Good news... well, sort of

I heard someone say he wanted to make oifficial-looking stickers to place on the wall of an elevator saying, "7 Button Does Not Work. Please Press 3 + 4."

Carnaval is only half of that. They have uncontrollable crowds of extremely friendly people.

OK, I'll grant you that. Carnaval is NOT relaxing... :^)

To experience true relaxation, Brazilian style, check out my album on Boipeba Island. This is a place where there are no cars, no roads and no locks on the doors and windows of the "Bed and Breakfast" (Brazilians call it a Poussada). You hop out of the boat when it pulls up to the beach and the driver hands your luggage over to the taxi driver. The "taxi" is a wheel barrow. They cart your stuff down the beach and you follow on foot. It's not a problem since the walk is only 5-10 minutes and the beach is beautiful. The Poussada sits is not visible from the beach -- just a set of stairs leading up into the mata (jungle). Once under the forest canopy, your eyes are greeted by a scene out of Robinson Caruso, except the part of Friday is played by a bevy of beautiful Brasileiras offering to bring you a beverage as you relax in a hammock between towering palms while other helpers scurry back and forth carting your gear to your room.

Evening meals consist of fish that was caught within the hour, fruit and salad plucked from the forest just long enough ago to cut and chill over a bed of ice and unbelievable salads and deserts. Breakfast is a veritable feast of eggs, sliced meats, fresh fruits of every imaginable variety, home made breads and little cakes, and fried creations made from manioc, tapioca and so on. Lunch was served at a floating bar/disco/restaurant a few miles out from the Poussada (the place looked pretty shabby but the food was excellent and the drinks were ice cold).

BTW, a couple of years ago I teased you by posting a link to a picture of a run-down fishing boat that I jokingly dubbed the "SS Jiminex" (apologies for the rudeness). That boat was one of a group plying the bay that leads from Boipeba to the nearest mainland town. The tourist boats are mostly schooners, a few small power boats and a number of pontoon boats. They come over from Morro de Sao Paulo (a famous and very busy beach resort on the nearby island of Tinhare) and from the capital city of Salvador across the huge Bahia de Todos os Santos (Bay of All Saints) where I have a condo.

We took the whole family to Boipeba for a long weekend several years ago to celebrate my birthday. I hope to have time for a second visit next time I go down. That will be my fifteenth (and possibly final) trip to my beloved second country. We'll see how all that works out.

Friends have also asked me to go island hopping to the Bahamas via private plane (several are pilots). IIRC, you've got a degree of experience there. Any recommendations?

I'm doing the best I can, thanks.

Robert

I meant to include a link to one of my photos of the island. Here it is:

Robert:

All I can say is that I will truly miss you. I know it's "inevitable" and I know your prognosis isn't good (or even great), but me and the missus think of you every day. You're in our prayers.

I know you're not afraid and I know you've been forgiven.

Concentrate on getting well. Miracles really happen. I know. I have a grandson to prove it. Take care. God Bless.

Regards, Frank

I like that quote, a lot.

Frank you have to do stand up cominc!,, it took me 15 minute to get back on my chair and type this, i was rolling on the floor laughing out load... Frank your the best!

You know Pete, karma has a way with catching up with you. It took me a long time to realize that, but we are talking about a man's life here. You should wish him a speedy recovery so you can argue with him for many years to come. It used to be my favorite hobby, until I put myself in his shoes (figuratively). Sympathy and empathy are good traits, and it does no one any good to send bad vibes his way.

What's the old saying...

Better watch out or your karma will run over your dogma...

Oh I don't know, works for me

Queens Tower. Its not that big of a deal, but I was 3 years old when I was there. I remember looking down at all the little toy houses and cars and I was convinced it was a model town with little toy cars. Walking along the working areas of the docks is another strong memory. Talking to the local fishermen, and looking at all the boats. I've a few other memories of the the trip, but they don't tell as well as they remember.

ow. =EF=BF=BDThey

Most of my more recent trips south are in the Leeward and Windward Islands of the Carribrean and also the British Virgin Islands.

The Bahamas was about 50 years ago, so I don't think much of what I experienced then would still be valid. However, I've seen TV Travel shows that show some of the areas that I visited back then and some of the areas don't seem to have changed all that much. Grand Bahama Island has become commercialized I'm told, but I'm sure there are some great things to still see there. I used to go there for spear fishing contests. Spanish Wells is another place and is still as exclusive as I remember it. Read up on it's history. Rather unique. Very very laid back. The Island of Eleuthera is where I spent most of my time. About two and a half years. It was very undeveloped at the time. Only one tarred road that most times one car had to stop, so the other could pass by. We would spend up to 5 days on the beach and never see another soul. Scuba and free diving. Spearing fish and longusta, and cooking them in an old wash pail on the beach. We'd pick pineapples and bananas from areas where plantations used to be. And drinking lots of booze. Sleeping out was kind of a love/hate thing, choosing between the beauty of a pitch black night and a gazillion stars with the surf crashing in the background and land crabs crawling in your sleeping bag. Great life when you're only 18 years old.

There were a couple of resorts there then, but not for the common man. I think there's a Sandels Resort there now and I'm sure it's nothing like I remember. I've been tempted to go back but then I stop myself. I would rather remember it as it was.

Of course there was Nassau too. It was pretty good nite life back then as Calypso music and doing the Limbo was all the rage. On the island that the Atlantis hotel is on now, when I was there, there wasn't even a bridge to get across to it. And, believe it or not, it was called Hog Island. They would just let the hogs, run wild there and go across every now and then to "harvest" dinner. How it ever became Paradise Island, I'll never figure out. However, hearing from recent visitors, there's lots of fast food Mc Donalds and others on the main drag of town, now. The Straw market, where natives would make you anything you wanted out of straw is gone and lots of the other quaint attractions too. There used to be an old fort there, just on the outskirts of town, Fort Montigue, that was in disrepair, which made it seem more authentic. I don't know if that is still there or not. Also, on what is now Paradise Island there were the remnants of the Cloisters that we used to explore. I've heard, but don't know for sure, that now it's part of a hotel, used for weddings or something, but still able to be visited.

I played in a little four piece band back then and the natives just loved Rock and Roll. I did a lot of drinking so there's a lot of places I don't remember too clearly. I do know that I'll never drink a vodka collins again. Or rum and Coke, either. I often say, that if I were destined to be an alcoholic, that was the time it would have begun. Fortunately the drawbacks of throwing up and falling down often, won out over the party, party, party scene.

Ahh, and those "brown skinned girls" ........ Jannette Moree', where are you now?

But, as they say, "those were the days"

Word.

Hahahahaha! That's rich, coming from you.

I thought you did work in NYC.

Now THATS THE SPIRIT!

I like it when a man take up a challenge and do it..

but this time it took me just a few minute to get back on my chair, the karma thing is a jem!

Probably not, but thnks for the stories. It sounds like it *was* wonderful.

Yep. If they were as passionate as the Brasileiras I've known you had quite some youth. My only regret is I never traveled outside the US (well, except for a few times to Canada and Mexico) until my fifties. I suspect if I'd gone to South America in my teens I never would have come back. :^)

Well, even now you're an old, married fart, you still have great memories. Do you still sail much?

Regards, Robert

Careful, RHC will go ballistic on you

I thought he was more in the upstate area

Yawn.