After just over a week in Salvador we are on the move again
heading north up the coast towards the islands of Fernando Di Nironha – more
about these later if we manage to stop! We can’t if there is a northerly swell
and there is one forecast.
Our time in Salvador was pretty busy. Its certainly not the
best stop on the World ARC route but we made the best of it. We toured the
historic city on foot and also travelled further on the WARC bus tour. The old
part on the top of a hill is a World Heritage site so there is plenty to see of
the old portuguese architecture. Some is well restored but there are a number of
buildings still in need of TLC particularly in the lower city close to the
waterfront. The two parts of the city are connected by winding roads but also by
an iconic lift tower.
There are some good restaurants in the old city and we
tried a few, one memorable local speciality was a mild seafood curry.
Generally costs are high but good beef and steaks are possibly the best value.
Brazil is building up to carnival which starts in a week or so - but already
there are many musicians playing on street corners and in the squares. As
we are not stopping in Cabadello with the World ARC fleet we will miss the big
event but have probably tasted enough of the carnival atmosphere
already.
Following a briefing on cruising the the coast Paul and Peter
took Firefly on a three day cruise around the bay of Todos Santos (All Saints).
We stopped at the island of Itaparica at a very pleasant anchorage just off the
town also called Itaparica. Sailing all the way we took Firefly up a river some
15 miles to the market town of Maragogipe. After a scenic trip up and down with
the tide and an overnight stop we headed back to the island of Bom Jesus. This
was probably our least favourite stop, a little lacking in pride which the other
villages had in spades and not helped by our attractive anchorage being
overshadowed by a oil tanker terminal!
We got back to Salvador in time to meet our new crew member
Gerard who had just flown in from a chilly UK and after one last restaurant
stop, another trip to Customs and Immigration we headed off.
Paul, Gerard and
Peter