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 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...

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...

Jan 21, 2011 - Salvador

Friday, January 21, 2011 Discovery would be in Salvador for only a half day which meant an early 7:30 am start to see as much as possible before we sail for Rio de Janeiro at noon. Many large ships were visible as we arrived in Salvador. An African woman in a traditional costume was handing out colored ribbons to tie on our wrists. We would find out from our guide Simone that each color represents a different African god or goddess. We need to make three wishes for the three knots that tied the ribbons to our wrists. When the ribbon breaks,...

Jul 4, 2010 - The great decision to head north .....

Everything was looking promising, Brazil had just won and we were hit by a wall of heat when we stepped off the plane at Salvador airport. There were a few drops of rain on the bus journey to the hostel, but nothing too alarming. Upon arrival we were greeted by a full hostel in party mood after the game, and also an upgrade to a private room .... so far so good. Or so we thought. Those few drops turned into a constant torrent of torrential rain for the next four days, we were not happy ..... Despite the rain we tried to be positive and...

Jun 3, 2010 - Salvador

June 3rd Up early (4,15!!!) for 5,20 bus to Rio (4,5 hours), then plane to Salvador June 4th Decided to make the most of some decent sunshine (finally) and conserve cash for our last stop so had a pool day. June 5th Tour of the city, taking in all the major sights