Blogs from Porto Seguro, Bahia, Brazil, South America

Hello again!!! Another update from Porto Seguro, Bahia! I haven´t posted in a while because, to be honest, I haven´t gotten up to all that much in the last two weeks. After Lençois I took a bus back to Salvador, where I changed hostel location to the Rio Vermelho (Red River) area. My Brazilian buddy Fabio was there and I decided to chill with him there. That night I also met up with Anna, my Australian friend, and her couchsurf host Lorena. We had a good party and the next day we went to the beach for a swim. The next day Anna and I were going to go to Itacare, a few hours down from Salvador, but it was getting a bit late and Anna and Lorena convinced me to crash there for the night ... read more

After spending two nights in the most boring hostel I've ever been to, I realised that this wasn't the place for me. The city itself is dead during the night, and all hostels, hotels and pousadas are located outside the city. I can understand why, because the beaches of Porto Seguro itself are horrible. But stil, a 45 minute and R$ 3,50 bus ride to get to the hostel seemed a bit too much. There are a few little villages, and the hostel I was in, HI Maracaia, was located in Coroa Vermelha. Nothing bad about the beaches, you can't complain about something like this. There was a supermarket closeby, the beach just 5 minutes away, but for me it lacked something important. Life. Especially during the night there was nothing happening. And I'm talking about ... read more

The following day we left Jacuma, armed with half a cake that we couldn´t resist buying from a little cake store before we left. We caught the bus to Joao Pessoa where we ended up waiting in the bus station for the rest of the day, while armed guards seemed to be running around the place, until it was time to board our night bus to the city of Salvador. Salvador was a city that from the early planning stages we both wanted to see, but having been to many cities we were worried about it due to the constant fear of muggings etc. Luckily on arrival we were able to get a bus to the Pelourinho (the old colonial city) which instantly felt much safer due to a large tourist presence and the police to ... read more

We had a bit of a torrid time leaving Itacare for Trancoso. The easiest way was going to be on a touristy minibus but there were never enough people wanting to make the journey. Instead we ended up on public transport which involved one bus to Ilheus then another to Porto Seguro. We had to stay in Porto Seguro overnight which wasn’t too bad. At the bus station we had been told that nothing around the port area was open but we found a nice pousada and the promenade area was very lively, especially on “Pasarela Alcool”, the street with all the bars on it! The next morning we took a ferry from Porto Seguro to Arraial D’Ajuda. It was only a 10 minute crossing and we were met by a bus to take us to ... read more

If you are not one of our family and friends, we would be really interested to know how you found our blog - please email us at olarse@hotmail.com - many thanks! (P) Due to a long-standing arrangement with my schoolfriends, I left the balmy climes of Rio de Janeiro for London (raining upon arrival, surprise!), enroute for a week in Villa Linda in Punta Prima, Menorca, to drown our sorrows or jointly celebrate the first 30 years of our lives, depending on your outlook. An overnight stop followed at Ramona’s London penthouse overlooking the Thames (I never realised there was so much river traffic, and when the tide goes out there is even an - albeit grey - beach of sorts!). Read my full entry below. (N) Monday 9th July - the crew of the overnight ... read more