Blogs from Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, South America - page 3

I'm sure you know I am not still in Brazil. What I am is very late in getting the rest of my blogs out. No more excuses. The first week of November, and the last of the trip, was spent in Salvador de Bahia. It is a lovely city of about 3 million and the 3rd largest in Brazil. It was a one hour flight north of Rio, and yes, it was still punishingly hot. The city was founded by the Portugese in 1535 and was the capital of Brazil from 1547-1763. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1985. The city sits on a peninsula at the mouth of the Bay of All Saints. Fairly close to the shore is the circular fort of São Marcelo, originally built of wood in 1624, but ... read more

SALVADOR FRIDAY 13.2.2015 Internet being just about non existent for the last five days, long delays when logging in so kept clear of it and at 75 cents a minute very precious, we do have 500 minutes free because of our status but that doesn't last long and would be equivalent of about 100 with our speed at home. Rearing to go after five days at sea! Early morning docking and to meet our guide from DoBrazilRight at 8.30a.m. Salvador being the capital of northeastern state of Brazil, Bahia. Docked in a huge big bay with three islands in the distance off Salvador. All you can see for miles is houses perched on the cliffs above the port. I had booked this tour before we left Melbourne as much cheaper and longer than the ship tours. ... read more

Salvador is proud to be the first capital of Brazil. In fact it was the capital of the Portuguese Empire from 1549 till 1815 when the capital was transferred to Rio de Janeiro. It was occupied by the Dutch (Piet Hein) in 1624 and 1625 when a Spanish-Portuguese fleet succeeded in recapturing the city and...the colony ! It played afterwards a key role in the Portuguese resistance against the Dutch. The Pelourinho is the historical center of Salvador, a UNESCO heritage site. It has been restored, only partially in my view. A few of the pics will tell you more. Coming from the South of Brazil, there are 2 things that struck me, the visible Portuguese heritage and the population melting pot with a strong African influence. The bay where Salvador is located (Bahia de Todos ... read more

BRAZIL! I had been dreaming of going for years. After the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, I had decided to make my dream come true in 2014: I would kill 2 birds with a …football! I’d get to visit Brazil and attend the most amazing football competition ever! Could I possibly throw in a bit of bicycle-touring on top of it all? Hell, why not?! Given my father’s love of the beautiful game, I could not go to Brazil without him. And so the 2 of us landed in Salvador, Bahia, at the beginning of May, a month before the start of the World Cup. We would buy 2 bikes in Salvador, cycle down the coast of Bahia for a month, then sell the bikes (if possible) and make it to Sao Paulo just ... read more

We arrived via plane from Rio De Janerio in the afternoon, taking a bus from the airport to the Barra district where we were staying. It was hot! Which is what we came for after some disappointing weather in Rio. The buses were very busy, standing room only, not ideal carting around half your possessions in bags but people were helpful and friendly and helped us get to our destination arriving just after sunset. There was a buzz about the place even though this was in the quieter part of town near the beaches. We heard that Tuesday was the night to go out so got some half recent clothes on and got a taxi up to the main square, Praca de Jesus, a stunning old square flanked either side by beautiful old buildings. We lucked ... read more