Friday 24 December 2010

Salvador da Bahia, pt. I

The next stop in our grand tour of Brazil: spending a few days with my great-uncle and aunt, Mecenas and Josette, two absolutely wonderful people who I hadn´t seen in 20 years! They live in Salvador, the capital of Bahia, in the northeast of Brasil. Here are some images of our first two days there (as you can see, I had some trouble choosing, and hey, I´m on vacation, I´m not killing my darlings now, ha!).

The view from their apartment: the Atlantic, but also the a small favela crawling up the hill.


The yacht port at the yacht club of Bahia.



Aaaaand... the view from the restaurant of the Yacht Club.



A lonely sailor (cue Rod Stewart).


Tio Mecenas will have to help me out in naming which exact beach this is... but Salvador is famous for its many beautiful beaches.



Salvador is also scattered with lighthouses, as it is an important port, but the shore is rocky.



Some more of the view from my family´s apartment.





The moon rising as dusk falls over the city.




Baiano garbage men are yellow, instead of orange like in Belgium. Just a little fact for you there.




One of the many kiosks selling drinks, food, magazines and what have you, scattered all around town.


Ribeiro, where a lot of fishing boats sail out.


Two boys bathing in the sea, virtually the same color as the dark brown rocks.



A fishing boat arriving with the catch of the day.



Said catch of the day.


A view of the Bonfim church from the beach.





No clue which church this is, but I call this one ´church with flowers´.



A boy playing in an abandonded factory by the sea.



At the Bonfim church, red´n´blue.



The Bonfim church is visited by many people who pray for cures of ilnesses and such. Those whose prayers were answered, send a picture or a wax reproduction of the saved limb or organ to the ´Chamber of Miracles´.





At Bonfim, they sell colorful ribbons that you tie around your wrist. You make three nots, for three wishes. When the ribbons comes off, your wishes shall be granted.



A light rain brings much needed refreshment.



My great-uncle, a great photographer.


A view of Bahia from one of the many forts at sea, built to protect Bahia from the Dutch and the French who also had their eyes on newfound Brazil in the 1500´s.


The old town, with the Lacerda elevator connecting the uptown and downtown.


One of those forst I mentioned earlier - I forget its exact name.



One of the many beaches, where small fishing boats and people enjoying the beach crowd the thin patch of sand.





Caldo de cana, a drink made on the spot from pressed sugar cane. No added sugar needed.



The statue of Christ on the Monte do Cristo.



A guy doing tai chi by the waves.



O farol da Barra at sunset.


Well, you know, the sunset, and that´s pretty much what you´ll see in the rest of this post. :-)







The moon rising over the favela and the city lights.
And that´s our first two days! I still owe you three more days in Bahia.
Merry Christmas from Rio de Janeiro everyone!












































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