Salvador: Carnival City in Brazil

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Salvador. The Best Carnival City in Brazil.

Tourists go to Rio de Janeiro for Carnival. Many Brazilians go to Salvador. It is a great carnival city in Brazil. It is also a beautiful photogenic, cultural city with plenty of things to keep a tourist busy.

Salvador, in the state of Bahia, north east Brazil (or Sao Salvador da Baía de Todos os Santos as it was named in the past) was the first colonial capital city of Brazil and, although power shifted to Rio de Janeiro in the late eighteenth century, then to Brasilia in 1960, it retains much of it's past grandeur and colonial architecture. One of the main reasons to come here, however, is the wonderful mix of cultural influences that make the cuisine, music and lifestyle here so different even to other parts of Brazil. The population of over three million, consists mainly of people with African origins descended from slaves, although there have been many other strong influences through Salvador's history. Salvador is also famous for it's carnival and street parties.

Here is an article about my trip to Salvador and the Bahia region, travel tips, advice and hotel recommendations.

Getting There and Where to Stay... 

The final stop on my extensive two-week tour of Brazil was to Salvador, Bahia and the surroundings. We flew from Brasilia to Salvador Airport, taking less than two hours and checked into our hotel, Pousada do Boqoeirao, which we had booked before departure. This is an attractive Pousada or guesthouse, which was originally two colonial houses, just ten minutes walk from historical quarter of Pelourinho. Our room had a fantastic large balcony/roof-terrace with stunning views of Salvador, perfect for an aperitif while watching the sunset.

Other Brazil Websites:

Rio de Janeiro
Iguacu Waterfalls in Brazil
The Amazon Jungle Experience (Brazil)
Brazillian Vacation Destinations

Map of Slavador, Brazil 

Where is Salvador?

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Guide Books for Brazil 

The Rough Guide to Brazil 6 (Rough Guide Travel Guides)

The Rough Guide to Brazil 6 (Rough Guide Travel Guides)

by: Dilwyn Jenkins, David Cleary, Oliver Marshall, Rough Guides

Amazon Price: (as of 11/28/2009) Buy Now

Essential Guide to Brazil

Essential Guide to Brazil

Amazon Price: $18.98 (as of 11/28/2009) Buy Now

Highlights Top Secret Adventures: Guide to Brazil

Highlights Top Secret Adventures: Guide to Brazil

by: Marion Morrison

Amazon Price: (as of 11/28/2009) Buy Now

Pelourinho ("Centro Historico") 

We foolishly booked a half day historical tour, which we could easily have done ourselves with the guidebook, on foot, or with an occasional taxi, but perhaps it was more relaxing having history force-fed to us. First we had a driving tour of the city then a walking tour, with a guide, of the historical centre, Pelourinho. This area was restored to its former glory in the 1990s mostly for tourism reasons and is perhaps not very real in terms of atmosphere, but certainly is beautiful and does show off the architecture very well, with houses and shops individually painted in bright colours. There are museums and plenty of tourist information to keep you busy and suitably informed about the history of the area. Lots of ladies in traditional dress stalk tourists and pose for photographs, for tips, but be careful; They hunt in packs and you could end up with twenty of them in your photograph and suddenly find yourself very short of cash. We certainly didn't feel vulnerable in this area although we took the usual antitheft precautions and we were more cautious when walking down the quieter streets back to the hotel later in the evenings.



Despite being a tourist trap we did find some reasonable restaurants, selling good fresh seafood and other local dishes, in Pelourinho. The beautiful colonial buildings and relaxed atmosphere of the old historical centre make it a great place to sit outside for lunch or dinner. One night there was a street party, which passed very slowly through the street in which we were sitting, enjoying the view with an aperitif. It was extremely loud as the good-natured revelers and musicians shuffled past playing assorted musical instruments and banging on drums. Apparently, according to some locals that we met, real Brazilian's come to Salvador for Carnival, whereas North American's go to Rio. This was not however the full Carnival, just an impromptu street party.

Photographic Equipment 

If you don't already have an SLR camera, it would be a good idea to get one, before a trip to South America, alternatively a compact camera, which will not get such good such results in some situations, although for street photography and carnival scenes a good compact will also be useful.

I have written a more detailed recommendation of cameras here:

Choosing a good DSLR Camera

Compact Digital Cameras

The Best Compact Digital Camera (probably)

but here is some good kit:
Canon Digital Rebel XSi 12.2 MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens (Black)

Canon Digital Rebel XSi 12.2 MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens (Black)

Amazon Price: $556.99 (as of 11/28/2009) Buy Now

Nikon D60 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX VR Nikkor Zoom Lens

Nikon D60 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX VR Nikkor Zoom Lens

Amazon Price: $635.99 (as of 11/28/2009) Buy Now

Olympus SP-565UZ 10MP Digital Camera with 20x Optical Dual Image Stabilized Zoom

Olympus SP-565UZ 10MP Digital Camera with 20x Optical Dual Image Stabilized Zoom

Amazon Price: $399.50 (as of 11/28/2009) Buy Now

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS3P 8MP Digital Camera with 3x MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Pink)

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS3P 8MP Digital Camera with 3x MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Pink)

Amazon Price: $299.95 (as of 11/28/2009) Buy Now

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1K 5MP Compact Digital Camera with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Black)

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1K 5MP Compact Digital Camera with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Black)

Amazon Price: (as of 11/28/2009) Buy Now

Weather and Climate in Salavdor, Brazil 

What's the weather like in Salvador Brazil at the moment?

Current weather conditions in Manaus, Brazil

Local Pollen Reports

30°C (Feels like 33°C)

Last update: 11/28/09 9:00 AM Local Time

Humidity: 62%
Visibility: 10.0 km
Dew Point: 22°C
UV Index: 3 (Lawn and Garden Weather)
Barometer: 1009.1mm steady
Moon: Rush Hour Traffic
Wind: 19km/h From: Airport Conditions
powered by weather.com

Today


Fair
High: 34°C
Low: 23°C
Sunrise: 6:39 AM
Sunset: 6:57 PM

Sunday
Nov 29 


Scattered T-Storms
High: 33°C
Low: 23°C
Sunrise: 6:40 AM
Sunset: 6:57 PM

Monday
Nov 30 


Scattered T-Storms
High: 34°C
Low: 23°C
Sunrise: 6:40 AM
Sunset: 6:58 PM

Tuesday
Dec 1 


Isolated T-Storms
High: 33°C
Low: 23°C
Sunrise: 6:40 AM
Sunset: 6:58 PM

Brazillian Travel Lenses 

featured lens Most Beautiful Waterfalls: Iguacu in Brazil

Iguacu (or Iguazu) waterfalls are some of the most impressive and beautiful in the world, not the biggest, widest nor tallest waterfall, but 275 separate waterfalls spread over a three-kilometre crescent between Argentina and Brazil. Most of the fall...

featured lens Brazilian Vacation Destinations

Brazil is a huge country with a wide variety of things to do for a tourist, from city breaks in Salvador and Rio de Janeiro to the beautiful waterfalls at Iguacu and for the more adventurous traveler, the jungle near the Amazon and Rio Negro rivers...

featured lens Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro is often described as the most beautiful city in the world, but has a reputation for being quite dangerous and crime-ridden. On my recent trip there Rio turned out to be a stunning and beautiful place, with wonderful views, hotels, re...

featured lens Amazon Jungle Adventure (Brazil)

The Amazon and Rio Negro (The Black River) in Northern Brazil are wonderful places for a vacation. It is possible to stay in the jungle in a floating hotel, near the confluence of Amazon and Rio Negro or in the nearby city, Manaus the gateway to the...

Excursions 

I imagine sight-seeing in Salvador could have kept us busy for a couple more days, but we wanted to see some of the neighbouring towns and took a prearranged private, two-day tour, with car, driver and guide to rural Reconcavo Baiano to see some farms and small villiages, in one of Brazil's main areas of tobacco and sugar production, which had its heyday in the sixteenth century. We fitted in a lot of sightseeing en route, stopping in Candeias for the Reconcavo Museum, an old sugar-cane mill; then the historical town of Santo Amaro, a former sugar producing centre; a working cocoa plantation; the beach of Subauma; the village of Sao Francinsco do Condo for a look at a seventeenth Century church, convent and Latin America's first agricultural school. It was all a bit of a blur, and none of the museums were particularly enlightening individually, but collectively gave us a better feeling for real Brazil, its history and economy. We also saw a lot of the countryside between the major cities, which otherwise we would not have experienced.

More Reading 

Brazil (Country Guide)

Brazil (Country Guide)

by: Regis St. Louis, Kevin Raub, Gregor Clark, John Noble, Gary Chandler, Robert Landon, Mara Vorhees

Amazon Price: $17.81 (as of 11/28/2009) Buy Now

Carnival In Rio: Sambas and Music of Brazil

Carnival In Rio: Sambas and Music of Brazil

Amazon Price: $8.99 (as of 11/28/2009) Buy Now

Carnival in Rio

Carnival in Rio

by: Helmut Teissl

Amazon Price: (as of 11/28/2009) Buy Now

Cacuoeira and Sao Felix 

On arrival at Cacuoeira we checked into Pousada Covento do Carmo, a former seventeenth Century monastery now a simple hotel, before continuing our hectic itinerary. Pousada Covento do Carmo was an excellent place to stay, with clean simple rooms and it retained most of the character of the old buildings. It was also in an ideal location for exploring the towns. There was a restaurant providing very basic breakfast and lunch, but for dinner we took our chances with the other local establishments.



Cacuoeira is an interesting old town separated by a large rickety bridge from Sao Felix, a similar town on the opposite side of Paraguacu River. The main attraction here, apart from seeing these interesting slightly run-down old colonial towns, is the Danneman Museum, a cigar factory, where we were able to watch rows of women wearing what looked like traditional costumes, hand-rolling expensive cigars. It was probably the most informative museum on the tour, demonstrating the amount of work going into each individual cigar, but certainly not worth the trip on its own.

The following day of the tour consisted of a trip to visit tobacco plantations and subsistence farms, followed by the journey back to Salvador. Some of these plantations are small plots of land, not much more than a big allotment, run by one family or even just one person, which must make more from the occasional tourist visiting than from farming. They were not however particularly interesting, and perhaps could have been omitted from the tour.

Music from Brazil 

Brazil Classics, Vol. 1: Beleza Tropical

Brazil Classics, Vol. 1: Beleza Tropical

Amazon Price: $14.98 (as of 11/28/2009) Buy Now

Putumayo Presents: Acoustic Brazil

Putumayo Presents: Acoustic Brazil

Amazon Price: $13.99 (as of 11/28/2009) Buy Now

The Very Best of Brazil

The Very Best of Brazil

Amazon Price: (as of 11/28/2009) Buy Now

Rough Guide to the Music of Brazil (2nd Edition)

Rough Guide to the Music of Brazil (2nd Edition)

Amazon Price: $14.98 (as of 11/28/2009) Buy Now

Pure Brazil: Caipirinha

Pure Brazil: Caipirinha

Amazon Price: (as of 11/28/2009) Buy Now

Conclusion 

Salvador is an interesting city with a beautifully restored "Centro Historico", which is tourist friendly without seeming like a theme-park. The cuisine, music, history and relaxed atmosphere certainly make worth visiting if you are in Brazil. The surrounding countryside, towns, farms, plantations and old factory museum are also worth the effort.

Summary: Better Carnivals than Rio (allegedly)

Other Brazil Websites:

Rio de Janeiro
Iguacu Waterfalls in Brazil
The Amazon Jungle Experience (Brazil)
Salavador, The Carnival City in Brazil

Other Travel Websites:

USA National Parks in an RV
Borneo Jungle Adventure
Canada. Vancouver and the Rockies
The Rocky Mountaineer
Namibian Safari
Safari In Botswana

and

An excellent travel web-site: Trivago... your travel guide

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Carnival Stuff 

I Love Carnival Yellow T-Shirt

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