Salvador, the City of Soul

Oh no, the bus is sold out! There isn’t another bus until tomorrow. What are we going to do?

About 15 minutes later we found a bus that would take us to another station, where we would take a bus to a ferry terminal, where we would take a ferry to Salvador, so we hopped on. About 17 hours later a protest took place on the highway and we waited for hours until we realized they weren’t going anywhere, so we then drove to a nearby bus station where we sat and waited some more. A bunch of people got sick including Everest so we named the bus “the vomit comet.” Then they told us we would have to sleep on the bus one more night.

When we finally arrived at the bus stop the next morning we were all VERY happy. We had more moving and grooving to do but we were finally in Salvador de Bahia on our way to Basso in Santa Teresa.

Sometimes crazy things happen when you are on the road. As tired as we
were we left our bags at the hostel and went out to explore the colorful
city of Salvador. One of my favorites was the Maritime Museum and
Lighthouse. We learned that Salvador used to be one of the world’s most
important sea ports. Sailors from Magellan to Columbus have all stopped
in Salvador. The Maritime Museum had all kinds of nautical equipment and
model ships; the most amazing was a wall of tiny ships in glass
bottles.

Another one of my favorites was the Afro Brazilian church Bonfim. On
Friday mornings a mass is held and many of the guest wear white out of
respect. After mass they tie a ribbon on the church gate. They tie
three knots and make three wishes and when they fall off the wishes
should come true. We tied some ribbons on the gate and made special
wishes too.
 

After our tour we went for a swim in the beautiful (and warm) Atlantic
Ocean. What a treat compared to our freezing Pacific. The next morning
when we woke up from a sound slumber we went to explore the Palharino,
the historic part of town. As we walked down the cobbled streets we
listened to the sound of street performers and strolled by dozens of
cute cafes and boutiques.
 

After our long day in the Palharino it was time for some dinner. We went
for authentic Salvadorian acaraje’, a deep fried ball of peeled black
eyed peas filled with shrimp paste, mixed vegetables and shrimp still in
the shell. Sitting seaside eating this made me think of all the food we
have eaten the last year on our journey, from peppers in Bhutan to
curry in India to Parilla in Uruguay…. all so different and all so
yummy. It was our last beautiful beach and sunset in Bahia… the next
day we traveled north to the fishing village, Praia do Forte.