Salvador, Brazil – Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just trying to rob me?…

Leading up to our cruise there were a lot of reports of gang violence flaring up in Fortaleza. Little did we realise that it is Salvador that we should have been more worried about. 
With our jewellery and other valuables safely ensconced in our stateroom safe, we were ready for our adventure, but alas our ship wasn’t.  Nicked named “The late Boat” by Peter, we were once again plagued by another late arrival. 
It is quite a scenic sail into All Saints Bay as headed towards our dock in Salvador.  Once the capital of Brazil, we are welcomed with views of the old and new. 
At the pier two lovely ladies in traditional Bahia dress  were giving away "Senhor do Bonfim" bracelets, made of cotton you tied them around your wrist with three knots. As you tie each knot you make a wish, legend has it that when it falls off your wishes have come true…

Our guide for the day was Ivan, from Ivan Bahia Guide and we found him easily amongst the mass of taxi drivers waving signs and calling out touting for your business.

Whisked away in our van our first stop was the old Barra District.  A popular beach area, it was only because it was early that the beach was not as crowded as it usually gets.  No beach volley ball here, but beach soccer is very popular.

We walked along the promenade watching people of all shapes and sizes enjoying the refreshing waters on what was turning out to be a very hot day. 

An interesting concept we stumbled across was the underground garbage bins.  From above they just look like normal bins, but they are actually shutes that feed the rubbish into the large dumpsters that are below.

 At the end of the promenade is the Fort Santo Antonio da Barra, the first fort built in the city and the first light house stands within its walls.  It now houses the Maritime Museum.
 

Our next stop was the Church of Nosso Senhor do Bonfim - it is the most famous of the catholic churches of Salvador, though they welcome every denomination.

Many people make a pilgrimage to this church, they pray and make their wishes as displayed by the thousands of ribbons tied to the front gates.  For the true believers when their prayers are answered they return and give thanks, and the small museums boasts moulds of the body parts, internal and external that have been cured.

This saw the end of the driving part of our tour and we were dropped off in the historic Pelourinho district which marked the start of our walking tour.

The first square that we visited set the tone for the rest of our walking tour.  Mid-sentence our guide was interrupted by a local and urgent words were exchanged in a language we didn’t understand.  It seems a youth had been seen loitering around the square, packing heat …. Yes that would be a gun, looking for unsuspecting tourists I suspect.  Our guide quickly gave us the abridged version of his spiel then quickly had us on our way.  

 You can see the large Portuguese influence in this part of town. Just like the Lisbon, porcelain tiles adorn the facades of many of the buildings, maybe not quite as well maintained.  They say that the cobbled streets are paved with the ballast from the old Portuguese ships.

After the park incident Ivan our guide was vigilant about our safety and wanted to ensure that our group stayed close as we continued our walking tour.  “Wanted” was the operative word, as those of you who have toured with us before know what Garry is like, and after several warnings Ivan gave up and turned to me and kept asking “Can you tell your husband to stay with us?”, yep, like that is going to make a difference… LOL

Just to reiterate on the danger factor; when we stopped at the funicular that take people down to the port area, Ivan told us that in the past week on 4 occasions people were robbed at gun point whilst in the car during the transit. 

Don’t leave your bag open, don’t hold your phone, hide those chains, they know best, but it was now getting a little stressful.


It was with relief that we sat down at the small restaurant where we had lunch, a buffet of traditional dishes served by ladies in traditional dress whilst drinking traditional caprihiana’s.

We continued our tour of the old area.  Each store with their wares on display out front of their doors adding a wonderful splash of colour along each of the lane ways.  

Reminds us of Favelas or Shanty towns.

A stop was made at the Church of St Francis, maybe not as beautiful outside but inside, a spectacular display of wood carvings completely covered in gold leaf, giving the feeling of great richness.

Many churches in Salvador give the impression of being unfinished with only one of the 2 bell towers completely built.  They say that once a church is finished donations seem to diminish.



Maybe it was a false sense of security, but I can say that I never felt unsafe in the main areas, no different to wandering Las Ramblas in Barcelona.  Stay vigilant, don’t wander off on your own down some deserted laneway and don’t flash your valuables.




Just like Lisbon and its Portuguese influences, Salvador also has an elevator that takes you up and down from the lower port area to the town up above.  Another haven for pickpockets but deemed to be safer than the funicular. 

At the bottom Ivan pointed to street and said that this is the street that you take to get to the upper level.  “Go this way and the only thing you will have when you reach the top, is your underwear” … eek

It was a lovely sail out of the bay with blue skies and sunshine making picture taking much more enjoyable than our sail in.

A note about our guide.  Ivan was very knowledgeable and his concern about our safety was great.  Would I use him again, probably not.  We have travelled a lot and used a lot of guides in countries that we don’t understand the language or unsure of the culture.  A good guide will have your back and will step in and help bridge the gap of understanding.

There were three occasions I felt he let us down, and basically left us in the lurch when we needed his help in translation, especially when it came to money transactions.