Beach Escapes from Salvador

After all the excitement of our arrival to Brazil and first day in Salvador, we decided it was time to check out the Bahian beaches and relax for couple of days before heading further to the Iguacu Falls and Rio.

We planned our first day-trip to a little further up the coast from Salvador - to Praia do Forte, a very nice, pedestrian-only walkway with cute little shops, cozy restaurants, bars and boutiques.

From S AMERICA - BRAZIL - Salvador

Not too long ago, this place was a small fishermen´s village off the beaten track. Until the Tamar Turtle conservation project was started, an ecological initiative meant to protect the sea turtles which come ashore to lay their eggs. Unfortunately we were not lucky enough to see tiny turtles leaving their eggs, but have learned something about the various kinds of sea turtles swimming around in the pools.

From S AMERICA - BRAZIL - Salvador

As the weather became rainy in the afternoon, we had to wait with our first swim in the ocean until the following day... Nevertheless, we enjoyed our time at the beach-side by playing with falling coconuts...

From S AMERICA - BRAZIL - Salvador

... and exploring Bahian food specialities (sea food plate):

From S AMERICA - BRAZIL - Salvador

The next day we woke up on a nice sunny weather and immediately decided to take the ferry from Salvador to the beautiful Island of Itaparica.

From S AMERICA - BRAZIL - Salvador

White-sand beaches and warm water, we found the right place for perfect relaxation to spend a lazy day at, just enjoying the sunshine and swimming in the ocean... recharging ourselves with new energy for our next adventures - Iguacu Falls!

From S AMERICA - BRAZIL - Salvador

Our full photo album on Bahia (Salvador and Beach escapes)

Salvador de Bahia

After a long flight we arrived a little bit tired, but full of excitement and expectations to Salvador de Bahia.

Following some rest in our hotel's pool...

From S AMERICA - BRAZIL - Salvador

... we headed off to explore the downtown and  historic area of Salvador. Very specific to Salvador is that the downtown area is divided into:

• a lower city

From S AMERICA - BRAZIL - Salvador

• and an upper city

From S AMERICA - BRAZIL - Salvador

• linked by the Lacerna elevator

From S AMERICA - BRAZIL - Salvador

We started our sightseeing in the lower city wondering between the stalls of the Mercado Modelo, something like a great bazar of Salvador, where we found a lot of very nice handicrafts and souvenirs:

From S AMERICA - BRAZIL - Salvador

As the weather started to clear, we took the elevator up to the historic centre called Pelourinho, a UNESCO site. 

From S AMERICA - BRAZIL - Salvador

Pelourinho is extremely rich in historical monuments dating from the 17th through the 19th centuries, Salvador being the first colonial capital of Brazil and the city is one of the oldest in the "New World".

From S AMERICA - BRAZIL - Salvador

We found Pelourinho to be an area full of life and very colourful

From S AMERICA - BRAZIL - Salvador

with a very live musical culture which we exprerienced first hand when meeting the famous band OLODUM

From S AMERICA - BRAZIL - Salvador

...well known from their collaboration with Michael Jackson✝for the hit "They Don't Care About Us", filmed mostly here in Pelourinho:


In the meantime the younger generation was practicing with heart and soul on the streets:

From S AMERICA - BRAZIL - Salvador

Walking the streets of Salvador, everywhere we met friendly and smiling people making the colorful streets of Salvador even more colorful:

From S AMERICA - BRAZIL - Salvador

The heart of the historic center is Largo de Pelourinho echoing the sounds of the drums being played everywhere...

From S AMERICA - BRAZIL - Salvador

On this square we had an amazing lunch of Bahian cuisine in the Senac restaurant which we can highly recommend if you are around (But more about that in a future blog entry about Brazilian food).

Of course Salvador is more than just the historic center of Pelourinho, so we decided to extend our perimeter and visit less known parts of the city as well, getting a glimpse of a different aspect of Bahian life, the one lived in the Favelas of the city:

From S AMERICA - BRAZIL - Salvador

After some days on the beaches around Salvador (see next post) we returned to Pelourinho at night for a  Bahian folk show:

From S AMERICA - BRAZIL - Salvador

The highlight of it being an amazing Capoeira show:

All pics and videos from Salvador