Day 13 – Salvador De Bahia

Drink of the Day – La Bamba

Today we finally set foot on terra firma, in Salvador De Bahia, Brazil, the largest country in South America. Salvador De Bahia, one of the first settlements established in South America, was the capital of Brazil between 1534 and 1763. At one time the city was a vital port for the slave market where the majority of African slaves entered Brazil. This has had a tremendous effect on the culture and food found in Salvador. We were surprised to see the variety of blended African and European cultures and foods when we toured the city.

We began our day with a tour of the city. The city is actually divided into two levels which can only be reached by steep San Francisco-like streets, a tram (which we never saw), or elevator. Our first stop was the Municipal Square where we could see the Baia se Todo os Santos (All Saints Bay) and the Lacerda Elevator which links the upper and lower city. We did get to ride the elevator down at the end of the day, after a lot of climbing up narrow cobblestone streets, to get back to our bus.

Walking through the historic portion of the city we were able to visit two magnificent churches, both filled with carvings and ornate ceilings covered in gold. The first church, Cathedral Basilica, was rather dull on the outside but absolutely beautiful on the inside. The picture below shows the ornate ceiling covered with gold leaf. We also visited the Church of Sao Francisco which was even more ornate. We were not allowed to take pictures so you will need to wait for the postcard version.

The area we walked through is called the Pelourinho Square. It is one of the oldest areas of the town. The streets were very narrow and steep. The shops were all very interesting to look at with all their wares.

The open market about a mile down the road from the ship was also very interesting. While the items for sale were fun to look at, the people were really the highlight of the experience.

The next few pictures are just for those of you who are curious about careers in Brazil. They inlcude law enforcement (local police) and pharmacy work.

The most difficult problem we had to deal with was the heat. It was in the 90’s and extremely humid. There was no place to duck into to escape the heat so by the time we got back to the ship we were all pretty gamey.

After cleaning up we watched the ship pull out of port. This was amazing because ship actually did a three-point turn in a very narrow and shallow (3 feet in places) part of the bay. It is unbelievable how well they can maneuver such a huge ship in some of the tiny ports.

We ended the day with drinks in the secret diamond lounge (free for members of the secret club) and then off to dinner and bed. Tomorrow is a sea day which is fine for us.