8 October: We moved a week ago to just a few kilometres up the coast from Ilheus and the “Backdoor” surf break. Its been a good, strange and partly bad week – good in terms of a nice campsite and lekker beach to relax on and take walks, strange in that it is a really busy camp with many silverbacks but we have had almost zero of the typical Brazilian hospitality and curiosity about our travels and bad because the surf is a beach break and between the sandbank and wind Stuart has had zero successful surf sessions despite trying a number of times.
9 October: What a day of contrasts! We spent a fantastic morning on Praia Engenhoca which is nestled in the rain forest. And then the afternoon and early evening struggling a fuel starvation issue on Mr. J. He did run well just as the sun set but this is very concerning as went down a horrible rabbit hole with the same type issue last year in the Pantanal and that did not end well !
10 October: Not wanting to fiddle with a problem that last night disappeared we decided to keep pushing towards Salvador and if/when Mr J broke down to then decide on a call of action (keep trying to go forward or retreat to our current town of Valenca). And of course, for the next 300km he ran perfectly. Had a great conversation (all in Portuguese ) with the petrol station manager where we stopped for fuel and then survived Salvador traffic, although we did have a small meltdown at the shops when the Carrefour didn’t meet expectations but ultimately survived.
11 October: A day of running around in Salvador getting jobs done (laundry, shopping, purchasing aluminum strips to make some repairs on Mr J roof, etc)
12 October: Great day as we find an isolated wild camp on a sandy peninsula which we nickname Coconut alley wild camp. Ended the day with sundowners overlooking the ocean all on our own.
13 October: Pretty long day, only 370km but 6 hours incl a ferry crossing. Mr J still running well so the fuel starvation issues of a couple days ago remain a mystery
15 October: What a tense evening as the Springboks knocked out France by just one point in the last minutes of the game.
21 October: A tense day watching the springboks in the RWC semi-final beat England by the smallest of margins (1 point). Not sure our fellow campers know why Stuart has been cursing his iPad all evening… It is one of the few times wished we had a Starlink internet setup and could get faster bandwidth, so have had to resort to video calls with Dev and him having his iPad facing his TV so we can “stream” the game that way – a boer maak a plan.
22 October: Been a very chilled ten days, campsite has been nice, there is a long beach in front and Stuart surfed each day even though it is not a known surf spot and he was always the only person in the water. As an added bonus the chill area for camp was slightly raised above the beach and Tania could film him a bit so he could see what he was doing wrong and “self-coach” himself in terms of technique.
23 October: We were up way early today (5:30) and on road early for a short 60km into the nearest big town and shopping. It never ceases to amaze how long shopping can take, first looking for a hairdresser (all closed on Mondays), then a smarter supermarket for some nicer stuff and then on to a big Attacado for the general stuff (and as a bonus we finally found some reasonable priced wine). The campsite is not so great, more like a parking area but close Maceo so we can go back for haircuts tomorrow and right by a surfer’s beach (Praia Frances) so Stuart can have an early morning surf tomorrow.
24 October: A very long day, first a dawnie surf, then a drive into Maceio to get our haircut and then a northward hop of only 150km that took 3/4 of the day, partly due to us stopping at a number of wild camping options and deciding they didn’t appeal and partly cause it is just slow going on this section of the coast with many villages and their attendant speed bumps.
25 October: Only moved a few kilometers today and found a much better spot. Camping a little cramped but a nice vibe and only 50m from a stunning beach. Can’t believe we missed this last night.
28 October: Another tense evening as we watched the RWC final and South Africa edged out New Zealand in the dying minutes of the game to become the first team to win 4 world cups. Going to miss these weekly games.
30 October: A day of semi-failures for camping again. Had hoped to wild camp a bit further south and the spot was quite nice but beach not so much so. Would have been a very hot day with no relief. Then the one official camping in this town we couldn’t find and so are parked in a Central Park with many motorhomes and a few homeless people – the not so glamorous side of Overlanding. At least we know nobody is going to chase us away. There is good looking surf but to close the roof in order to get boards, then reopen to put them away as can’t just leave them outside seems a hassle. A German guy who lives here and loves South Africa stopped by for a chat having spotted Mr J, so had a pleasant afternoon /early evening.
31 October: After last nights “squatter like” feeling we went in search of a supposedly new camp in the little town we were at, only to find a locked gate but at least we found a water shop where we could fill up our tanks. Then a short 50km hop up the coast to a wild camp in the parking of a surfers beach just south of Recife. There are expensive condominiums about 500m away but that is it and it felt much better. There were many guys in the water so Stuart grabbed a mid-afternoon surf with some great waves only to discover that the banned surf/swim zone (due to repeated shark attacks) is just 100m further up the beach.
1 November: After a chilled night at the surf spot we headed into Recife to shop and then push northwards. It was only meant to be 2-hour drive but Recife traffic and the Garmin taking us through town instead of out to the BR101 meant it took 3!! Camping area is tiny but owners super friendly & chatty (in Portuguese 🙈) and it is so awesome to have some soft grass underfoot
3 November: Feeling a little irritated today, the owner of the campsite approached with google translate to ask if we wanted to join “ a walk around the sights of Jabutunga beach which we thought meant a casual walk around the area but then it turned out he donned a “tourist guide” badge and we climbed into his car as he took us off to various viewpoints and beaches north of here. We probably got to see a few spots we might not have but it wouldn’t have been a big deal if we didn’t either and we have yet to discover how much this may cost. And then we had to put up with rather basic “guiding” via google translate and had to pose for pictures at each spot which is so not our thing but very much a Brazilian thing so the guides basically “insist” on taking photos of you.
5 November: It has been a chilled and mostly good few days in the little village of Praia Barrameres: was nice to have a campsite with lush grass underfoot but it was a bit small and got quite busy with long weekend traffic and we very much felt lonely in a crowd as nobody could speak English and we can’t speak Portuguese. The beach is very nice and we spent a good few hours chilling on it, just no surfing and not good swimming either as strong rips
6 November: Visa renewal day in the city of Joao Pessoa. Easier process than last year as we just walked into the Policia Federal customer service office and they completed the process on the computer there and then, then downstairs to pay at the bank and back up to get passport stamped. Only hassle was finding parking but after circling the shopping centre (in which it was located) a number of times, we eventually parked in a side street near a high-rise flats guardhouse.
7 November: Short hop up the coast and then down a 40km dirt road through the sugar cane fields to a tiny little village on the edge of an estuary. There is a camp site in town, but it is very small and nobody seemed to be around so instead we have wild camped on the banks of estuary which a local fisherman/ boat driver says is super tranquilo and safe – while sitting here in the afternoon shade of huge mango tree it certainly does feel it!
15 November: We are really loving Baia Formosa, it is a tiny village with just basic good people who are all friendly, it’s just so sad that we can’t chat with them properly and that in itself makes us feel quite lonely. We haven’t met another traveler who speaks English since late September and so apart from our one interaction on 30 October with a German/Brazilian we have had almost zero external conversations.
19 November: Today a young Brazilian, Wheaton, come past to admire Mr Jones and we had a fantastic hour of chatting as he had spent 7 years in the USA and so had a good grasp of English. Was so refreshing to have some free-flowing conversation. A good way to end what has overall been a fantastic 12 days in Baia Formosa.
20 November: Big shopping day as went into Natal, first to a fancy supermarket, with low parking restrictions so we parked in a side street outside a very high-end gym which caused many gym bunnies to spend a lot of time admiring Mr J (and of course keeping him safe). As a bonus, when we got back to Mr J a few of them engaged with us in English so we got to practice our English conversation skills again!
23 November: Pipa has been quite a disappointment, we haven’t bumped into any foreign travelers and none of the restaurants or bars looked funky enough to entice us in and reach into our pockets (it is incredibly expensive to eat out in Brazil for the what you get) looked funky and would entice us in. The town reminded us a lot of Phuket (Thailand), very commercial and a bit seedy.
24 November: Cruised up the coast today and through Natal, with two failed campsite options eventually landing up in Genipabu, a small fishing and touristy village. Camping is a scruffy estancionmento which is likely to be very busy during the day, especially as it is a weekend so going to only be a one-night option. Enjoyed a beer on the beach in the afternoon at one of the stock standard Brazilian beach bars (plastic chairs and umbrellas) and then a fun little evening surf.
25 November: After a “dawnie” surf (not as fun as last night), we bailed from the parking area as a bus load of people had already pulled in at 5:30am and where going to be staying in the little house there, by 7am the ubiquitous (for Brazil) JBL speaker was already at full volume. First, we backtracked into Natal to do laundry and shopping and then headed north again over its impressive bridge. Again, failed at the first camping but found a nice one on our second attempt and along the way we gave a lift to a mototaxi passenger as the motorbike had a flat tyre in the middle of nowhere. We tried to inflate the tyre but Mr J compressed didn’t fit his valve, driver was not deterred though and took off with a flat tyre down the road now that he was lighter for us taking his passenger.
29 November: The end of the BR101. We first encountered this road over a year ago in the very south of Brazil, it is the spine of the coastal route and while we haven’t driven its full length (due to taking smaller roads right on the coast) we have never been far from it and today all of a sudden it turned towards the coast and literally ended at the beach in the small village of Touros. A national road that is 4765km long!