Trying to write briefly about Salvador, the city that is in many ways Brazil’s
cultural beating heart, is a bit like trying to introduce someone to Paris, or
Istanbul or New Orleans. There is no short story about this place. Or better,
the real story is a long story. Everything else is a simple glimpse, a narrow
impression. A beautiful amazing glimpse, but by its nature limited in scope.
Still, it’s all good. Here are a few impressions from our most recent visit.
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| The amazing bamboo cathedral lining the road to and from the airport. |
Salvador has some serious history. The place oozes with it.
The indigenous folks had been living in the area for goddess knows how long
when the Portuguese stumbled upon them in 1501. Those first few encounters
didn’t go very well for the Portuguese colonialists resulting in a couple of
the early ones being eaten by the locals. Over time the natives (wrongly, as it
turned out) warmed to the newcomers and eventually tried coexistence.
As most all of these historical tales go, the demands of the
Portuguese crown pushed for the establishment of its own territory, Brazil, and
then its first colonial capital city, Salvador, established in 1549. The Catholic Church was down with that whole
taking of territory thing as long as the Portuguese converted the natives to
Christianity (adding that it was OK by the Church to enslave those native
peoples who refused to be converted, and later, those of the tribe that had
eaten Brazil’s first Bishop). And so a nation was born. (To read a more complete, still brief, but well compiled historical account, from which I have
drawn these observations, go here.)
It is the history of Brazil’s African slave trade that cast
the die of Salvador and as a visitor today you see it and feel it (and smell it
and taste it) every minute you are there. The vibe is in some ways both ultimately
triumphal as well as suffocating in its heaviness.
Salvador served as Brazil’s main port of entry for human
slave labor, receiving nearly 1.3 million people. This one city in Brazil
trafficked in more enslaved Africans than all of the United States. According to noted historian Henry Louis Gates Jr., the United States incorporated approximately 450,000 African slaves over the
course of the slave trade while Brazil brought in more than 10 times that
number at 4.86 million. And again, Salvador was the main port of entry. I
encourage you to Google for hours and gather a rich record of this dark period
in Brazil’s history and its impact lasting through to the present.
Luiz and I had been to Salvador some 11 years earlier.
During that first visit we took care to explore many museums, churches,
historical monuments and various neighborhoods. There is so much to take in to
truly get some perspective on where you are standing. A decent visit takes a
good week or longer just to dig in a little. This time around we were keen to divide our
time between just two locations: the Barra district, specifically Porto da Barra, and the central
historic Pelourinho district. Our plan was to sit on the beach and relax, with
a little sightseeing thrown in.
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| The view from our bedroom - for just R$70 a night! |
Our friends Carlinhos and Du lived in Barra for several
years a while back and gave us a personal referral to a friend of theirs who
rents efficiency suites right on Farol de Barra beach (well, across the street
from the beach). Lucky us! We had the PERFECT location. Our bedroom (plus a
kitchen and bath) was on the second floor of a 1920s building with a view of
the water. We literally felt like we were on the beach when sitting up in our
bed. And to make it all better than perfect the rate was 50% less than even the
cheapest near comparable room in the neighborhood. Brazil – it’s all about the personal
connections.
The tiny beach in Barra gets its name from the adjacent
lighthouse (farol). As beaches in Brazil go this one is quite small. But for
urban dwellers and tourists alike it is a welcome respite from the otherwise
crowded and cacophonous surroundings. Located at the tip of the peninsula that
is Salvador and as such at the mouth of the bay which defines the region, the
beach has a long history. The Porto Farol neighborhood is rich in historic architecture
and includes several museums, forts and churches of interest.
There is as well a terrific arts institute with a gallery
and gift shop filled with typical local artworks of superior quality at damn
good prices. Visiting Instituto de Artesanato Visconde de Mauá is a MUST, if
you are into that sort of thing. Forget about the mass produced touristy stuff
for sale at the typically pointed out Mercado Modelo in Centro. Check out the Instituto’s website for more details and photos of the artwork
available.
For the most part while in our snug historic neighborhood
we stuck to the beach. On any sunny day this popular beach is cheek to jowl
with chairs and umbrellas. Local folks fiercely work this patch of sand. Any number of guys will rent you some chairs and an umbrella, then keep you in beverages.
Itinerant food vendors wander through the crowd with everything from empadinhas
to frozen fruit pops to charred cheese or shrimp on a stick to roasted nuts. We
ate an amazing plate of the local favorite: acarajé. It was served up fresh and for only R$5. I got the non-fried alternative abará. Don’t get me wrong, I love the smell and taste of dendê oil, which is central
to the preparation of acarajé, but this boy has got to watch his calories. Luiz
shared a taste of his so I could avoid total blasphemy.
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| acarajé |
If you need more sunscreen, a hat, a new bikini, another
conga, a foot massage, or whatever else –
there are folks to help you out with that. Have small kids? Need an inflatable
splash pool for the babies? There was a guy renting those as well (inflated and
filled to your satisfaction). And of course there was the colorful caipirinha
bartender shaking them up bem gelada pra você.
Then periodically, just to remind you how nice he is and that
he can get you a fresh cold beer or soda, the chair/umbrella guy comes by carrying
a big garden watering can and cools down your feet with some sea water.
Qualidade de vida, baby.
Over in the Pelorinho district things have changed since the
last time we were in Salvador. In fact they have changed rather dramatically
and for the better.
While I was blown away by how amazing Salvador is the first time
I went there, I did pull back in the face of what seemed to be a constant
barrage of pestering people on the streets seeking spare change or trying to
get me to buy some whateveritwas item from their outstretched hand. As a tourist
and additionally because I am a gringo I was targeted by locals to fork over
some “extra” money in some way or another. It was annoying and exhausting and
it extended beyond the boundaries of the Pelorinho tourist district. After dark
when the streets were less populated it went so far as to feel unsafe. On this
trip this situation was significantly different. We were practically never
approached on the streets.
Structurally speaking the whole Pelorinho area has clearly
been on the receiving end of development assistance to turn a slummed-out,
abandoned, decaying district into a restored, revitalized and repopulated
now-vibrant and safe(r) cultural district that serves both tourists and the
local community. The change was like night and day. Pelourinho is back! Now
there are museums, cultural centers, nonprofit organizations, restaurants and
clubs, pousadas and hostels and shops, shops, shops. And a constant police presence
to discourage petty crime on the street.
I have no clear idea how this happened aside from an obvious
commitment from the city/state/federal governments to restore a cultural jewel
(and designated UNESCO site). It is my hope that there has been some level of
local input, shared opportunity and mutual reward for all stakeholders. But
then, you know how that goes… Whatever
the case, the place is now a very desirable historic center that provides rich
cultural experiences to both tourists and residents alike. There is a reason
that every tourist should spend some time there while visiting Salvador.
Luiz and I wandered the narrow streets, enjoyed a couple delicious
lunchtime meals, did some shopping for stylish summer wear and of course popped
in to Mercado Modelo (mostly for a moqueca lunch with a view) at the base of
the elevator that shuttles residents from lower to upper Salvador and vice
versa.
So in summary (ha – even a simple glimpse of Salvador turns
into a bit of a long story…), we loved visiting Salvador a second time and we
look forward to our next visit. I, for one, cannot get enough of the rich
African-Brazilian cultural vibe that permeates everything with pride and
bravado.
There is so much to experience in Salvador it certainly
takes multiple visits to take it all in. One (English language) website I found
that offers a tremendously thorough look at Salvador, its neighborhoods, music,
religions, architecture, history, activities – everything – is here. Don’t be
put off by the smattering of self-promoting links to apartment rentals. A
gringo’s got to make some money somehow.
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