Salvador, Bahia: a detour

Imagine yourself sitting in your most uncomfortable chair. Yep, that one, but imagine it reclines slightly. To your left are two seasoned farmers chumming it up. Another man sits in front of you and then one more behind. Together, these men with their coughing, sneezing, hacking, hocking and snot-tossing envelop you in a triangle of airborne infection. It is night and very dark. Closing your eyes you try to sleep, but for many hours the chair rattles and shifts violently tossing you from side to side, occasionally throwing your head into a seat in front of you. Now you sleep for fifteen minutes then open your eyes. It is day. Welcome to Salvador, you have just arrived via the twenty-two hour bus ride from Brasilia!

Your view from the bus: a dust storm on the Central Plateau


Nationwide, Brazil has had relatively minimal domestic railroad development and as a result relies heavily on buses to connect people from one city to another. The buses are fairly consistent, but the drivers are death personified; you can imagine the scythe and large, black robe make driving very difficult. Furthermore, many major roads are privately funded and as a result receive little maintenance, as the road between Brasilia and Salvador has proved.

Salvador sits on the western edge of a southward-facing peninsula in northeastern Brazil. Though Salvador sits on the inland side of the peninsula, the entirety of the area is fairly populated as well, including its beaches. Some beaches are calm as if the ocean were a small lake, some possess waves ensuring good surf, and still others are rocky and dangerous to swim in. The beaches are lined with restaurants (sort of) which take care of its guests for a small fee. So, visitors spend the day sipping Skol and Caipirinhas, interrupted only by vendors selling everything from sun-block to boiled quail eggs. Some other beach foods include charred cheese on a stick, barbequed meat on a stick, and caldo do sururu, an rich, spice-laden seafood stew. As you can imagine, it is quite easy to lose track of time on the beach, sun-bathing, surfing, imbibing and solving the philosophical problems of existence, but of course I didn't do that. Anyway, there is more to Salvador than beaches.

The center of Salvador is divided by its geography: cidade baixa (low city) and cidade alto (high city). The city was built up on the higher portion of land as a defense against invasions via the bay. Over time of course, the area filled out and now the entire peninsula is populated, but cidade alto is still home to the city’s history. In addition to being the capital for nearly three hundred years, the city was also the center of slave trade in colonial Brazil. It is estimated that three million Africans were shipped to Brazil, many of which came through the port in Salvador. Thus, the demographics in Salvador and the entire northeast for that matter are significantly different than those of southern Brazil.

Today the center of Salvador is supported by tourism, but still retains a rawness to it. In Pelourinho, the historic center, visitors can dine on the traditional Bahian dish acarajé (a “bean fritter” made from black-eye peas, balled up and fried in dende (palm) oil, served with a spicy paste of nuts, shrimp and vegetables, and topped with whole shrimp – it is customary to eat the shell), learn capoeira (a martial-art/dance/game created by the once enslaved Africans of northeastern Brazil) or be heckled by beggars and suffer by the hands of pickpockets. Then of course, one can go to the beach in just twenty minutes, which is nice.

One more thing: each household in America should have a hammock. And yes, this includes all of you teetering around the 40th-45th parallels, from Boston to Chicago to Montana. Whether taking a midday nap or passing out at five in the morning the hammock is indeed a oft neglected medium to human comfort. (Chicagoans take note; the standard flat in Chicago is just the perfect width for the required span of a hammock, just refrain from notifying your landlord about the masonry anchors required for support).

During my stay, I made some very interesting and good friends. It was a great time, but now that I have completed my detour into Bahia, it is time to regain focus. And so I move onward to Sao Paulo to face the country’s socio-economic issues in its foremost “urban jungle”.

Following are some images around Salvador and its beautiful beaches. They are not all that pretty as some are out of focus or poorly composed or whatever, but they do show some of the great friends I made. This detour was spent more like a backacker than an architect - sometimes a necessary action. Enjoy.







Cidade Baixa


Cidade Baixa


MVRDV inspiration?


Me, John (from Curitiba) and Omar (from Bogota)


Omar, John (from Australia) and his girlfriend whose name I cannot remember.


The Atlantic.


Jaguaribe beach


Tim (also an aussie) & Omar at another beach


John, crazy Canadian girl, Camilo (Bogota), Tim and local child standing. This child showed off all day for us. We played with him, throwing him around in the water and such. At the end of the day, he asked that we take him with us - adopt him because he did not love his parents. Sad.


Sunset at this same beach.


Same crew waiting for the bus back to town.


Typical view inside a local bus.


Just north of Jaguaribe. French girl #1, Jamie (another aussie), French girl #2, Omar, me, Miani (or similar spelling), John.


Another beauty.


Graffiti everywhere - center of Pelourinho.


Grand stair in Pelourinho used as amphitheater for music and other events in the evening.


Standing: Spanish guy with mini-mohawk, Jamie, Camilo & Regina. Sitting: Spanish girl, Omar (he's everywhere), Christine (San Francisco), John & me.


Arembepe - a beachside settlement supposedly founded by Janis Joplin and Mick Jagger. Look it up, its weird. This pool is where the hippies and the locals bath and recreate (and maybe re-create as well. No swimming for me, thanks).


Arembepe - hut by the pool selling alcohol and other refreshments.


Arembepe - I think you know everyone.


Morro de Sao Paulo - a island south of Salvador. I was sick once again during this time. Stil, it was gorgeous, as you can see. This is a church (obviously) at the top of the hill you walk when arriving.


Morro de Sao Paulo - beaches 1 & 2.


Morro de Sao Paulo - the primary means of transporting goods is via a wheelbarrow and the occasional mule. Here we have a little trailer with masonry and a box of grout on the mules back with a group of laborers.


Up on the tallest hill in Morro de Sao Paulo. You can see beaches 1, 2, 3 and finally 4 around the bend. Note the "tiroleza" in the foreground - it was not open that day.


Back in Salvador
Back in Salvador - the public elevator that connects Cidade Alto to Cidade Baixa. It is recommended you pay 10-20 centavos (5-10 cents in the States), but locals just pass through the turnstiles.











And last, this crappy photo? This is a man whom every single day dresses like a character out of MadMax. He clothes himself in leather, raw metals and all kinds of interesting stuff - very medieval. Apparently he is a fixture in Salvador, in Pelourinho particularly. Someone even made a documentary about him. I was too scared to take a well composed photograph. You would be too!