Brazil (IV) - Porto Seguro

I've also spent five short days in Porto Seguro - the place where the Portuguese met the mainland for the first time (probably run aground :P).
But first of all, the first thing we do is.... we relax, hehehe:
Then we look around:
One of the famous things in this state - Bahia- is Capoeira. For most it looks like some kind of a dance-fight thing... well... it is :D

I can't get enough of beaches, waves, sand and blue skies... By the way Bahia is closer to the equator than Rio and São Paulo, so it looks more tropical and more like you are dreaming.
So here we go once more:
A place called "Toa Toa" where people are dancing altogether to Axé music and doing movements and sounds which might remind you of the physical act of love... it's kinda fun for a while...
another one...
OK, now something very different: Mud. Filthy, brown mud. And loads of it... They lured us with "it's healthy for your skin, bla bla bla". And of course, all the women and older people went crazy. For the record: it's not worth it, it's really, really disgusting and the fricking mud makes your bathing clothing (favorably a tiny G-string for girls :D) exceptionally dirty.
Back to nice things: See this guy? Why does he look so happy? Any guesses?
There may be lots of reasons, but in that very moment the menina in the following picture was one of the main reasons... Guys, may I present you... yes... I know... say it... a w e s o m e :P

Crabs in pitú (I guess):
A real Baiana (O Que É Que A Baiana Tem?):
A fake Baiana:
Another day, another beach :) We were heading towards "Praia do Espelho".
Huge parrot, can't really recognize that in the picture though...
Wanna see what the parrot is look at... this:
The advantage of having your own private photographer with you:) You get these kind of pictures for free:

Like a dream:
This one is my creation... I mean the picture:

"What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies." - Aristotle

Brazil (III) - Rio de Janeiro

The beach side of life... Rio. I think this city is one of the nicest places I've been to. Well, I've only been 5 days there, so my view might be a very, very touristic one, but hey... I am a tourist :D

During the 6 hours ride from São Paulo you see a beautiful country side:
... but once you arrive there, hehe, the beach is calling already: Ipanema Beach, if I remember right...
And the beach gives you what you need: Cangas, Brazilian beach towels...

It is quite crowded... weekday on the picture, imagine the weekends...the favela Rocinha (I think...), they probably have the nicest view onto Ipanema beach

it's so easy to take nice pictures in Rio...
Another day, another beach: Prainha at nine o'clock in the morning...

Some pictures from down town, close to the area Santa Teresa:
On an old tram on a viaduct through the center:
Rio summarized in a painting...

You can see clearly the line between the favela and the non-favela:
The mosaic stairs... they told me that it is kinda "alive", since the artist is always working on it and he exchanges pieces of the stairs:
Another day, another... you know... beach hehehe. This time it's some part of Barra Beach. This beach is something about 20 km in length:

Canga seller...beach fruits:

The view from Morro da Urca, haven't been on the Pão de Açúcar [Sugar Loaf] though (2nd pic), it was too cloudy as you can see...
View to the Crist statue, he is literally watching over the city:

Back on the streets:
Well, the part of the trip which I HAD to do... visiting the Crist on the Corcovado... wasn't so lucky with the weather though. On the first picture you can see a hint of the Maracanã stadium, the forth largest stadium in the world (around 100'000 spectators max):

Best picture I got of him...
But at least I wasn't the only one who was unlucky that day... hehehe... my fellow 32R$-for-a-crappy-view-spenders as well :D
At last some pictures from the famous Copacabana beach:


Sort of liked this quote, because it seems to me that it fits although it's formulated quite harshly:

"A life lived unexplored is a life not worth living." - Kirk Hammet