Macéo (English)

When we left Jacaré, we had no intentions of stopping along the way but we used up our entire diesel reserve since there was no wind. So we decided to stop at Macéo to fill up. We didn’t regret it! The yacht club lets us use a mooring, the showers, the internet and the water free for two or three days and everybody is very helpful. The fisherman will give you a ride to the shore and back for a few bucks or the dinghy can be left inside the wall of the yacht club. The fishing village next to the club is a place were one should be careful. Like in the rest of Brazil, this is a good example of the very rich next to the very poor. On one side of the street, a bank employee is going to work dressed in a suit and on the other, a fisherman’s wife is washing clothing in hole filled with water in a parking lot. Actually, here is a story about the fishing village:

Once upon a time, two sailors that needed to fill their diesel tank by going back in forth to the gas station with jerry cans were waiting for traffic to stop so they could cross the street in front of the fishing village and the yacht club. One the other side of the street, in the village, a man and a woman were exchanging loud words. The navigators didn’t speak the language well enough to know exactly what they were saying but could guess it wasn’t luvy duvy stuff. Then, the woman who’s arm had been hiding behind a wall until then, pull the arm out to show the man she had a machete and was ready to use it. In return, he picked up a rock and shouted something back while waving the rock above his head. She yelled back showing the machete again and he yelled with the rock again. This went on for a few more minutes until a third party showed up and calmed both of them down. He seemed to be use to it.. All the while, the female sailor who notices all that was going on wasn’t too exited about crossing the street. But he, who was too busy trying to get the buggy with the jerry cans down from the sidewalk to the street to notice the weapons, crossed the street and passed in the middle of the two completely oblivious. It’s nice to not always notice everything! In case you are wondering, the sailors were Gaston and I.

We did meet less dangerous people. In the small food buffet restaurant that was close by, the owner would come up to us everyday to show us what we absolutely had to try on that day. While on the way to finding restaurants on a Sunday were everything was closed, we ended up in the practice hall of a percussions band. The teenagers were nice enough to give us a tour. In return, we bought a couple of T-Shirts. When we left Macéo, we notice that the wind could be found near the shore. By staying close, we had wind all the way to Salvador.