Morro de São Paulo is one of a handful of villages on the island of Tinhare´. The island is one of an archipelago of 3 small islands 100 miles off the coast of Salvador in Bahia. The primary mode of transportation here is the wheel barrow. There are no cars on the island and if there were I am sure plying the narrow sand streets would be problematic at best. Luggage, dry goods and sometimes small children are all moved along inside the wheel barrow taxi. A true negative carbon footprint!
The village of Morro is easy enough to navigate. The naming conventions are handled by ordianl numbers. There is the 1st Beach(Primeira Praia), the second, third etc. The only anomoly to this naming scheme is the Encanto Beach which is truly a deserted paradise. The beaches get less populated as the numbers increase.
The beaches themselves are the stuff of stock image photography used in travel brochures the world over. The first beach has a break and some nice waves but the rest are held still by surrounding reef. Tracing the coast you find well-spaced Mangrove swamps mingle the clear, cobalt blue and emerald green tones of the tepid bath water. Beyond the beach are hills of Atlantic rain forrest that are dilineated by bougainvillea and coconut groves.
Every lodging on the island is a Mom and Pop shop with no structure exceeding two stories and not a corporate name among them. It has been a week since I traded in the iPod for alternating sounds of breaking surf and the rustling of palm fronds at night. Atmosphereic Ambien, the good stuff.
Some pics can be found HERE
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