Sunrise Surfing

Our last day in Rio was a very lazy, money saving day. We did drop R$235 for a 23hour bus ride from Rio to Ilheus. While walking to catch the bus to the main Rio terminal (Rodovario), we caught a glimpse of some crazy acrobatics. A man shouting in the middle of the street was a sure way to catch ours and many others´ attention before he ran through an intercection into a round-off to a back handspring to a backflip over a man holding a plank with knives sticking out of it over his head. A surely impressive feet seeing as how he cleared the 6 foot high blades by a mere inch. We were going to miss Rio...
The bus ride was a long haul, but a big jump that we were glad to make. Plus, the bus was comfy and easy to nod off, do crosswords, sudoku, postcards and letters, and eat chocolate...LOTS of chocolate :)
We were anxious to get off the bus, because ended up getting off about half an hour too early when the bus stopped in Itabuna NOT Ilheus. Luckily we could catch the bus from there to Itacaré anyway, despite the extra 5 reais. We were told that the bus left at 8pm, so were in a mad rush since all of our time sources read 8:30pm. Who knew that in Brazil when you head north east, clocks go back an hour; a concept we still haven't wrapped our heads around.
We got into Itacaré 25 hours after leaving Rio, making it 10:30pm and a little worrisome for finding accomodations. As usual, it all worked out and we were led by a random "guide" to a beautiful hostel on the waterfront. We though we had best spend the night there that one night, and set out to search for a campsite the following day. However, for only 25 reais (about 13 dollars Canadian), we got a dorm room with 6 beds, bathroom, fan, big lockers and balcony. Camping may have saved us 15 reais, but the extra was worth the security, the fan and the aesthetically pleasing atmosphere.
Shortly after we arrived at the Hostel O Pharol, a couple guys we recognized from the bus arrived a little displeased that they paid R$10 for a taxi only to arrive after us. Jesse was from Winnipeg and Louie was from England, both of who were in Brazil for Caporeira mainly. It is a very interesting sub-culture said to have originated in the Bahia state of Brazil. Check the wikipedia link for more info if you'd like. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capoeira Matt and I think we will try to drop into a class or two.
Since here, we have met many fellow travellers from places such as Israel, Chile, Argentina, Sweden, France & England. Also, we have discovered how much money we can save by cooking for ourselves. We pay half as much as we would if we would go out to eat, and eat about twice the amount for some sufficient food babies. We have also got our chiselling back on track with swimming, surfing, push-ups, sit-ups and anything else we can think of.
We have also finally got around to renting some surf boards and hitting the waves. It has been a blast and we are slowly but surely improving. Managed to both ride some shorter boards than we are used to with our stylish rash guards (mainly for the UV protection). Despite the shirts, we still got fried on our first day out, so have decided the best time for us to go is at dawn and dusk. Not only do we avoid the scorching sun, but also the huge crowds.
We are sticking around here for probably another week at least before heading towards Salvador. We are supposed to meet up with our Australian friends from Rio and hopefully get some floor space in their apartment for carnival. If that doesn't happen, we will figure something out. Fatboy Slim performs there every carnival in the back of a semi trailer and though expensive, we might have to hit it up if we can.

A couple side notes before the closure of this post:
-beard wager is on: Matt won't shave his gautee if I don't shave my face and vice versa, so things should be getting pretty gross soon. We are nearing the 4 week mark.
-Jesse from Winnipeg decided to spontaneously rent a motorbike for a cheap thrill, and said he would meet us at 11am. As it started to get dark, he still hadn't made it back, but in the end was okay. Just managed to break the mirror by hitting a tree and have the maching break down on him about 15km out of town.
-We took a couple of Israeli friends out to give them a crash course in surfing, and Lilan managed to put a good gash in his lip as he was going in to take a break. A crashing wave threw the 8 foot board right into is face, and at the moment he is getting stiches.

Well, that is about all for now I suppose. Enjoy the tales and be in touch soon. Peace ya'll later!

Photos: Matt, Jesse & Louie (with Pingo) gettin' ready to hit the waves at 5:30am. Caporeira performance. Some of our hostel friends.