Salvador de Bahia (Brazil) 12 April 08 - 31 May 08

After 3 weeks of arid lands in Bolivia and Chile, it was time to take off to a more watery destination: Salvador de Bahia. The humidity hit me so bad I slept 24 hours straight!!!

Salvador is a "small" (3 million habitants) city located in the state of Bahia, north of Brazil. Bahianese are famous for being slower (according to people from the South) yet hard-working (according to Bahianese themselves). Whichever it is, the people there are warm and welcoming. I do find them easy-going though, in a good way...

I stayed with a host familly for 2 weeks.Now the host familly was awesome. The women of the house stayed in the kitchen while the men were walking around bare-chested, beer in the hand, yelling and laughing loud. I got used to that really quickly.

After that, I shared a flat with a friend. The flat was huge, with a fantastic view (pic on the right), and costed nothing.

I'd go to language school every week day for 6 weeksI was happy to sit in class despite the perfect weather and the proximity to the ocean: I met some great people in that school, so many good times! And getting there walking along a beautiful beach (pic on the left) certainly gives a little boost to your day!

The funny thing about Salvador is that people you know don't just say "hi" when you bump into them. They actually stop whatever they're doing, and start telling the same story they told you about 2 hours before when you first bumped into them. This is great to learn the language!!! Also, at any time of the day and in any place, you seem to be running into the exact same people over and over again. Don't they ever work??? It feels a little bit like the Truman Show...


Bahia and other states of the North are strongly rooted in their african origins. There, you'll find more than what you need of music, capoeira, arts and crafts and other heritage from slaves of Angola and Mozambique. It makes it a very interesting place to visit and perfect for me as I love and train capoeira, a brazilian form of martial art.

Another strong point of Salvador is its food. Amazing food! Acarajé, vatapá, moqueca, bobó de camarão... Yum.
And music!!! Wow, many of the famous brazilian singers are from Bahia, but more about music later, on a separate post.

There aren't only good things in Salvador, on the contrary. The Pelourinho, famous for its stunning architecture and its history is also among the most dangerous neighbourhoods in Brazil. During my month and a half stay in Salvador, 4 of my friends got mugged or attacked. That includes locals from Salvador. Many of the thieves are just petty thieves, not dangerous but very annoying. However, there are drug addicts and these kids are unpredictable. They would threaten you with a machete to steal your mobile phone... The bank right opposite the school got robbed too. And one of the police stations in the Pelourinho was filled with bullet holes, not the most reassuring sight.




Above: the main slaves traffic routes from the XVIth to the XIXth century, the inside of the São Francisco church, covered with gold, a street in the Pelourinho.