Salvador da Bahia, pt.II

Entering our third week back in dreary Belgium, it is time to reminisce about our Brazil trip some more... this series is from our stay in Salvador de Bahia, in the northeast. Tio Mecenas took us on a walking tour of Salvador's historic center, the Pelourinho district. Pelourinho is characterized by colourful colonial houses and lavishly decorated churches. Baianas, women dressed in typical historic outfits, parade in the streets and will take a picture with tourists for a few Brazilian reais.

But first, a hearty breakfast with a view.

Tio Mecenas taking a picture of the Lacerda elevator, the public elevator which connects downtown and uptown.

The Lacerda elevator looking out on the Bahia de Todos os Santos, the Bay of All Saints.

Colourful colonial houses.

They say there is a church for every day of the year in Bahia.

A sandalwood salesman. Smells nice, but a little too potent to transport in a crammed suitcase.

A Baiana walking down the cobblestone street.

Lots of colourful souvenir shops in the Pelourinho area.

The central square of Pelourinho (which is, in fact, triangular - just some trivia for you there).

A volkswagen van making its way through the busy streets.

A baiana luring us to her shop with (free!) ice cold water.

A street artist and his, um, fans.

The Waterfalls of Foz de Iguaçú

Oh hai. These are the waterfalls of Foz de Iguaçú, in the south of Brazil. The waterfalls are right on the border with Argentina. In fact, the waterfalls you see right here are on the Argentinean side, but I´m on the Brazilian side taking the picture. Basically, Argentina has the falls, but Brazil has the best view, haha.

By the way, this very first picture is also the view we have from...

... our hotel.

The falls are actually a collection of dozens of individual bigger and smaller falls. The falls you see in the background are the most impressive ones, in a U-form. They´re called ´The Devil´s Throat´.


Iguaçú national park is swarming with butterflies.


But... we are here to relax as well!


Sunset over the falls is beautiful...



The Iguaçú river, where the falls are, joins the Paraná river further downstream. On that mighty river, an impressive dam was built. It´s called Itaipu, Guarani indian for ´the rock that sings´, and generates 20% of all of Brazil´s electricity, and basically all of Paraguay´s electricity. Go figure.


By the way, the place is swarming with predatory birds. I´ve never seen so many falcons in one place.

On the Itaipu dam: the far side is in Paraguay, the side I´m taking the picture on is in Brazil. The hydro powerplant is co-owned by the two nations.


On our second night, we went to a dinner-show with typical Latin American dances. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a tourist trap, but it did have its entertaining moments.


Even though Brazil has the best frontal view of the falls, it´s worth paying a visit to the Argentinean side of the falls. It takes you about two hours to get from one side to the other due to strict border controls, but the scenery is so worth it.


There are platforms that take you really close to the falls - all my pictures taken beyond this point are foggy or splattered with droplets!


I thought I´d give you a break from all that nature drama with a rustic picture from the old lookout tower on the Argentinean side.


Ready for more?

A butterfly decided it really liked the taste of the boyfriend´s toes. And apparently it was born in ´88. Impressive.


The falls, especially at sunset, are often used for wedding pictures. I can see why. Sigh...


On our last evening, there was a wedding ceremony on the lawn in front of our hotel at sunset. Idyllic, much?


On our last day, we walked up the trail to the viewpoint close the the Devil´s Throat on the Brazilian side. This is the point where the Iguaçú river calmly trottles along, and then hurtles itself dozens of meters down in the most impressive collection of waterfalls of the whole park.


All the water floating around in the air makes for constant rainbow merriness.
See how fare the viewpoint goes? It´s a feat they even managed to build that thing, because the force of the water seems immense.




Down at the furthest point of the trail, there´s so much vapor in the air that you simply get drenched. And it´s impossible to take a picture without getting the camera all wet!


All right, so that was our stay in Foz de Iguaçú national park, in a nutshell... highly recommended!

Hope you had a Merry Christmas!

We surely did! Christmas in Rio may not be as "christmassy" as back home where they had a white Christmas (30cm of snow!), but nevertheless it was a great time shared with family and friends.

To maximize the quality time spent with above mentioned family and friends, I´ve fallen behind on editing photographs... so you´ll have to forgive me, as next week I won´t be able to post either.

So for now, happy new year and all the best for 2011!

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!