Lauro de Freitas

13:00
We’re sad to say goodbye to Rio, but today’s moving day. We’re checked out of our hotel and into our cab a little ahead of 11:00. The geography of the city makes much more sense to us as we’re leaving, so familiar has it become over the past 4 days. We all agree that we’d happily come back to Rio. Vicki and I are particularly keen to visit for carnival. I’d also thoroughly recommend to fellow travellers. We’ve not felt the presence of street crime, and we find ourselves wondering whether this is localised in certain neighbourhoods, perhaps around Copacabana and Ipanema beaches. Certainly around Lapa and Santa Theresa, we’ve never felt at risk.

At the airport, there’s a minor snafu when the check-in agent tells us that there are no battery powered items of any kind allowed in checked baggage. This cues us into a slightly panicked unpack and repack - me for my toothbrush, Vicki for one of her several fans, Tam for something that I’m failing to remember.

The domestic departures terminal is fairly minimalist in its approach. There’s a small café, a couple of toilets, a few boutiques. Happily, we’ve not ages to wait. I grab a beer and settle in for a read…

17:00
The flight is, um, interesting. We’re on a plane, 80% of whose passengers appear never to have taken a flight before. Either that, or they just give zero fucks. An elderly couple sitting in front of Vicki and me slam their seats back to full recline while people are still boarding. As we start to move down the runway, a dude across the aisle starts a video call. The cabin crew also appear to be in the zero fucks gang, so do nothing about this. Still, it’s a short flight…

We leave gloomy and overcast conditions behind us in Rio, and land in Salvador in warm sunshine. We’re about 1,000 miles closer to the equator here, and the sun feels strong. We meet our cab driver, Yuri, with whom we have an extended and funny conversation via the medium of Google Translate. He gives us some suggestions for places to eat, beaches to visit. Our hotel is in Pelourinho, the historical old town of Salvador. Narrow, cobbled streets, lined with neighbourhood bars, small shops, guesthouses. One such guesthouse is Pelourinho Boutique, our home for the next 4 nights. The reception dude speaks barely a word of English, and we lean heavily on Google Translate to get checked in. Our room’s great. Much brighter and lighter than our digs in Rio. The A/C unit also appears to be one that won’t keep us awake all night, which is nice.

21:30
We head out around 18:00, in urgent need of refreshment. It’s definitely a few degrees cooler here than in Rio, and there’s a lovely breeze coming off the sea. We stop at a very quirky bar called Cafelier. The decor is highly eclectic, and it has a pretty terrace with some amazing views over the ocean towards the sunset. Tamsin and I have our first Salvador Caipis. Vicks has a tasty coffee / frappé / milkshake type contraption.

We look for a dinner option nearby, and opt for Zanzibar, whose menu reflects the communities of African heritage that make up so much of Salvador’s population. Salvador was Brazil’s first capital city, and quickly became the primary entry point for slaves brought over from Africa. There remain countless families living in Salvador with strong family links back to Benin, Nigeria, Angola, Congo, Ethiopia and Senegal. The food at Zanzibar is great. We have some Acaraje - traditional dumplings made from ground cassava, served with a selection of spicy dips and accompaniments. Vicki and Tam share some Prawns PiriPiri - not a close relation of the Portuguese PiriPiri dish. Massive king prawns, served with a slightly spicy rice, that has a distinctive and very pleasant flavour that none of us can quite identify. I have a Moqueca, an ultra traditional fish stew/curry, made this time with prawns. It’s awesome. Fragrant, a little bit of heat, bucket loads of spanking fresh prawns. YUM.

Wandering back to our guesthouse, we pass a series of bars that are busy, and have a bunch of different types of music blaring out. We all loved Rio, but equally all feel like we may be about to have some more stereotypically Brazilian experiences while we’re in Salvador. Bring it on.Weiterlesen