I arrived early doors in Recife in some swim shorts, flip flops and a tshirt. I was at the hotel before I could check in, so why waste time waiting for the hours and minutes to pass by until check in time opened? There was no better way to make use to the time than leaving my baggage in storage and ordering an Uber to go straight to the beach.

I mean lets be honest, there aren’t many better decisions I have made in my entire life…at least not ones that I can think of.

There were two beaches I was recommended, one called Praia de Carneiros which was recommended by a lady I met on the plane on the way to Salvador, Amanda. She use to live in Recife and couldn’t speak highly enough of this beach. When I checked Google maps it was between 90 minutes – 2 hours away from the hotel. Having been up since 3am and taken a flight which took less time than it would’ve taken to get to Praia de Carneiros, I went with the second option which was recommended by the hotel, Praia Porto de Galinhas. It took around 45 minutes in an Uber. If I had a spare day or two, I might have felt more inclined to go to Praia de Carneiros as well.

The two beaches are apparently the most popular in the Pernambuco state. I was shown a brochure of the Praia Porto de Galinhas at the hotel, it looked good on first impression.

When I got there, I was in awe, the whole area was beautiful. It had its own little town, its own community with a large beach next to it. I spent the day there. Everything is in a secluded area. Let’s put it this way, if you ever felt like going somewhere to get away from the world, from society and finding peace, this would be the perfect place.

Before heading to the beach I decided to try tapioca (another recommendation from Amanda). Tapioca is a crepe made from tapioca flour. It’s similar to a pancake when you’re cooking it, although once you put the filling in and fold it, it’s like a thinner version of a cornish pasty, or for the Lebanese family reading this, you could say it’s like Brazil’s version of a manakish. You can have savoury and dessert options with this. While I was in Recife, I lived off tapioca, it was one of my favourite things to eat  along with the acaraje I had in Salvador.

I spent around 5-6 hours in the Porto de Galinhas area. Walking around the small town, and going along the beach. The town resembles a mini version of a village.

After finishing at the beach I went for more tapioca. I couldn’t get enough of the stuff. I wanted to try as many different flavours as possible. I’d get the opportunity for more when I got the chance to venture into Olinda.

Now comes the moment when I fear I might not get back to the hotel. I find a pizza place that has Wi-Fi, order an Uber, and the driver cancels on me. Fine, I tried again and I got given the same driver.  Despite arranging the pickup location nearer to where he was situated. I walked to find the car, I couldn’t see it. I couldn’t check my phone because there was no Wi-Fi. I found out when I get back to the pizza place to check the fare that it got cancelled again!

Afterwards Uber nearly doubled the fare for the journey (for those who don’t know Uber charges based on demand). For about an hour I play a risky game of chicken with Uber in the hope I get the fare I want. Eventually the fare goes just under what the original journey costs so I quickly request one. I walk a good 5 – 10 minutes to meet the driver (after waiting 20 minutes because he was in the middle of another fare). Despite getting lost along the way, I found the car and could breathe a huge sigh of relief that I would get back…eventually!

The main reason I booked Recife was to see Olinda. I spent the day there. Olinda is a small place around 10 miles north of Recife. The population covers over 40,000 square km, and has a population of 9 inhabitants per square km.

I took the bus as it wasn’t far according to Google maps. I followed the instructions of reception to a tee. What they didn’t tell me was that I’d need to change buses at some point. There was an old man at the bus stop who told me this. We got on the bus and he stayed with me as he had to get off the same stop. As it was rush hour it took a while to get to the stop where I would catch the second bus.

During the journey there was a torrential downpour. I was in flip flops, shorts and a t shirt so it wasn’t looking good. People sitting next to the windows rushed to get them shut and the driver, while during traffic got up to close the rooftop. I don’t know if somebody was looking over me, but as soon as I got off the bus, the rain stopped straight away and the blue skies made an appearance. You couldn’t time it any better if you tried.

The nice old man stayed with me until my bus came and explained how long I should stay on and where I should get off. I understood bits and pieces of what he was saying. The second journey didn’t take long. As I’m about to ask how far away we are, the ticket person figured out I was going to Olinda and told me to get off and pointed to where I needed to go.It still amazes me how nice Brazilian people are!

Olinda is a beautiful little place to walk around. It’s like another world. Sometimes you forget that the Recife is down the road. If you’re in Olinda, the place to go to is Alto da Se. This is located at the top of Olinda where you can get a panoramic view of the area and see Recife from afar.

I was told the previous day by someone on Praia Porto de Galinhas that I could get the best tapioca up on Alto de Se. Of course upon hearing this I was going to test this theory out. I tried three different tapiocas and yes it was better. Usually I tend not to listen to hype, but anything that’s been suggested to me by the locals hasn’t disappointed so far. It was better than the ones I had at Porto de Galinhas, I couldn’t tell you why or how it was better. Clearly, people in Olinda have some sort of magical recipe which makes their tapiocas that damn good.

In order to get to Alto da Se you to walk up this ridiculously steep hill. Sure enough the first time I walked up it, I had a bottle of water to keep myself hydrated so it wasn’t all bad. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. It’s hard to describe what it was like. It’s one of those things where you have to be there to appreciate it.

I walked back down to have a look around. Before heading back up to Alto da Se I went to the tourist information centre and was given suggestions on places to see. I went around (without getting lost this time), and finished everything I wanted to do early. I had so much time to kill, I didn’t want to waste it going back to the hotel. I went to a nearby beach and saw a sign warning us that it was shark infested. Needless to say I left!

I did the dreaded walk back up to Alto da Se. Now just to be clear you could get a taxi but looking at the roads and the way I’ve seen people drive here, I wouldn’t have felt comfortable getting one. Half way up walking I realised I could’ve looked around on the bottom part of Olinda first before going to Alto da Se and save myself an extra trip. I don’t intentionally try to make things hard for myself but it always seems to play out like that. Mind you it was worth it.

The best view you can get is by going up a lift to the top of a building. It’s R$8 to use the lift and you can spend as long as you like on the up there. The only reason I went there was because I saw a sign for it. The sign wasn’t positioned in a good place for people to see it. I saw it by chance, the entrance to the lift was in an obscure place. This for me was the best way to see everything, I got there at a good time. I took all the pictures I wanted before it got busy. I looked back and couldn’t believe how things were falling into place.

Taking the advice from the tourist information centre I took a bus that they said should take me near the hotel. Having consulted the ticket person, he said it didn’t. The only thing I could think of doing was getting off at the same changeover and getting the bus I originally got. I got off what I thought was the changeover stop, and there I saw the bus I needed straight away. I didn’t catch it in time, but I was relieved that I was at least at the right place.

10 minutes later I’m on the bus, I showed the ticket person the address of the hotel because I couldn’t remember where I got on earlier. Along with one of the passengers they kept an eye out for my stop, and gave me directions. It all seemed so easy.

Somehow I got lost on the way back, I thought I was going where I was told. I asked someone if they knew the address, they didn’t know. A couple passed by us and she got their attention. The guy Google mapped the address, and he let me take a couple of photos of his Google maps so I could follow the directions. I wasn’t far away, but when you’re a foreigner in a country where you don’t speak the language and you’re lost, everywhere seems far away!

Recife and Olinda are both worth a visit. If you wanted to take your time here, you could spend 3 or 4 days. As I mentioned before I wanted to see Olinda, and I wasn’t disappointed by what I saw. If you’re going to visit, make sure you have lots of tapioca!

My verdict on the following tapiocas: