Salvador de Bahia

Here is a wrap up of the five days that I spent in Salvador, Brazil:

On the Saturday that we arrived (9/10), we had a pre-port meeting in the union at around 8:30, and then the ships crew handed out our passports and we were free to go. I met up with two other guys and we took a walk around the old historic center of Salvador.

 Salvador is divided into a lower and upper section; the boat dock was in the lower section, but the upper city is much bigger and has most of the old buildings, restaurants and markets. To get to the upper city you had to either take a taxi or ride a large city elevator, which only cost five cents. After we finally found an ATM and got some Brazilian currency (reais), we found a small local restaurant to have lunch. The traditional Bahian (state of Brazil where Salvador is located) food consisted of several different kinds of meats, rice, beans, tomatoes and carrots. We all enjoyed the meal and it only cost us 54 reais total (one USD is worth about 1.7 reais).

View of the lower city

Elevator connecting the lower and upper city

After the meal I went back to the ship because I had a walking tour at 1:30. The tour lasted for three hours, and we walked around a lot of the area that I had explored earlier in the day, but it was nice to get some information about the various buildings and streets. After the walking tour I had lunch on the ship, and then from eight until midnight I was scheduled to go to the welcome reception.  The reception was about 20 minutes away on the north side of the city, and we had about 5 or 6 large tour buses shuttling us to and from the event.

Everyone, including me, raved about how much fun the reception was. It was set up in a large tent with grandstands and a stage. When we got there they had Brazilian performers doing Capoeira, a traditional mix of martial arts and dancing. There were free snacks and free Brazilian beer as well. Some people sat in the stands, but there was a large floor where most of us stood with our beers and watched the action. The next act was a short acrobatic performance, and then about a dozen drummers took the stage and started playing some traditional dancing music. There were several dancers near the stage showing students some new moves, and pretty soon we all got into the dancing mood (including a few of the teachers). The dancing lasted for at least an hour, and we were all tired out by the time the busses came to pick us up.

The old harbor in Salvador

Day 2
On Monday I had a Semester at Sea trip from eight in the morning until around five. We took an hour long ferry to an island in All Saints Bay (the second largest bay in the world). The island was only reachable by private ferry, and most of it was protected forest area, so there were only a few houses and small shops set up on the beach. We had over two hours at that island, and while there I visited an old church that was on a hill overlooking the beach area. I went with Henry, who is a student from Babson (in Boston), to climb a hill on the opposite side of the beach, and we got some great pictures of the island. The tour then went to Itaparica Island, the largest in All Saints Bay, which is home to about 25,000 full time residents and many summer homes. There we had lunch and then a tour of the town, which was beautiful. Because of the tides, the ferry ride back took us almost two hours. I had dinner on the boat again, and then I went out with Henry and two other kids from SAS to some bars in Baha, the nice beach area of Salvador.

Island in All Saints Bay...wish I knew the name!

Lunch on Itaparica Island

Hangin on Itaparica

Leaving Itaparica

Day 3

On Tuesday I did not have any trips planned through SAS, so I did not have to get up early. I decided to catch up on some sleep and then eat lunch on the boat. Henry and his friend Justin (also from Babson) were on an SAS trip that morning, but when they got done we met up for lunch. Afterwards we took a taxi to Baha and went to the beach. After hanging out at the beach for an hour our two we walked around the area and stopped at a restaurant for a small meal. We took a taxi back to the ship and then got a group of about ten of us to head out to the historic center of the city. On Tuesday nights they have musical performers in one of the old historic squares, with tables and street vendors. We listened to the music for awhile and then went to a bar owned by an American born woman several blocks away. After spending some time there we all headed back to the ship.

From left to right, Henry, Robb, and JR

Notice Obama?

The old city, a UNESCO World Heritage site

Day 4

The next day I also had free, so I went with Henry and a girl from Colorado to the old upper city again. We took a tour of one of the historic churches and the Sao Francisco Convent. After the tour we walked to a local market and did a little shopping (although I was running out of cash since my ATM did not work). At the market we got some drinks and sat down at a table to relax for awhile. We walked back to the ship in time for dinner, and then we went with a large group of SAS kids to a restaurant to watch a world cup qualifier between Brazil and Bolivia. Henry, Justin and I just had drinks at the bar, and we were a little disappointed in the atmosphere – the game ended up in a 0-0 tie, and I think Brazil was already guaranteed a spot, so it didn’t mean that much for them. After the match ended everyone headed back to the ship (the taxi service provided a large bus for transportation).

Heart of the old town

MV at port in Salvador

Day 5

On my last day in Brazil (9/12) I had an FDP (Faculty Directed Practica) to a farming community and a town outside of Salvador. The FDP started at 8:30 in the morning and lasted until 5:30, and on-ship time was 6:00, so it took up the whole day. We first rode a bus to a town about an hour and a half outside of the city and visited the local market. Then we drove to a farming community where poor farmers had recently seized the land and were growing all of their own food (and selling some at the market).

 We drove to the town of Cachoeira, where we had lunch at a nice hotel. There was so much food that everyone left stuffed, and then we had to do a walking tour of the area. We visited a tobacco facility where they produced cigars (they had some to purchase but I decided to pass on them). After the tour we got back onto the bus and headed to Salvador, which was around a two hour drive. When the ship had been cleared and all the students were safely back on the ship, we left the port and began the trip across the Atlantic to Namibia.

Market in a small town outside of Salvador

Salvador harbor at sunset