Salvador is one of the oldest western cities on the Americas - established by the Portuguese, it served as an early capital of Brazil. The old city - the suburb of Pelourinho, has been largely restored, and features a number of old buildings, especially churches. I had intended to go and visit some of these places properly after carnaval, but never got round to it - it was both a bit of laziness and tiredness.
The city is built next to a rather large bay - and for the first time on my trip, it seem a lot like home. In fact, except for the language, it could easily be in Africa - most of the people are descendants of African slaves brought over from Angola and West Africa; the food has a definite west african flavour, the musical style features a lot of drums and the weather reminds me a lot of Durban.
Salvador is a big city - and in terms of population, it is probably bigger than Cape Town. It is also quite spread out, but since there is no big mountain in the middle of the city, distances are more manageable. The public bus system is quite efficient, so getting around is not difficult.
I have not spent much time in Salvador when it was not carnaval, and thus my experience is a bit lopsided. But I have found it relaxing, and even though it has been my longest stop on my trip, and I am restless to move on, part of me also wishes that I stayed on a bit, and experienced a bit more of the culture, and the food.
I have had quite a bit of the Bahian food, and I absolutely love it. The main specialities, not surprisingly, is based on sea food and coconuts and the food has a very rich flavour although not really fatty. It has also been a long time since I have had green cocounut water (really refreshing, especially when the coconut has been refrigerated) and sugarcane juice.
Salvador is on the Atlantic coast, but because of its position, it is one of the few places in Brazil where one can see a sunset over the ocean!
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