Belém, Brazil
Before arriving in Belém, I was a little afraid I’d given myself too much time there. It wasn’t a city I’d heard of before this trip, nor one of the host cities of the World Cup last year. Yet I was about to spend 10 nights there - close to, if not the longest amount of time I’ve spent in a single city since arriving in Brazil.
It was in Belém that I had to apply with the Federal Police to extend my tourist visa, and knowing how brazil operates (especially in the north) I expected this to be an arduous process. But in almost typical Brazil fashion - I was surprised to be granted an extra two months in the country after only a brief conversation with a lady at the federal police and the handover of a few documents. Problem solved within my first few hours of arriving!
I had previously sent a few Couchsurfing requests to be hosted, and fortunately I was accepted by a local named Lucas. Lucas was an easygoing guy, and we shared a few common interests - beer and football. The first night I arrived, we went to his friends house to watch a Copa Libertadores match, and another night was spent at Amazon Beer in Estação das Docas to sample a few of Belém’s Amazonian flavoured craft beers. Lucas also introduced me to his friends Letícia and Suzane - who were extremely welcoming and went to every effort to make sure I made the most of my time in Belém.
Almost every day they would pick me up from the hostel and drive me around the city, sampling any kind of food I felt the hunger for, then drop me back at the hostel at the end of the night. I bombarded my stomach with every kind of national and local delicacy on offer - Tacacá (a very strong shrimp soup that also makes your mouth numb), Maniçoba (similar to feijoada), Pupunha (a small fruit), Tapioca, Guarana, Cachaça shots (with a chaser of soup, very weird!), unsweetened açai with fish, and a range of natural fruit juices and ice creams. Eventually my bowels had decided it was too much and well, you can guess what happened.
Amongst all the eating, I did manage to squeeze in some sightseeing. I visited Mangal das Garças to enjoy the sunset with Letícia and Suzane, then came back again a few days later with Josué (another friend from Couchsurfing) to take some more photos. We then took a boat ride around the docks of Belém and were treated to some local music and dance.
I also reached a minor milestone on my trip whilst in Belém - three months on the road. It’s crazy to think how quickly more than a quarter of my trip has already passed - and all in one country. But I guess looking back I’ve managed to squeeze quite a bit in. It just so happened that on 3 months to the day, Suzane and I went out for a nice dinner, which was fitting. She even managed to squeeze a free cake out of the waitress by telling her it was my birthday!
The last couple of nights in Belém I spent with Leticícia and Suzane - we ate a lot more food, ice cream and guarana, and also made time to check out some local bands at a bar, and go swimming at a nearby water park (even though it was cloudy and raining all day, the Brazilians seemed to love it).
Although worn out from so much eating and sightseeing, I was really sorry to leave these girls behind. They had been the main reason I was able to enjoy such a long time in this city, and we genuinely got along like we’d been friends for years.
