What Is It About Brazil? (3 of 3)

Choosing a good place for breakfast wasn’t easy, each of the small beach side bars looked idyllic. Simple rustic furniture, sunshades made from palm leaves and the smell of freshly cooking fish. We chose Martha’s Bar mainly because Martha dragged me in by my arm and also because a wizened fisherman was busy sorting the days catch out and the lobsters looked fantastic (I added lobsters onto my ever increasing list of things I loved about Brazil).

Our breakfast of 6 fresh lobsters, 2 icy cold bottles of beer and a grilled fish came to the princely sum of about 6 dollars! The beautiful views, the sound of the sea and the early morning sun glinting on the reef were all free – though I am sure it is only a matter of time before Martha works out a way of charging me for them.

After a long moment of contemplation I slowly drifted back to reality.
“So, what do you want to do?”, asked my genial host. My girlfriend and I exchanged worried looks; she perhaps phrased best what we were both thinking “you mean we have to do something?” I went for a swim – it seemed like a good concession.

During the 1970’s only a few locals knew about Praia da Lagoinha and the only tourists that went there were either lost or on their way to somewhere else. Local legend says that in the late 1980’s a French man reached the place searching for a place to spend his vacations. Milton, a local fisherman did not understand this wild Frenchman’s intention but decided to rent him one room anyway. The next year the French man returned with a friend and over the next few years the group got bigger and bigger until Milton was forced to give up fishing and move into the hotel business instead.

However, the development was limited and today there is really only one hotel on the beachfront. The hotel is beautiful, lovely cool rooms, a fine swimming pool and it is cheap (about $20 for a room per night). I threw my hammock out on the veranda and stretched out. After the last of the day-trippers had retreated for the more cosmopolitan and larger cities which dot the coast, I was left alone with the sound of the surf.

I laid in my hammock for awhile listening to the sound of the sea, the incessant pounding of the waves lulled me in to a deep sleep and I awoke much later – deeply content. I bought a postcard from the pretty girl in the small gift shop and went and sat in the bar in contemplation. I wrote a friend’s address, that was easy, but no other words would come.

I looked at the view, the card and my cold beer. It seemed that to scribble a few words on a card would never capture this place or the feelings it inspired in me. How could I ever capture the feel of the sea breeze on my sun burnt skin, the way the colours drained out the sky as the sun set, or the shanties that the fishermen sung today, tomorrow and fifty years ago, as they pulled in the days catch of lobster? In the end I mailed the card blank. I am sure my friend will understand.

About the Author
The author is currently living in the northeast of Brazil. He is a regular contributor to this, and other travel magazines. Apart from a dying urge to visit, and write a serious article on Angola, his other greatest ambition is to feature in a book by Paul Theroux and a song by Alannis Morisette – or is it the other way around? He looks forward to the many emails he receives from readers of BoootsnAll (philip@dem.ufc.br) and will reply to each one he receives.

Read all three parts of What Is it About Brazil?
Part One
Part Two
Part Three

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