Pedra Tira-Pomba

One of the highlights of our last day at sea yesterday was the sunset and moonrise that took place almost simultaneously. Because we were so near the equator, as we sailed southwest towards Salvador, we witnessed a fiery sunset on the starboard side of the Sovereign and, once old Sol had dipped below the waves, we crossed to the port side and were treated to the full moon climbing into the heavens. Quite an amazing spectacle.

There was an information session for those of us who were getting off the ship in Salvador where we were warned to be very careful with our belongings, not to wear any watches or jewelry (not even costume jewelry) and to keep our wallets and money out of sight. The tourist areas are relatively safe, except for pickpockets, but we were cautioned not to venture out of those areas. Holy crap! Do we really want to be here? Can we just stay on the boat? Please?

After concluding that we may not make it out of Salvador alive, we had another delicious vegan Indian meal in the dining room and bid farewell to our favorite little waiter, Jose, who brought a little sunshine into our lives each day.

After dinner, the entertainment crew put on a "Rock Never Dies" retrospective of classic rock songs in the theater, which was actually pretty well done. Some of these cruise line musicians are very talented.

We packed our bags and left them outside our cabins for collection and said goodnight to each other a little after midnight.

Finally, after eleven days on the big, blue sea, we docked in Salvador Brazil at 7:00 this morning.

We had to be out of our cabins by 7:00 this morning and were scheduled to disembark at 8:45. We had plenty of time for breakfast, one last walk around the deck and a look at Salvador from the pier while we waited. In the end, we didn't set foot onto gangplank until about 9:15, but things went pretty smoothly after that. An immigration officer took a cursory glance at my passport and stamped me into the country and clearing customs consisted of nothing more than more than my belongings passing through an X-ray machine.

We had plotted a course to our hotel using Google maps on my smartphone and set off through the chaos of the cruise terminal toward our destination. Of course, the first thing Ms. Google did was take us through a dirt paved alleyway and up one of the switchbacks that we were repeatedly told should be avoided at all costs. The sun was beating down. The incline on the switchback felt like 40%. I had my fully loaded Farpoint 40 on my back, my Eddy Bauer daypack on one shoulder and Brenda's Eagle Creek backpack under my right arm. As I trudged up the hill, sweat leaking out of every pore in my body and avoiding potholes and excrement of all sorts, I kept singing Beast of Burden to myself. A couple of locals gave us funny looks, but they were more of curiosity than they were threatening. Nonetheless, I have to admit, I was a little nervous, which only added to my sweating. Thanks for nothing Google.

Just when I thought the hill would never end, we rounded a corner into the Pelhourino district and a wide open boulevard teeming with tourists. Hallelujah! We'll live to tell the story!

After another few hundred meters we arrived at our lodging, La Pousada Colonial and were warmly greeted by our hostess, Kelly. Our room wasn't yet ready so she told us where it was safe to walk about and suggested some sights to see while we waited.

We set off in search of fruit and purchased some mangoes and papaya for our lunch, which we brought back to the hotel to eat. Kelly gave us a knife and plates and we sat down to enjoy our bounty. Suddenly she summoned us outside and introduced us to one of the many fruit merchants who sell their produce from a wheelbarrow each day. She convinced us to buy some cashew fruit and a bag of little green mangoes that, to me, looked overripe. We later found out that they were delicious, super sweet and tasted just like mango ice cream. We'll definitely buy more of those.

In the end, it felt great to get our feet back onto dry land even though our first day here was a little harrowing. I'm pretty certain we'll enjoy our stay here, particularly if pleasure can be gauged by the variety and perfection of the fruit.Read more