A few weeks ago I began writing some stories and impressions of mine from the trip to Bahia that Bryley, Yuen and I went on last August (yep I know it's been a while! Time flew by). When you arrive in Salvador, the grand capital of Bahia, it's inevitable to be struck by its natural environment (i.e. the sea, beaches and palm trees), its colonial architectural beauty in Pelourinho, its confident, attractive population; as well as its modernity and poverty, both of which stare you straight in the face. Salvador is, similar to Rio (though perhaps not to the same level), full of such contrasts, where the streets of the city are home both to great cultural heritage as well as many homeless people the society seems to turn their face away from as they pass. The city is a popular tourist playground, and you can find gringos from everywhere all year round. It's a place worth visiting, but perhaps one you have to prepare yourself for beforehand.
Salvador - Valenca - Morro de Sao Paulo
As we happened to go to Bahia in the depth of the Brazilian winter (read: it's still close to 30 degrees during the day but sometimes it rains and gets just a tad chilly at night), the place we headed to from Salvador was far less busy in that period, also as the winter holidays just ended, but would normally also be bustling with tourists - the beaches of Morro de Sao Paulo on the island of Tinharé. It's pretty quick and straightforward to get from Salvador to Morro de Sao Paulo if you take the more expensive, smaller boat that makes a direct journey in a couple of hours (but apparently is likely to leave you quite sea-sick). Instead, the three of us girls and our new friend from the hostel Silvana (resident of the actual city of Sao Paulo), took the cheaper, sea-sick-free, but longer and more complicated journey which involved getting a big ferry in Salvador across to the island nearby, where we were lucky to just catch the bus heading for a town called Valenca, where we arrived an hour and a half later. In Valenca, we had to wait a half hour to an hour for the speed boat to take us and a few other tourists to Morro de SP. I can no longer remember how we actually managed to figure all this out!
So, the journey took a little longer but I have to say that the bus ride from the place which name I no longer remember to Valenca was really interesting, because it went past beautiful countryside, with lush tropical green on both sides; and at the end of the bus trip we drove through what seemed like the central street of a small village, where you see somewhat depricated houses on your both sides, with elderly people sitting out beside their houses, and children running in the street; in other words, a place full of local life, and where everybody knows everybody else (as well as all the latest gossip ;-)). I suppose the kind of picture you would imagine to encounter in the countryside of a big, quickly developing nation... It must have been Valenca itself, even though from the tourist guides it would seem like a bigger, more modern place. Something to look into! In any case, Valenca is a proud host of a small local port, where we got on the speed boat to speed us off to the island. Heading for the same destination, we shared both our bus and boat with a Dutch family, which proves that you really do find Dutch people everywhere. And perhaps a funny detail to add is that the family consisted of one of those ultra-cool Dutch women in their forties with a pre-teen child and a younger boyfriend. Haha, awesome.
Yuen and me on the boat from Valenca to Morro de SP: it got so windy! :pAn hour or so later, we were on the island, a pretty little thing in the midst of the deep blue sea around. Ok, Tinharé is not actually that little, and we only visited a small part of it probably, the four (or five? six? help!) beaches that make up the now famous Morro de Sao Paulo. Or in any case, gathering that fame at a fast pace. From the shore, we had to climb up the steep but luckily short hill to reach the central square of the area, which leads on to the beaches so simply and unpretensiously named beach one, beach two, beach three, beach four... haha. Each has its specific characteristics and may appeal to various visitors in different ways, from what I remember beach one was kind of a normal beach with some bars and shops, beach two was the party beach, beach three quieter and more relaxed, and I don't even remember about beach four anymore. I do remember visiting all four of them, though our pousada - bed and breakfast Brazilian style, basically - was near to beach one, so pretty much at the 'front' of the island when you arrive, so to speak.
Oh yes, I was talking about climbing up to the central square: so that's the first thing you see when you finally get up with all your luggage (a small Eastpack, lol... but there are also lots of island boys who earn money from carrying tourists' luggage up and down the hill). The square is suuuuper cute, with a sort of Caribbean atmosphere, beautiful, colorful houses around, bars and restaurants, and in the evening it was full of life, with women selling lots of things such as jewellery, and children running around joyfully, while we sipped at our capeta's... oops, I got a little fast-forwarded there ;)
The pousada and the capeta
From the square, as a visitor you are likely to take one of the two ways, one along the 'main' street between mostly restaurants, hostels, pousadas, and shops; or the street parallel, which is basically the beach. Yes, one, two, three, four, one following the other. Life on a island is simple, isn't it? :*** As we first had to actually find a place to stay, we took that first option, and quickly found ourselves staying at a really cute pousada owned and run by a nice Brazilian couple in their thirties or early forties, where we had lots of space actually, as we stayed two to a room, with a whole terrace (including awesome hanging lounge chairs and a hammock) which we shared only with one other couple from New Zealand during our two-three day stay on the island. For some reason we were doubting at first how long we were gonna stay at this pousada, but I don't know anymore why, since it was actually pretty royal. Also, one of us mentioned that the pousada owner said that after we see the breakfast, we won't wanna change to another hostel or whatever, and that's so true. The breakfast was the most f* amazing I've had in Brazil, hahaha. But about that a little later.
Once we settled in at our pousada we explored the nearby area a little, though it was already getting dark, and then decided to have dinner at our own pousada, which has a small balcony, and seemed like a good option for the night for four hungry travelers. It was so funny when we got there because on that same balcony was an adolescent couple busy admiring each other, who looked at us like we were a little crazy when we arrived, as if they were thinking, 'someone actually came for dinner? ooook...' So they had to retreat to the neighbouring kitchen and start working, and the guy was our waiter for the evening - the restaurant was pretty much to ourselves during that time, as it's really small, pretty much just the balcony from what I remember. The food was really good though, with some of that Bahian-style palm-oil prepared sea food (why didn't we take a photo??), yum.
The pretty square at Morro de SP, bustling with local and tourist lifeWhen we left to go to Bahia, Mariana, my host sister, tipped us off to try the Bahian capeta cocktail, which consists of vodka and liquid chocolate I believe, and proudly and justly bears the name 'little devil'. As we sat down after dinner at the aforementioned square to admire the evening atmosphere around, we couldn't miss the opportunity to try it :p It was very devilishly good, hehe.
Enjoying the Bahian capeta'sWell for now that's it as I don't want to make this post so long you won't get to the end, and I will write more about Morro de SP in part two soon!! :) (And the promised story of the breakfast and the 11 caipirinhas, which will leave you hungry and thirsty, hahaha).
Thanks for reading!
Beijos!
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