It took us long days and many miles to arrive in Brasilia, the modern capital of Brazil. From Brasilia, there were yet 50 more kilometres to travel. This time, we were visiting a community in the middle of the Cerrado’s* heart called Ananda Vasundhara. The community belongs to a social, economic and spiritual movement named [...]

An even prettier view from up there!
Our journey with the spirit of adventure continued into Bahia to its geographical center: the Diamantina Tableland (Chapada Diamantina). In order to arrive there, we followed the banks of the river system Rio de Contas in reverse – from its mouth to its spring –, on seemingly never-ending bus [...]

“There were piles of white seeds where honey leaked from”. Jorge Amado

When we came back to the cocoa plantation, there were piles of the yellow fruit waiting to be opened and we were all set to open them up – one by one… Actually, we discovered that Domingos had already done that. We were lacking [...]

“In the South of Bahia, cocoa is the only name that sounds right. The farms are beautiful when loaded with the yellow fruits. The feudal barons look at the horizons at the start of every year and forecast the weather and the harvest”.
Jorge Amado (1912-2001)

The Brazilian acclaimed Modernist novel ‘Cacao’ was Jorge Amado’s [...]

It was six in the morning on our second day. With our work clothes on: a pair of shorts, a t-shirt and flip-flops, our first mission was to make a no-dig vegetable garden , re-using and re-cycling everything we needed. As the soil was sandy and infertile, we prepared a wooden [...]

One of the idealizers of Piracanga, Gabriel Loomans, explains that the alternative building constructions make use of materials sourced from the area. One of these materials is the piaçava fibres coming from palms used to fabricate the roofs.  Making these decisions has also given uniformity to the look of the community.  Another [...]

It is spring in Brazil. We are in Bahia, Northeast. It is hot here, very hot. We have been traveling for the past two days after leaving São Paulo with four rucksacks between the two of us. Besides clothes and a lot of expectations, we brought along the necessary equipment to be [...]

We, EarthCode adventurers, have been traveling for the past 9 months. From August 2009 to April 2010, we visited some incredible communities and ecovillages throughout South America. For now it is time to settle down in tropical North Queensland, Australia. We have a lot of work to do… In order to write, edit video and [...]

After residing with the members of the indigenous tribe Tenondé Porã, located in the far South of São Paulo city, we realized that the vital information gathered certified us of beautiful and sustainable aspects within this community: true elements of genuine and timeless indigenous culture.
Following the philosophy of the Native American Iroquois Confederacy, in which [...]

São Paulo city shelters a population of more than 11 million people that collectively generate approximately 9,500 tonnes of domestic waste on a daily basis. Only 1.18% of this total is recycled. According to the department of urban cleaning, LIMPURB, 7% of all recyclable material is collected, a mere 41,000 tonnes a year.
Along with the [...]

The community Parque do Gato (the Cat’s park) has faced many changes since it was born as a favela, in 1975. Thanks to the debris of wood and nails left behind by the general São Paulo population, the favela was first spawned and built, before it turned into a dweller’s community in 2004. Now, a [...]