Jacare Inland Exploring

We did manage some inland exploring during our month stay in Jacare. We got together with a dozen other cruisers and hired a mini-van loosely coordinated by Brian Stevens. We headed inland several hours on bumpy roads to see Campina Grande and the World Heritage listed historic town of Areia.  The first day was a bust since most of the places Brian took us were closed and the driver seemed to seek out the worst roads to travel.  

We did manage to see the first house in Areia and saw the inner courtyard where slaves were bought and sold.  The owners and their wives would stand on the upper balcony while the slave cells below were opened and the slaves brought out for bidding.

 

Brazil had the largest slave population in the world, substantially larger than the United States. The Portuguese who settled Brazil needed labor to work the large estates and mines in their new Brazilian colony. They turned to slavery which became central to the colonial economy. It was particularly important in the mining and sugar cane sectors. Estimates suggest that about 35 percent of captured Africans involved in the Atlantic slave trade were transported to Brazil. Estimates suggest that more than 3 million Africans reached Brazil, although precise numbers do not exist. Brazil had begun to turn to slavery in the 15th century as explorers began moving along the coast of Africa. With the discovery of the Americas, the Portuguese attempted to enslave the Native American population as well. This did not prove successful. The Native Americans died in large numbers, both because of slave raiding, mistreatment, and the lack of resistance to European diseases. The Portuguese found captured Africans to be a valuable trading commodity as Europeans began to settle the Caribbean islands. They also began transporting Africans to their Brazilian colony. Portuguese Prime Minister Marquês de Pombal abolished slavery in Portugal (February 12, 1761). 

 

The Portuguese action, however, did not address slavery in the colonies. Slaver ownership was widely practiced. Brazilians of all classes owned slaves. Slaves were not only owned by upper and middle class Brazilians, but also by lower class Brazilians. There were even slaves who owned other slaves. Slavery has a huge impact on Brazil. It affected both the economy and the ethnic make-up of the Brazilian population. The importation of such a large number of Africans into a colony with such a small number of Portuguese, profoundly affected the ethnic balance. The level of African imports also meant that unlike North America, African culture was not largely wiped out and thus had a significant impact on Brazilian culture (food, music, dance and religious practices).

Just before sunset we arrived at Pai Mateus farm guest stay, bungalow style accommodation.  We had no time to check into rooms as we rushed to see the large rock formations that were within the original farm property.  Huge boulders (that weigh 45 tons) stand above the flat ground.

 

We saw many exotic, mystical stone formations, among which the Pedra do Capacete (Helmet Rock) is the most spectacular.  It was pretty cool to see the stones as the sun was setting.

 

The Pai Mateus farm guest stay was the best part of the trip.  They had a nice pool, individual air conditioned bungalows and a full English breakfast in the morning included.

 

After breakfast we saw more stone formations and this time our guide spoke English and we understood much more about what we were seeing.  According to studies, the peculiar rock formations are volcanic and a result of soil erosion over millions of years.  The rock was solid deep underground but was broken into pieces and rounded by natural fissures and large temperature variations. Some stones include cave paintings attributed to the Cariris Indians, who lived in the region about 12,000 years ago.  

 

  

On our return trip we found a Cachaça distillery and took a nice tour.  We saw fermenting sugar cane, shiny copper stills and learned a bit more.

 

 

The Triumph Cachaça is run by entrepreneurs Antônio Augusto and Maria Julia.  In 1994, after receiving an inheritance, the couple decided to buy a mill, old dream of Antônio Augusto.  With the lack of money to purchase machinery suitable for making cachaça, the entrepreneurs had to improvise: "We had no money to buy machines to make rum and he started inventing the process. During our factory tour, they explained how a hairdryer and hand operated meat grinder were used in the original production. We also saw the bottling operation running and it was an opportunity for the kids to see mechanical engineering in action.  I doubt that the safety and cleanliness standards were up to USA levels, but it was cool to see.

Of course we had to enjoy several tastings and bought a few bottles for the boat.

We were brought to another local eatery with nice views but serving typical rubber Brazilian meat.  We had learned by now and enjoyed nice chicken dishes!  We were glad to return to the boat but almost every passenger came down with same cold as one of the sick kids on the crowded bus. It was a full week before everyone had recovered from the shared cold.

On a more positive note, we rented an air-conditioned car for 3 days and explored Joao Pessoa, and visited several malls and also did last minute food provisioning

Early one morning we headed for Igreja Sao Francisco.

The Museum and Cultural Center of Saint Francis in João Pessoa is made up of the Sao Francisco Church and the Convent Santo Antonio, which is one of the city’s best examples of highly embellished baroque architecture and the Popular Culture Museum. 

Construction of the church began in 1589 and was not completed until 1770, due to interruption from battles with the Dutch and French. The attached convent was built in 1779. The convent has a huge forecourt, which is bounded by walls on either side and richly adorned with azulejos and statues. Portuguese tiled walls lead up to the church's carved jacaranda wood doors. Wonderful paintings decorated every ceiling.

The Popular Museum inside the complex has a permanent display of folklore, xylographs and baroque and sacred art.

Once we had enjoyed our private tour of the church and convent, we followed directions to the Arruda Câmara Zoological Park.

The Arruda Câmara Park has over 500 animals of about 80 different species and the aviary where you can walk among the birds. The park has undergone a recent renovation and has new facilities for reptiles, birds of prey and many mammals.  They did not have too many animals but it only cost $1.50 for all three of us to enter and roam around.  

 

We took a few pictures and since it was lunch time, we decided to pay just one more visit to our favorite buffet restaurant…

Tom

Jacaré, Brazil

Jacaré is a fishing village situated on the eastern bank of a small muddy river. Rather than carve its way directly out into the sea, the river, on reaching the coast, seems to hesitate. It veers to the north and waits a while before finally taking the plunge. If you care to take a look at a chart of the eastern coast of Brazil you will see that most of its rivers behave in this irrational way. Each one has created a tongue of land to hide behind.

This place is midway by rickety train (10 minutes) between the port town of Cabedelo with its marketplace, and the capital city of the Paraibo region, called Joao Pessoa. Opposite the village of Jacaré, on the far side of the river, the sun sets over a vista of palm trees and sugar cane fields. Behind the village, just a 20 minute walk away across the low spit, lies the Atlantic. Upstream from the village we find the city of João Pessoa, capital of the region. Downstream, at the river’s entrance, is Cabedelo, a rather sleepy commercial port. Small and shallow as it may be, the river is the focal point for this region and it has given its name to the whole state – Paraíba.

We are staying at the Jacare Yacht-Village marina.  It is run by French Philippe, an ex-yachtie that got stuck here in Brazil.  You pay a fee when you anchor and you use his facility, but there are showers a small pool and braai (barbecue) facilities and WiFi that we can pick up on the anchored boat (on the days it works).  The first three weeks we anchored and found many people that we met already on St. Helena or Africa and we meet together on shore to share plans and stories.  One day Tom was recruited to use our powerful dingy to move a sailboat around to do some engine work.  The nice German bought us a bottle of wine for our efforts.

Now – there are still a few fishermen who go out each day in their flat-bottomed canoes; but there are also several hundred other folks who earn their living elsewhere. The people here are quite pretty.

Some work in Intermares – the new seaside development on the far side of the spit – and some cook, clean, or serve in a line of bars and restaurants which have appeared immediately upstream from the village.

These bars were not built to cater to the locals. They are the resort for Brazilian tourists who come from all over the country to watch the sun set. (They stay in a seaside development to the south of João Pessoa.) At five each evening the bars come alive, and Jurandy – the local self-made celebrity – gets out his sax and serenades the dying day; from a canoe.

We heard him the first evening anchored in the Paraiba River, at Jacare Village, coming from the Alligator River Beach next to Jacare Village.  As the sun set the violet sky was filled with the sound of a saxophone.  The next evening we followed the sound with our dinghy and saw the man dressed in white linen with an orange sash, his black long hair flowing over his shoulders, playing on his saxophone!  We motored quietly nearby and just listened.  Jurandy do Sax came on the little boat playing his saxophone doing "o Bolero de Ravel"  while the sun slowly set,  and the people came from all over with their cars, the huge ferries or their smart motor yachts to watch the sun go down accompanied by this sound.  Jurandy started almost two decades ago and exactly 17 minutes before the sun set, he comes here on this little boat,  every single day to say good night to the sun.  Living in Joao Pessoa the people are unable to see the sun go down,  and they come with their lovers, their families,  their special people in their lives to share this moment with the sounds of Jurandy do Sax here on the Paraiba River.

It was so moving that another night we brought our friends from Mojombo with us in our dingy and secured the dinghy at one of the restaurant`s jetties for the show.  Notice in the video below the swift river current and his fine oarsman that makes good use of it to give everybody a great picture.

The bars are a good place to sample the local staple fare: tapioca pancakes. These are traditionally made from cassava flour and are topped off with grated coconut and cheese (or rather, with a yellow rubbery substance which the Brazilians call cheese…). Tapiocas are one of the fastest fast foods to be found anywhere in the world: they are made, while you watch, over a hot plate. While the ordinary folk still eat the plain and simple product, the tapiocerias at Jacaré have kept up with the times and offer 30 different flavors, some of them savory and others sweet.

As mentioned before there is train service and one day we took the local train into Joao Pessoa. This battered old thing travels along a single track which was installed to carry sugar from the hinterland down to the port. It has only quite recently been restored. There is a station in Jacaré, and the trains pass at hourly intervals. Or at least, they are supposed pass at hourly intervals; when the train breaks down then that is often the end of the service for that day.  But at $0.25 per person, it is cheaper than bus or taxi which are also available.  There were some more very old churches and many small shops.   

 

Tom found an electrical part he needed and we bought a few things at a nice fresh market.  We are still amazed seeing raw cashews still on the cashew apple.  We bought a few and Kim made cashew apple jam one day that was pretty good.

  

Most of our friends are racing to Trinidad to haul out and fly home or elsewhere.  We will be moving slowly up through Brazil and explore French Guiana and Suriname before we land in Tobago.  This area is nice and we have taken taxis to the Atlantic beach side and visited a large, modern mall and two nice Buffet restaurants. 

 

They have an amazing assortment of food for a fixed price and also come around to your table with large pieces of beef, pork and sausages on 2-ft long skewers fixed many ways.  Each person has a coin that says Sim, Por Favor or Nao, Obrigado to tell them whether or not you want meat.  They slice only the piece you ask for and then move on.  This goes on until you burst or flip over your coin!  Of course they have a 5 tier desert cart and plenty of Brazilian coffee to wash it all down.  Emily really enjoys the meals since they include a large assortment of sashimi and sushi.  Dad always starts his meal with 3 or 4 lobster tails.

  

 

  

 

Today we will move into the dock to use the electricity for about a week to equalize batteries and get some engine room items done without the heat of our genset.  We will need to move on soon to see more of Brazil before our 3-month visa expires and while our pants still fit…

Tom