Blogs from Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, South America

Wasnt gonna write about Salvador because only here for one day as a way to get to Morro de Sao Paulo but has been an experience so can be a side blog. Dont have any photos of it either, as we were warned by soooo many people not to take cameras out, so we didnt! Got up early and got ready in 7 mins for the taxi to get to the airport, was tiny airport and us having an hour there was way more than we needed! So got another poo escapade; went to the loo towards the end of the flight and the air steward came into the toilet and told me to go back to my seat, i was like errrrrr........ So yeh it was locked, he unlocked it and hurried me up! Got ... read more

We left our beloved Bolivia into Brazil via a small town called Puerto Suarez. Probably not somewhere you would describe as a tourist resort as the supermarket was one of it’s main attractions!! It’s redeeming feature was that it was on The Pantanals, which are the largest wetlands in the world – about the size of Holland, Belgium and Portugal put together. The part we saw was the size of a little bit of northwest Albania. Your correspondent found that the best way to view the area was not by canoe or on foot or even horseback, no indeed, the best way was to sit at the elevated bar and drink cold beer while looking around. Some of my dear readers may scoff at such a method, but while sat there, we saw three giant otters ... read more

Never in my life have I been part of a better party than the one I experienced in Salvador for Carnaval. Never. I had originally planned to go to Rio for Carnaval; however, I ended up being invited to stay in Salvador with a friend whom I met back in 2010 on the tiny and mysterious speck of land that is Easter Island. It was one of those moments whereupon you meet someone and an instant friendship is formed. Thus, we have kept in touch in the interim and when Leandro discovered that I was returning to South America, he promptly invited me to come to his homeland in the Bahia region of Brazil and partake in the biggest party on the planet with him and his friends. Such an offer was simply too good to ... read more

Ash Thursday and we are in Salvador. Our first hours in Salvador though were spent in the airport because we had to make up for the money we spent to take a taxi, to switch airport in Sao Paulo, not to miss our flight. Early morning we took the bus and went to our hostel a small cute place with the most likeable staff. We couldn´t check in untill 1 so we went to Barra Shopping to spent more money. When we have finally checked in and started making our beds, Justine and Kiki entered the room and informed us about Carnaval happenings. We decided we were going to do Camarote with them so we went out again to get the money. Stef and me slept for a while coz we didn´t sleep enough at the ... read more

Brazilian beaches tour With plans to be in Salvador, Bahia for Carnival, my friend Mary and I needed to decide on a mode of transport. We wanted to relax and have everything taken care of for us, so when we came across the poster for ‘CruztheCoast’ in our hostel in Rio, our decision made itself. The tour offered is an 11 day tour of the coast of Brazil, beginning in Rio and finishing in Salvador. We quickly got in contact with the company and after paying a bargained R$1100 (including accommodation), myself, Mary and our new German travelling companion Till boarded the bus two days later. The rest of the travelling contingent was all native English speakers and with our Irish tour guide, Anne, we knew we could relax without translation concerns. First port of call ... read more

Hmm I’m not going to write much but you should be aware that this country is slightly overrated. First, the drop dead gorgeous people you are expecting to see probably don’t exist. Don’t get me wrong, you will find gorgeous folks in Brazil but the beauty is comparable to that of the US or Colombia. I walked off the plane assuming 99% of Brazilians are drop dead gorgeous and it took me a week to get over this shock. One thing though is that the Portuguese language is charming (yes more charming than Spanish). I only visited Rio de Janeiro and Salvador (Bahia). Both places are awesome however Salvador is richer in culture. The only crazy thing I did on this trip is to take a 31 hours bus ride from Rio to Salvador. I’ll never ... read more

Since, I have been in Brazil I have been annoyed at my lack of portuguese and my habit of speaking Japanese to the locals. So in an effort to rectify this and enhance my ability to mix with the Brazilians. Thus I decided to come up to Bahia where it is cheaper and spend the next two weeks studying portuguese. I study at the Escola Idioma. To my amazement the classes have been so fun and really the highlight of my days. I find it interesting to be a student and feel just what my students in Japan felt as I put them through their paces. It isn´t easy being in class where the instruction in a second language. However, portuguese is easier than japanese and I am doing better than I thought. The only downside ... read more