Coffee, Sand and a Redeemer - Welcome to Brazil

Brazil has a split personality when it comes to a traveler’s budget. Our flight to Sao Paulo brought with it $50 rooms (triple our normal lodging budget) which have become the norm for the rest of our stay here. Transportation completes the double financial whammy with day long bus rides costing around $40 and overnight rides as high as $85. On top of all this, Brazil also welcomes you with an Americans only visa fee of $135; in the Brazilian’s defense it is a ‘reciprocal’ fee of what we charge them so there is not much room to complain! The saving grace, besides the beautiful sites and people, is that food here is dirt cheap, like India cheap. Our daily budget for food and drink is sub $10 with the potential of being the most affordable country on our trip when it comes to filling our stomachs.

With our heads adjusted to this new country (and continent) we left Sao Paulo after two days and headed inland 5 hours by bus to the countryside village of Carmo de Minas. A former manager of mine, Victor, is married to a wonderful Brazilian, Maria, and we were lucky enough to be able to visit Maria’s family for a few days during our trip. To make things sweeter, it should be noted that Maria’s family, the Chaib’s, are sixth generation coffee farmers and above all, wonderful people with sitcom like humor.

We arrived to the regional hub of Sao Laurencao on a Monday evening and were welcomed by Maria’s brother, Pedro. Immediately we felt like we were visiting old friends as Pedro gave us a quick tour of their small hometown village and drove us to the Chaib household. There we were welcomed by Pedro’s parents, Marly and Ibraim, as well as his sisters, Nazira and Dinha. Marly had prepared a welcome meal for us and we immediately felt at home as we attempted to polish up our Portuguese over a delicious meal.

We had three nights in Carmo de Minas and would be staying at the Chaib coffee ‘farm’. The family owns the home in the village where they live but also have a second home or farm house 5 kilometers outside of town on the coffee plantation. Pedro drove us out that first night and we were filled with excitement as we wound down dirt roads over hills and through fields to arrive at the farm. We were welcomed by the guard dog, Nero, who is a Brazilian Fila (cross between a mastiff/bloodhound/bulldog) and would act as our housemate for our stay. The farm consists of a house and multiple buildings with coffee equipment, a woodshop, silo, lab and stable complete with horses and cows wandering about. The home itself has 3 bedrooms and Colleen and I settled in quite comfortably.

Our days at the farm were spent learning about the coffee industry and what goes into running a successful coffee plantation (the Chaib’s coffee has won awards beating out all other farms in a country that produces more coffee than any other in the world). Ibraim took us out in his vintage Gurgel automobile into the plantation fields and showed us how they plant, maintain (he jokingly put us to work cutting weeds) and harvest the beans. Ibraim kept me constantly entertained with his sense of humor as he polished his English and I attempted to speak my blend of Spanish influenced Portuguese. Pedro showed us around the various buildings and demonstrated how they dehusk, sort and transport the beans to the local co-op where they are then rated for quality and stored until sale. On the final day we even sorted our own batch of beans, then roasted them for the coffee we drank (yes we, Colleen even sampled!) for breakfast on our final day. I must again mention the delicious food we had at the farm! Each morning we had fresh baked bread cooked on a woodburing stove, fresh made cheese, fruits, yogurt and Marly’s famous granola. Lunches are the big meal each day in Brazil and we would head back into the village around noon for a large sit-down meal. I can say with certainty that we have not eaten better on our trip!

We could not have asked for more welcoming hosts and a more unique experience than we had at Carmo de Minas. On top of all this we learned so much about an industry that I had never took enough time to really think about (how the coffee I drink every day gets into my cup?). We hope some day to have a return visit to the farm but hopefully before then we can repay the Chaib’s hospitality stateside and welcome them into our home.

On a Saturday morning we waved goodbye to the Chaib’s and hopped on a bus headed for Rio de Janeiro. 6 hours later we arrived at a slightly chaotic bus station, hopped a cab to a cable car, and after an hour and a half of riding the wrong line, finally arrived at our guesthouse. We have heard from multiple travelers that Rio is the most beautiful city in the world and while it was attractive, San Francisco still holds that honor in my eyes. We stayed for 4 days in the hills in the artist neighborhood of Santa Teresa where we had a mini apartment to cook meals and enjoyed a Brazilian beer or two at local cafes. We took day trips to both Copacabana and Ipanema beaches; they were both beautiful and lined with the urban landscape as a back drop. We also discovered that people at the beaches, and Rio streets for that matter, tend to lean toward ‘less is more’ when it comes to clothes and swimsuits. We also spent a very hot long day at Christ the Redeemer. The lines were quite long for the tram ride to the top and it turned into one of the more expensive sites we have visited on the trip. Colleen questioned whether the long wait and crowded viewpoint (it was a Sunday) were worth the trip but I disagree. The view from 700 meters above the streets and beaches is inspiring and it gives you a full view of the metropolis. It is a must do when visiting Rio and if you can get past the hordes of people posing like JC in front of the statue for pictures, it makes for a worthwhile afternoon break up out of the city.