It was a dozen kilometres north of today’s Porto Seguro that Pedro Álvares Cabral claimed Brazil for the Portuguese Crown on 22 April 1500. Note that I don’t say discovered Brazil. It’s not out of an overtly strong sensitivity about the Eurocentric word ‘discovery’, no. It’s because he simply didn’t. There had been at least […]
Images of Salvador Carnival 2012
It’s now the fifth day of Salvador Carnival (with one more to come) and this gringo is more than tired after dancing in the streets for four days already, checking his wallet and smartphone every half an hour and staggering to his dorm at 4am waking up everyone and his wife. I mean, even Rio […]
Down and out in São Paulo
I have commented before that by 2001 the never-ending parade of 1990s slums from Guarulhos airport into São Paulo had disappeared. That there were no more people walking to work on the motorways at 6am. That in 2002 the election of President Lula has brought some hope to the people of Brazil with its Fome […]