Blogs from Porto Seguro, Bahia, Brazil, South America

We followed a small unpaved road to Caraiva, a remote rustic village in southern Bahia. We had to get the ponchos out many times but we also got to see a rainbow in the cloudy sky. In order to reach the village, we first had to get a boat across Rio Caraiva. And then? No roads, no cars, just 2 sandy alleys with a couple of shops held by hippies (and they only got electricity in 2007!) and a long-deserted beach… We rode our bikes to the indigenous Pataxo village and camped on the way (although we shouldn’t have…). This was the last leg of our biking trip in Bahia. In the end my Dad and I made a list of things we liked about our cycling adventure in Brazil. Obviously we loved it! We only ... read more

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