Feb 18, 2013 - Fortaleza

Fortaleza is a rather typical Brazilian city of 2.5 million people that has no particular interest to the average visitor. With the temperature in the low 80’s the crowded streets and sheer numbers of people meant we only walked around the streets and markets for about four hours. The Cathedral is unusual in that it was started in 1939 and completed in 1974. It has none of the gold and adornments of most of Brazils Cathedrals. The central market was huge, had no air conditioning and the temperature was over 100f.under its metal roof. The...

Feb 15, 2013 - Salvador de Bahia

A pleasant sail along the coast to Salvador de Bahia where Amerigo Vespucci landed in 1501. Salvador eventually became the colonial capital of the area which prospered with the planting of sugar cane. The indigenous population were used as enslaved workers and when they died out due to European disease and over work slaves were brought from Africa. The population today is still largely of African descent. The town is divided into a lower and an upper area with an elevator joining them. The historic area which we mainly visited is in the...

Feb 15, 2013 - Salvador da Bahia

After a day at sea we are in Salvador da Bahia. The third largest city in Brazil it has a predominantly Black African population which is evident everywhere in the Music and art. Pelourinho is the historical centre and a UNESCO world heritage Site. There are many colorful buildings and narrow streets that date from the 17th though 19th century. Although the Carnival is over there is a very festive air about the town and we enjoyed a very pleasant day wandering with, of course, the usual beer stops. The temperature got up to 30c / 87f so we...

Sep 26, 2012 - Chapada Diamantina

Nous pensions maintenant remonter la côte. Mais, plusieurs personnes nous ont conseillé de passer par le parc national de la Chapada Diamantina. Nous sommes donc tout d'abord allés à Lençois une charmante petite ville au pied des montagnes. De là, nous avons trouvé un guide pour partir en trek durant 4 jours dans le parc national. Ce n'est plus comme en Argentine et au Chili où les chemins sont bien tracés dans les parcs, ici ils ne sont pas indiqués alors il est fortement conseillé de partir avec un guide. Notre guide, Edisson, nous a donc...

Sep 21, 2012 - Salvador

Après 30h de bus depuis Rio et environ 7 films en portugais, je peux maintenant bien comprendre et ai un peu plus de vocabulaire, c'est magique ! Heureusement, cela nous a bien aidé pour communiquer avec Tiago notre couchsurfeur et sa maman. Ils habitent à Cajazeiras un quartier pauvre dans la périphérie de la ville qui compte environ 500'000 habitants et font chaque jour entre une et deux heures de bus pour se rendre au centre ville. Les Brésiliens sont super patients et courageux. Dans toutes les grandes villes, enfin toutes les villes...

Feb 11, 2012 - Salvador, Itapoan

13th February We don't really want to leave but we have to drive back to the airport at Montevideo for our flight to Salvador, Brazil via Sao Paulo. All goes smoothly with our TAM flights and we arrive at our hotel Pousada Encanto de Itapoan around 9 in the evening. Itapoa is a beach suburb of Salvador but takes around 35 minutes by taxi to get to the centre from here. This area doesn't see many tourists. Out for a quick pizza and home for an early night. We stayed here on our last trip to Brazil and it's pretty much as we remember. However...

Feb 10, 2012 - Salvador & Morro de Sao Paulo - Pre-Carnival

The day before we set off to Salvador the BBC reported that the police had gone on strike and murders had 'increased dramatically'. Perfect. I was confident that some cockney charm would get us out of any difficult situation. The place certainly had a feel to it as it had been under curfew for 2 nights and was oddly quiet for a Friday night when we ventured out. We had a good night all the same, although the 10 bed dormitory is not on my list of 10 Most Romantic Hotel Rooms, and left the next morning for the lovely island of Morro del Sao...

Dec 13, 2011 - Salvador

Hi All, So with a week left of my travels I decided I should spend some time in a couple of the famous Brazilian cities. I left Morro de Sao Paulo yesterday morning and arrived back in Salvador. After checking in to my hostel I went for a walk to the Pelourinho (Pelo), the historic centre of Salvador and a UNESCO Heritage site since 1985. The Pelo is made up of plenty of historic buildings and colonial architecture and old cobbled streets. Yesterday evening I met a Scottish girl called Christine and after dinner we went for a walk to see...

Dec 11, 2011 - Morro De Sao Paulo

Ola, After leaving Praia do Forte on Thursday I took a boat to Morro De Sao Paulo a small village on Ilhe de Tinhare. Friday was spent enjoying a day on one of the beaches near the hostel and swimming in the lovely clear water. Yesterday was slightly more energetic as I took a boat trip round the island which stopped at an offshore coral reef which had created a lovely little rock pool which was nice and shallow for snorkelling. We then stopped for lunch and again at Cairu, a historical village that was very pretty (even if I couldn´t...

Nov 29, 2011 - upstairs downstairs

Back in the day when it was OK to come to a new continent, force the locals to become Catholics, build large sugar plantations with slave labor and make money exploiting everyone with darker skin than yours, Salvador Bahia was a city with riches that rivaled the capitals of Europe. In 1776 it was the largest city in the Americas. You did have to run the risk of being eaten by the local cannibals, but there was big money to be made. Once this approach to life was no longer acceptable, there were few left with sufficient funds to maintain the...

Mar 6, 2011 - Crossing the Line/Salvador da Bahia

After sailing away from Africa, and passed the Canary and Cape Verde Islands, we were off to the Equator. David said he could not believe how I could get off in places that I had not been to for years, know exactly what streets to walk up to find something, what metro lines to take, to get places and just know cities like I had been there last week---------BUT put me on the ship and I didn't have a clue where anything was---------(Like I never wanted to be a sailor). I was always getting off the elevator and going the wrong way------so he...

Jan 22, 2011 - Road Scholar Music Makers

Road Scholar Music Makers To welcome new members into our group, Valerie hosts a Welcome Party which was held last night. A few of the ship’s officers attend and we have champagne/soft drinks and canapés and get to know each other better. On the last trip Valerie always managed to pass out little gifts that were fun and unique to the area we visited: animal bookmarks in Kenya, good luck pieces for Chinese New Year, chop sticks in Hong Kong. Last night was no exception. Everyone got a nose whistle. It takes special skill to master the...