The Best Place In Brasil

I have now been to the best place in Brasil. Actually, every place I have been has been the best place in Brasil- to someone. As I travel I gather advice and ideas for places to go, and people often volunteer favorites. Manque Seco was one such favorite, though for me it was probably my least favorite of the trip. Which is why I now realize I have to get a little back story on people before I go visit their "Best Place in Brasil".

People travel for many reasons, and Brasil has many things to offer. Some come for the music. Some come for the sun. Some come for the beaches. Some come to dance. Some come for the exotic atmosphere. Some come to surf. Some come to party. Some come to hook up with locals. Some come to get away from it all. Some come to get into it all. Some to snorkel or scuba or kite sail or windsurf. Some to ride around on boats. Some like learning languages. Some like meeting new people, or getting and international perspective. Some to lounge by a pool and read a book and drink fruity drinks. Some do the resort thing. Some follow the herd. Some don't want to hear english spoken. Some to take pictures. Some looking for a new home. Etc., etc. Point being, whatever you're into, when you find it, you've found the best place in Brazil. Thing is, when you go to someone else's best place in Brazil, it may have nothing you want. OK I think I made that point.

As for Mangue Seco- let me describe it. Remote fishing village in the state of Bahia, white sandy beach and dunes, swaying palms, mangrove trees, fishing jangadas and canoes plying the waters, streets and center square of pure sand, donkeys, kids, dune buggies, river mouth, lagoons, tidal flats, kayaking, etc. I was disappointed. Maybe I need to have my head examined, or maybe I´ve been travelling too long. It does sound pretty good. Paradise is relative though (according to Einstein). Imagine being dropped in such a place. You'd be stoked right? Then imagine being told you could never leave. Changes things a bit doesn't it?

I think part of it was the hastle of getting there and how many times I got gouged by the bus driver, the taxi driver, the speedboat driver, the dune buggy driver, the pousada owner, the cook at the restaurant, etc. Really though, the problem for me is that it was deserted. Some people need to drop off the edge of civilization before they can relax. That's not me. People and "movimento" excite me. I like to see bars and restaurants full, music playing, people dancing, beaches full. Maybe if I was on a honeymoon I'd be trying to "get away". Since I'm not, I'd say I'm more trying to get into it, than get away from it, so it wasn't for me. To it's credit though, it was quite beautiful, and I took tons of great photos from that area. Maybe it's no coincidence, the recommendation to visit came from a professional photographer.

Also, I've noticed that tourist destinations in Brasil fall roughly into two categories, the ones the Brasilians vacation at, and the ones the foreigners visit. I'll take the foreign destinations. Mainly, Brasilian vacationers are couples and families who want their vacation spots to look and feel like home, but have a nice beach. They're somewhat more insular in their socializing and reluctantant to open to foreigners. The foreign destinations on the other hand are full of people who are young and single, brasilian and foreign, and everyone is there to meet new people, dance, drink, eat, swim, and have fun. There is more music, more places open, more things going on, more people on the street, etc. Purists may tell you it's not the "real" brasil. I've seen this "real" Brasil, in fact I see it almost every day, and the purists can have it. I'm on vacation.