially the two drivers who have to deal with all the maniacs on the road and believe us, there are alot!!!). The evening was spent enjoying a few games of poker with an abundance of alcohol. Sam proudly won, despite being called Chicken shit for never taking any risks.

The next few days followed in the same pattern as before, enjoying the beautiful house and the pool. The night before Nick and his girlfirend Jo left, the girls decided to dress up and have a few cocktails at one of the big, plush hotels in the village before the boys joined them for a meal.

By the time the boys arrived, the girls were absolutely flying. The meal was fun, though we were the last to leave the village and the girls needed extra support as they were practically carried back.

The following day was our last day with the Matias´so we decided to go to Praia de Forte and see the turtle sanctuary. This place helps to protect the sea turtles and rescues any that are found close to death on the beach. It was fascniating to see all the different species and sizes, in particular, the leatherback which has an average length of 2 metres. After this, we enjoyed a lovely meal in Prais de Forte before heading back. That evening we enjoyed another game of heated poker before retiring to bed.

The final day we spent on the beach and by the pool, before Sach and Chris kindly drove us into Salvador for our night bus. As much as we were excited to see a new part of Brazil we were also sad to leave the good company and kind comfort of our hosts.

Sam's comments: What a great place. A complete luxury. Totally indepted to the Matia's. Will miss the Caips!

E-J's Comments: The last few weeks have been like paradise and we have been spoilt rotten by the generosity of the Matias'. This has definitely been a far stretch away from backpacking. It's going to be quite a shock to the system roughing it again!