Salvador (Bahia)
Bri and I flew to Salvador yesterday at the crack of dawn (Northeastern part of Brazil). It is one of the main places where the slave trade to South America was based and has a big African underculture..supposedly. All we see of it are some people dressed in silly costumes, weavings and lots of wooden sculptures. Oh, some of the restaurants have live music in the evenings too.
It is hot - something we really should have gotten used to by now but haven´t. Bahian food is good however. Lots of slighlty spicy fish stews in coconut milk or meat and blackbeans with rice. At least it isn´t steak or pasta, which seemed to be staple dishes all over Argentina and Brazil.
The beaches here are pretty and numerous but aren´t all that swimable. The water isn´t really clean and the sand is very course and rough. Adding ´character´ to the streets and beaches everywhere we have been in Brazil are the vendors selling everything from agua mineral (water) and icecream through to sarongs, necklaces, shells, cigarettes, and some very interesting local sweets and cakes. There are so many ways that they use to get your attention too, from the very offputting hissing and whistling at you to operatic ´singing´.
We fly back to Rio on Thursday night and then begin our very long flight home. It has seemed like a quick trip but we have packed an awful lot in!
Both Bri and I look forward to cooler temperatures at home and not having to eat in restaurants any more! We are sick of finding a restaurant/cafe, deciding what to eat, ordering, waiting for the bill, waiting for change etc every single day for lunch and dinnner. Being able to eat vegemite toast would be so nice right about now! :)
