welcome to my favourite place in brasil, boipeba, a small island off bahia, next to its famous sister island, morro de sao paulo. boipeba is a protected island where there are no cars, no paved roads, and lovely locals who live in the most beautiful environment imaginable. a huge chunck of the island is owned by one of the worlds wealthiest families, and is kept as a natural sanctuary. the rest of the island is dotted with very simple natural villages. the beaches are simply perfect. long, clean, shaded by palm and coconut trees, and the ocean is so calm it resembles a warm swimming pool. i took this photo my first day there, and eventually submited it to a photo contest, where it won first place. i think it did so because i put so much love into my relationship with this place....

my first approach to boipeba. little could i imagine what paradise would turn out to be...

what i liked the most about boipeba was its peaceful and unspoiled natural setting. not a lot of people know about it, and it is not an easy place to get to - you can only get there, or at the time you could only get there, by little boats which are infrequent in timing, or in bigger boats which take a long time to do all the small island towns alond the coast of bahia. so the beaches are mainly deserted, with no mass crowds of tourists clogging its silvery mile wide beaches. i found it completely by chance - i was staying in morro de sao paulo and one morning boarded the little tourist train that travels the lenght of the island. at the far end of morro, which can only be reached by train along the coast (many parts of the path are covered with manges that are not suitable for walking), we had the option of boarding a boat for lunch and snorkeling along the offshore natural pools, or we could board another boat to this other island, boipeba, and then go for a trekk. as a land mamal, i chose the trekk :-), and it was the best choice i made in my entire 8 month trail through the brazilian coast. i returned to the my lovely pousada (pousada dos cataventos) that evening, gave notice and left the next morning for boipeba. there was the additional benefit that i met a very beautiful and cool argentinian, marcela, who became my girlfriend for 2 years and with whom i still maintain a great friendship :).

see the little logos on both lower sides of the boat - they're emblems for football teams :) 

look at the sand! ahhh, why do i still live in london???

nothing to interfere with the sensual interaction with nature. 

i find this picture so serene, peaceful. it is what my memory reminds me it was like, the ocean, the gently swaying leaves, even the warm but unobtrusive sun contributed its own silence to the symphony of serenity that is boipeba. its what happens when humans and huma-made machines and contraptions disappear from surface of nature. 

 

my sandals, my companion

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

yes, football is played everywhere. here, they have to finish the game before the tides turn back in. 

theres something very natural about the crooked shape of the goal post in the context of a beach, isnt there? :) 

not a bad life.... 

and finally the game comes to an end... 

i hitched a hike with a local fisherman for a day, and we made our way around the neighborhood, picking up nets, observing the tides, and avoiding sea sickness :)