Postcard from Brazil

I just got back from a week-long work trip to Búzios, Brazil, my first trip to South America. While the majority of time was spent working, it did give me a flavor of this wonderful country. 

Sunset

Travel time was quite lengthy. Rio de Janeiro is a 10 hour (overnight) flight from Atlanta, and Buzios is about a 4 hour drive from Rio. (On the way back I flew Rio- Sao Paulo- Atlanta. Sao Paulo is probably the glitziest airport I've ever seen, like a high-end mall with some departure gates thrown in.) I can't sleep on planes at all, so if this post sounds loopy, it is because I am quite sleep-deprived.

Buzios is an upscale coastal resort town, apparently made famous by the French actress Brigette Bardot. She is credited with transforming this sleepy fishing village into an internationally renowned vacation destination.

I stayed at the Hotel Atlantico, where you can walk down the steps directly onto the beachfront, dotted with restaurants and boutique shops. It is off-season there now (being winter in the Southern hemisphere), which just meant it was less crowded with absolutely perfect temperatures- in the late 60s to early 70s (F) the whole time.

More sunset

Photo taken by one of my colleagues

A memorable part of this trip was a morning spent hiking. We walked along the beach (orla Bardot), then scrambled on the cliff, walked up trails and down on the other side to Praia Tartaruga (turtle beach). The hike was led by a local marine biologist who specializes in species that live in the intertidal zones. He showed us several creatures that I would have totally overlooked if not for his expert eye. 

On the hike

Most coastal cacti

I was fascinated by the native cacti in the coastal cliffs. Apparently the cacti flourish here because it is quite a dry climate.

There are a few stray dogs in town, but better described as "community dogs" because it seems locals take care of them, local businesses feed them and let them sleep indoors. They look healthy and well-fed. Two dogs accompanied us throughout our hike, delighting the group. They are clever and know how to find fresh water collected in some of the bowl-like cacti. 

After the hike, the rest of the group stayed to enjoy the beach, but I was tired and walked back to the hotel with the guide to rest and prepare for a workshop I was teaching later in the day. I was rewarded by a sighting of cute little (and they are truly tiny) capuchin monkeys who, far from being afraid, scampered out of the trees to stare curiously at me. 

Can you spot two capuchin monkeys?

Our "guide dog" cleverly finding
fresh drinking water

Black vultures were everywhere

Buffet plate

Brazilian food is meat and seafood-heavy, and vegetarian food was not always easy to find. One good option was the "por quilo" buffets where a wide variety of food is set out, and you fill a plate and pay by weight. There was one such buffet in Buzios, and another at the rest stop between Buzios and Rio, and I was grateful for these. Although the majority of buffet dishes were off limits for me, I could fill a plate with brown rice, black beans, fresh and cooked veggies, and sometimes extras like cassava fries (aipim frito) and garlic bread, like in the pic here. I would always get a limonada (lemonade) with the meal, and it was always excellent and somehow better than any lemonade I've had before.

The hotel served a breakfast buffet every morning. I enjoyed good coffee, fresh fruit (amazing pineapple and mango), oatmeal with toppings like cinnamon and chia seeds, scrambled eggs. There were a variety of breads set out, and loads of desserts- imagine whole cakes and puddings for breakfast. The one snack available everywhere are pao de quiejo, small bread bites baked from dough of cassava flour with egg and cheese.

Pao de quiejo

[This is a snack that I get to eat often at home in Georgia, because one of my best friends is Brazilian and she will often bring some over when we get together for a meal. A lady from Atlanta makes and sells these frozen (ready to bake). My friend orders it via text and the lady sells them out of her car trunk in a Target parking lot ha ha!]

There was one other person in our group who was vegan, and she and I exchanged notes on the veg-friendly options we found. On the very last night, we fortuitously found that a restaurant right next to our hotel served vegan versions of a couple of Brazilian dishes- and we got to enjoy vegan ceviche and vegan moqueca, traditionally a coconut-based seafood stew.

Vegan moqueca

Vegan ceviche

Other times, I managed to find that one veg option in restaurants. Once it was a spaghetti with plenty of vegetables. It hit the spot on a rainy evening. 

Can never go wrong with pasta and veg

Oh too cheesy vegetarian risotto

Another time it was this vegetarian risotto- but it was super cheesy. I do eat a bit of cheese but don't like strong, funky cheeses and this definitely had aged parmesan or something- this was a meal I did not enjoy. I should really look for vegan options rather than vegetarian to avoid cheese altogether. 

Below is what I ate at the opening reception- it was a pretty fancy restaurant with a couple of vegan options- I had the sweet potato puree served with an eggplant cutlet topped with sauteed veg. It was delicious, and someone else at the table got a bowl of black beans with their meal that they didn't care for, so I got to eat that for some added hearty protein. 

Eggplant cutlet with veg and sweet potato puree

I looked for a vegetarian restaurant in Buzios and found one named Samsara- the first floor was a hippie store selling incense and idols and tie-dye...and the second floor was a tiny restaurant with just one employee- a sweet young woman. I got a lunch called "basic vegan" and it was anything but basic. It came with two platters- one with lentils, brown rice and two types of hummus. The other with a chickpea patty surrounded by roasted potatoes, steamed sweet potatoes, salad and cabbage. As with most food I encountered in Brazil, it is not spiced, and was seasoned only with a little salt. This meal was so satisfying with the plethora of veggies, and I had enough leftovers to eat for dinner.

"Basic vegan" plate(s)

The coffee breaks at the conference had lots of wonderful cookies, many different varieties, often typical Brazilian ones with a filling of jam or guava paste or chocolate. And those wonderful elephant ears made of puff pastry. 

Cookies

Brazil is, of course, a Portuguese speaking country, and I got by with a translation app, lots of smiles and gestures, a heartfelt "obrigada", and the occasional colleague who could translate for me. People were kind and friendly and quite patient with me. If you can speak Spanish, you can get by; they are similar enough languages. 

I've never been to Brazil before, but something about the locale and people feels familiar. For instance, driving through Rio reminded me very much of Mumbai.

Rio on a rainy afternoon

Art in Atlanta airport

Not counting India (which is amazing for vegetarians and also pretty great for vegans), I found England to be surprisingly veg friendly. The Czech republic was the hardest for me. I think I lived on beer and fries for a couple weeks there.

If you're vegetarian or vegan, what have been the most and least veg-friendly travel locales you've been in?