Sunday, 18th January, Salvador, 23 degrees

Although poor weather was forecast, we woke up to a cloudy but bright day and we were already moored up at the dock in Salvador.

It was still early, but we got up, did our Joe Wicks exercises, and started our promenade walking, There were few others out but the view out to sea was amazing.

As we turned the corner of the deck we could hear the welcoming band – not quite so piercing as the music at Recife because there were no brass instruments, just the drums, While it was a cool 23 degrees, it was still humid – so the dancers just looked hot!

It was before 7.30!

We did a few laps and had breakfast and then went off the ship to see what Salvador had to offer us. We had not booked a tour but doing our own thing proved fine. Now and again we caught information from the guided tours going on around us and I think caught the drift. It was by then 26 degrees and eventually reached 28 degrees.

The city of Salvador is the capital of the Brazilian state of Bahia and was the first colonial capital of Brazil. It is the third most populous Brazilian city after São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The old part of town is perched on the top of a steep cliff and a municipal lift (Escalador Lacerda Ed) carries you up there. First we visited the market which was just opening up in the large purpose built building on the quay side, I guess the market would originally have sold fish and local food, but on a Sunday morning in 2026 its wares were more clothing and local tourist buys than local produce.

After a brief stop at the market we took the lift up to the old town. Once there the exit took us into a cobbled square from which we could look down to the harbour and the steep incline we had travelled,

Having crossed the square we came across a statue of Thome de Souza who founded the city of Salvador

Now I particularly liked his wellingtons but Keith said that they looked more like the Ugg boots I bought in Australia and wear around the house … It is all a matter of opinion.

Once again the street art was amazing …

The buildings around the square were dilapidated colonial style affairs in pale yellow, blue and pink, but on the grand scale, The shops were beginning to open and many displayed wonderfully colourful clothing. All of the women’s clothes were built for ladies of at least 7 foot six and above and well beyond the scope of alteration by my mini sewing kit, so sadly I had to pass them by. Nor could I tempt Keith into one of the incredibly colourful shirts on offer as he felt they could not be worn in the highways and byways of Buxton.

We next come upon another big square. On the corner was the Cathedral and a service was just about to start, but I was able to quickly snatch a photograph of the richly decorated interior. We agreed that we hadn’t seen anything quite like it since we were in Santiago in Spain;

Salvador is certainly well endowed with churches – there were another three in the Cathedral square alone.

Having crossed the square we followed the crowd along an old cobbled street (all the streets were cobbled and quite dangerous to the unwary as there were somewhat uneven). Having passed an old Covent that later became the first university, we followed the sound of drumming to find ourselves at the top of quite a steep hill, Here three young women were beating out bouncy rhythms and creating quite a frenzy.

Either side of the road, street sellers were setting up their drink stalls and lads pushing wheelbarrows full of ice to feed the huge cool boxes required to keep the cans of drink cool. We precariously made our way down the hill which had become almost treacherously slippery as it was damping with rain. When we reached the bottom the left hand turn that we had anticipated taking us back to the ship, looked decidedly seedy so we felt it expedient to return the way we came – up the very steep hill, but not before we had taken in the view ahead of a very colourful street.

When we reached the top of the hill again we took the left fork and Keith rewarded himself with the Brazilian football shirt he had wanted to purchase. The shopkeeper worked really hard to find the right size and Keith felt a bit mean when we realised that after heavy bargaining on Keith’s part, the shirt cost him £9.50!

We continued to wander – Salvador felt far less sinister than Recife – and I was able to get some good street scene shots …

We then decided to wend our way back to the ship, but on the way stopped to sample the street food. First was a tapioca based pancake filled with meat and cheese

And then we found an empanada type thing in the market so we had one each, one chicken and one beef.

Then we headed back to the ship. We came across this sculpture on the way which was pretty impressive and encapsulated many of the heritage activities I think. (I thought it was carnival. Ed)

The next and final excitement of the day, was the fact that i found myself a swimming costume!! Tara! Not that I intend to take to the water, but I have looked a bit heavily dressed when I have been sitting on the top deck getting a few rays in my shorts and t-shirt – so I succumbed to a purchase. Despite the fact that I did not try it on, it fitted perfectly and I can now be camouflaged amongst the heavenly bodies on the top deck in the afternoon …

Sharp on 5.30 the Captain came on the tannoy to say we were leaving our mooring and heading out into Saints Bay en route to our next port. Keith was able to capture a last sighting of Salvador’s before it disappeared behind us.

Supper was quite a riotous affair with Sian and Gareth reporting that they had been found loitering in a dangerous area by the police and directed back onto a safer route to the ship and Penny and Michael telling their tale of having to climb back up that steep hill by walking 10 paces and then breathing because they found it so challenging. (Penny and Michael are well into their 80’s), So we all got to the same place but had to turn back!

We then went off to the theatre to see a magician, not really my cup of tea, but I happily dosed through the proceedings and came back refreshed to my writing, (He was a mixture of wonder, comedy and, quite frankly, the bizarre Ed)

Tomorrow is a sea day.