DAY 216
Our hotel is in Barra, to the south of the city center. We wanted something quiet and close to the beach. We arrived in Brazil quite tired and even though the few days at the beach in Rio were some much needed rest, we need more of it. That said, there are still things in Salvador that we want to see, starting with St Francisco church. The blue mosaics are typically Portuguese, the scenes, however, are odd in a church: court scenes, battles, hunting scenes.
We then walk about in the historical center. There's a party going on but the vibe is wrong. People are drunk and rude, the streets are littered with beer bottles and cups... we don't linger and head to elevator lacerda to enjoy the sunset. Salvador is the only city in Brazil to have the sun setting over the sea. It's only a bay true but it'll have to do ;) The clouds are spoiling the show a bit sadly.
DAY 217-18
We try both beaches of Barra. "Our" beach is not very big but not very crowded either. At low tide it even has natural swimming pools in the rocks, overrun by kids ;) The other beach is even smaller and reminds us of Ipanema; i.e. you can't even see the sand because of the throng there; not worth it!
DAY 219
After yet another day at the beach, we head back downtown at night for a Candombe show. It's only an our long but theses guys have so much energy! The different scenes are about the gods and the daily life. Apart from the dancers, there are drums and 2 singers. Some of the pieces are extremely physical, the capoiera at the end is spectacular. The more classical parts reminded me strongly of Alvin Ailey, which should not come as a surprise, it's also a mix of ballet technique with African dances.
DAY 220
Lavagem do Bonfim is a huge tradition. It's a big procession to the church of Bonfim to clean its stairs. It all starts well as we catch the bus right away but after 1h15 in it, we're still quite far from the church... and it's getting close to 12! We're about to miss the ceremony entirely. We hop off the bus and hop on 2 moto taxi. The driving is scary but we get there in record time at least. It's ridiculously crowded at the church. Sadly for us, the ceremony itself is over but now everyone goes to the fence of the church to tie little ribbons. We do to hoping that our 3 wishes will be granted ;) The bahianas in white are still around and they look just fantastic. It's way too crowded though and we don't linger long there. In the bus back the passengers are in a good mood and it's the best ambiance in any type of bus I ever seen. They tease the driver who almost makes a wrong turn then one guy tries to buy beer for the whole bus at every stop, unsuccessfully sadly :/
Back in our neighborhood, we go back to the restaurant we went to the first night to have our first muqueca, a local specialty. It's a fish stew with shrimps, coconut milk, palm oil, tomatoes, onions and coriander. It comes with yuca flour and gravy. It's not light clearly but it's sooooo good! We couldn't stay too long in Brazil or risk regaining all the weight we lost since the beginning of our trip ;)
DAY 221
We didn't come to Salvador to only eat muqueca, even though it'd be a reason good enough. What we had our sight on the Chapada Diamantina, a national park with gorgeous landscapes. It's a few hours inland so we hop on the morning bus to Lencois. There are lots of hippies in the bus and even more in Lencois. It seems to be the place to be ;)