Exody - Days 389-395: Carnival, Cruise and Corpse!

Today Friday 12th, we are esconced back at our berth in the Terminal Nautico Marina after a three day mini-cruise of the Baia de Todos-os-Santos.

Last weekend 6th to 8th we spent one evening with the carnival bands and that was enough for us! Not sure whether its just not the Trinidad Carnival we both remember fondly or that we are 30 years older - maybe a bit of both. Maybe we were simply not in the right place at the right time to see the best! The music is not as readily engaged (all beat, few tunes!) and the people seemed less lost in their joyous abandonment (few smiles!). The exceptions were a small professional band of about a dozen dancers who expertly entertained us, drawing in sometimes parallel talent from the bystanders, and secondly a female samba band we had seen the week earlier. David had more of an appetite than us and was out three nights in a row!

Tuesday 9th we headed across the bay with Makena around the top of Ilha Frade to the delightful anchorage south of Ilha Bom Jesus. Here Luc taxied us ashore and we walked the car-less village streets where everyone was still in carnival mode - music blaring, costumes aplenty and many folk relaxing with a beer or swimming in the sea. The tiny village was crowded and we managed to get briefly lost before retracing our steps. A local sailing vessel of circa 15 metres, broad as a dinner plate and with sails apparently of orange velour took off from its berth. After a brilliant sunset, Makena kindly wined and dined us along with their other 'house guests' - 11 up including Kai. We swam in the morning and marvelled at the changing landscape as the sandbanks showed themselves in the spring low tides. A single scarlet ibis (or similar) treated us to several flights across the bay between the mangroves.

Wednesday morning we set off to ride the incoming tide for the 15 mile trip up the Rio Paraguacu, a delightful winding route, once past the oil rig construction. Passing the nearly uninhabited tropical landscape, a 16th century fort and a few remote homes, to the town of Maragogipe, where we anchored alone off the long pier. Here Marian and I dinghied ashore. Another town still in the throes of post carnival relaxation, we had wondered about the Guardia Civil presence at the pier. As we returned, the school river bus was towing in a corpse rather unceremoniously by the foot. We did not join the bystanders to watch the gruesome spectacle of transfer from water to police 'hearse'. Fitful sleep for the night mainly out of concern that we were all alone at this anchorage- but it was also hot and windless. Benign boat borne activity seemed to go on through the night mainly long paddled dugouts, some with engines, the fishermen's voices carrying far in the quiet stillness.

Thursday 11th, we started 07.30 sharp to catch the outgoing tide, anchoring 90 minutes later and nearly 10 miles downriver in up to 2 knots of current by the islet of Ilha de Arromba in the Canal de Dentro - a splendid isolated and beautiful spot close by the mangroves where David rose for breakfast and coffee. Off again by 10.30 we motored on out of the river toward Ilha Itaparica, the largest of the islands in the bay. By 13.00 we had found our way into the welcoming small marina. Here we left David supine still recovering from sun, carnival, bad night's sleep or whatever and lunched ashore on local Bahian dish Moquexica Camarones (??) - a fish stew with mainly prawns. A brief walk toward the village found us a shop/cafe and a few fruit stalls. Most of the properties have tiny frontages/plots and appear to be mostly holiday places- colourful, colonial, modern and tumbledown all apply! The overall effect is of a quiet, charming laid back village - such a contrast to the City of Salvador, just 13 miles across the water. It felt quite safe. There is a natural mineral water well here and it also feeds the marina supply so we topped up Exody's tanks. We dined on board on tarted up pizzas and bubbly, David now more himself in the relative cool of the evening.

Early this morning, Friday 12th, Marian and I took a walk through the village cobbled streets to the north end of the island past another ancient fort, the navy's degaussing station and several small church squares. We happened upon a small shop with morning rolls - a treat for breakfast en route back across to Salvador. Here we refuelled at the handy mid-harbour barge, the attendant ironically asking us for a box of matches. We also found they had cases of beer and coke- saved a taxi trip! Back at our berth soon after 10, our papers for outward clearance were lodged with agent Ramon. Now counting down (ie boat jobs, provisioning, internet activity) to departure Monday 15th for the Fernando de Noronha archipelago nearly 700 miles away.

Peter (Skipper)