A blog for surfers, sliders, short boarders & log riders
Gabriel Villaran, Cabo Blanco, Northern Peru
On the way back from Ubatuba tonight we came across a Beetle in the foyer of our hotel, which I can only describe as being the size of a small horse, it was huge (I am told they get bigger than this), check out the picture below to see the evidence!
Yep it was a pretty intense birthday afternoon today, the footage was a bit poor as I was mainly concentrating on trying to not get a severe pounding, but I caught a few waves in what was a very crowded Brazil line-up of 100+ surfers.
Here is a pic I took from the shore just before sunset of a surfer getting some evening action.
Will update tomorrow with a bit more info (if I make it back from the surf).
Cheers
Birthday boy!
Sao Paulo Zoo is set in one of the biggest green areas in Sao Paulo, of which there aren’t that many. The zoo itself is beautifully kept with a vast array of animals: from predators and reptiles to mammals and birds. We spent a good four hours walking around the zoo, checking everything out, we even had a tropical downpour half way through the afternoon, which gave the lush, tropical vegetation an even more authentic feel.
On the way back from the Sao Paulo Zoo we passed by an area of favelas and I managed to get a few shots on the EOS. Favelas are areas of unplanned housing where people on low or no income live and build their own dwellings out of pretty much anything they can find.
We spent our forth day in Sao Paulo walking around the old city centre and visiting Pinacoteca. The museum is set in a restored building by the architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha. There is some amazing artwork inside, both Brazilian and international, combined with an inspiring physical structure to the building. They had an exhibit on the works of Margaret Mee, an English artist who painted plants, particularly from the Amazon. They also had some pretty cool modern art pieces (see the photos below).
After visiting the Pinacoteca, we headed over to the old centre (centro velho) and walked around the streets looking at the architecture and trying to avoid being mugged. The area is very run down and the streets are full of homeless people and kids sniffing glue etc. Not particularly nice, but interesting to see all the same. The area is slowly being restored, but still needs a lot more attention. It was probably the place I have felt most on edge on any visit to Brazil and you had that feeling that at any time someone could jump you on the next corner. As a precaution I didn’t use the Canon EOS and opted for the more compact Pentax point and shoot camera.
There are a few pictures below.
