Salvador de Bahia - Brazil with an African drumbeat

The beat of drums seems to permeate Salvador de Bahia.

It fills every corner of the old city, and every stone of Salvador seems to echo with music. The cobbled Portuguese colonial streets of Pelhurinho seem to reberverate in this city of samba,candomble, and capoeira. Its exotic feel and heritage can been seen in the Afro-Brasileiro inhabitants who were descended from West African slaves. They give the city an unbelievable energy and vitality. 

There is a fire in the blood of Salvador de Bahia. This is a city which has not yet been tamed, and any polite tourist respectability is for show. Underneath, mysterious Afro-Brasileiro currents run - Salvador is a city which moves to a different beat to the rest of Brazil.

The city is also the genesis of the nation of Brazil. The Portuguese sailed into the Baiae do Todos os Santos in 1501, and the great fort at the Farol de Barra was built in 1524. That makes it older then some European cities. It was a major trading port for the slave trade out of West Africa and with the setting up of fazendas/plantations social divisions were set. It is this poverty, especially in the last century, kept it in a sort of "preserved in aspic" state. The colonial buildings and cobbled streets of its centre, Pelhurinho, are nothing less then stunning. They have been in decreptitude for a very long time and only in the nineties did gentrification take place - Pelurinho is now listed by UNESCO in its entirety.

But this is a city for the senses. A day exploring the streets of Salvador makes for many extraordinary memories its hard to say which is the best. The pastel colours of the 18th century buildings? The sound of bossa nova coming from the election cars? The torrent of rococco gold leaf in the myriad of churches? The cobbled plunge of the Largo de Pelhurinho as it dips down to Igreja NS dos Pretos? The incessant chatter of the Baianos? Kids diving off Porto do Barra pier? The hawkers following the tour crowds?

Salvador is considered exotic even by Brazilians. It's been called the most African city outside the "dark" continent. It's a fusion of African, Latin, and Portuguese cultures that is simply intoxicating. This may be the highlight of your trip to Brazil.

The city sits high on bay's entrance on a towering granite plateau. Below it the Baiae do Todos os Santos (Bay of All Saints) stretches across for tens of miles, and is littered with over 31 islands many with magnificent beaches. Salvador sits at the tip of the bay with the city built at a right angle. Along its southern Atlantic stretch are the beaches. The most famous of these is Barra a city district which is now coming back into fashion. The beaches stretch all the way along the coast in a continuous string, all the way up to Venezuela.

Everything, however, moves towards the colonial centre of Pelhurinho. This is the most impressive part of Salvador with restaurants, nightclubs, museums and some of the best colonial churches in South America. But this is divided in two - the Cidade Alta (high city) looks down from its rocky crag on the Cidade Baixa (lower city). The lower city consists of workaday Salvador with marina's, offices and the interesting Mercado Modelo. Both sets of Salvador are connected by the busy Lacerda Elevator which only costs a few reals and ladeiras which are winding twisting streets.

Of all the airports I passed through in Brazil, by far the most impressive is the one at Salvador. It's a long way from Pelhurinho, over twenty miles, but is connected by a bus service or pre-paid taxi. The taxis can be pre-ordered in the luggage carousel area, and it costs about 57 reals to Barra/Pehurinho. Once you have been delivered to your destination, you give the driver the ticket, and he returns it to the airport to get paid. The bus is even cheaper, at 4 reals, and the advantage of this is that it will travel the ocean road in from the airport. You get a scale of Salvador's endless beaches and can hop off in Barra or Pituba or carry on to the last stop in Pelhurinho's Praca de Se.

But your main method of transportation will be the taxis. I strongly suggest these if you are moving around at night and before I arrived I heard horror stories from travellers about taking these vehicles. Imagine my surprise when I encountered nothing but honest and friendly taxi drivers. In fact, they fell over themselves for me.