Chapada Diamantina

Greetings from Bahia
The fire was put out the day before we arrived, enough said.
We are now visiting one of the most beautiful national parks in Brazil.  It is similar to the Grand Canyon, the Bungles and southern Africa.  It has large sandstone canyons, beautiful waterfalls, pantanals (savanahs), forests, crystal clear and blue waters and rivers.   It is a very diverse area.
It is in Bahia, which is the state where many of the descendants of the slaves live.  The majority of the population are of African heritage, so African culture and religion is strong here.  Capoiera is a martial art which was invented by the slaves as a way to defend themselves, but it is disguised as a dance.  The movements are very fluid and strong, part ballet, part tai chi, part judo and part break dancing.  It is very popular here, our guide Mio practices it, it is really amazing to watch.
We are based in two places, the first is Lecois, which is an old colonial town where diamonds were found. There were many diamond mines until recently.  The area is a geological wonderland, gold, diamonds and many other precious stones were found here.  We walked along the river today and the variety of rock and stone formations were amazing.  It is easy to see where the glaciers had done their work.  There were conglomerates of stones from many places, green, red, yellow, pink, and a variety of different stone-quartz,sandstone, granite.  Many carved by glaciers and water.
The whole area is amazing, canyons carved by water, cliffs pushed up by teutonic plates,  lush vegetation and cacti all in the same area.
We also spent a couple of nights in a town called Igatu which is on the top of a very large hill.  Diamonds were discovered here and the town came to be.  At is peak, there were 1100 residents living on the top of the hill, now there are 350.  The views are amazing, but the road up to it, is a real nightmare.  It is cobblestones, very uneven and much of it washed away by the rains.  The high school aged kids have to ride the school bus up and down that road everyday, they must be very dedicated to school to make that trip everyday.  Life in the village is pretty sedate, not too much happens here.  It is very peaceful.  There are many ruins from the diamond  days and the graveyard is quite spectacular. One for the rich with lots of ornate whitewashed crypts and one across the road (on the cliff with much better views) for the poor with simple crosses.

 the view from the top of one of the many outcroppings of rock which was carved by a river, just like the Grand Canyon

A local that we met who was taking us to his house where we could use his cell phone, the house had no glass in the windows, no running water (we met him at the river where his wife was washing clothes), no electricity.  He carried a machete and a gun to kill animals so he could eat.  He lives on what he can grow, fish and hunt.  He is not the poorest, as he has a house.

 Washing dishes in the river, this is where they wash their clothes also.  It is 500-1000m from where they live.

The crypts of the rich in Igatu

Brazil is very much a country of contrasts from landscapes to skin colours.   From the ultra rich to the very poor.  The poor are very much the majority, although the middle class is starting to emerge since Brazil's rise as an economic power.  Corruption is widespread and is openly talked about by the people.  It is a way of life here.   Many of the roads are in horrid conditions, and barely able to be driven on.  We were on one today that was littered with potholes, the pavement was barely a centimetre thick.  It is called a politicians road, because only a small part of the money given to the local government by the federal government was spent on the road.  The rest went to line the local politicans pockets.  It is hard to believe that a country so rich has so many poor who live without running water and often electricity.  OK, I will get off my soapbox and here are some pictures.
Kim and Dan