After an overnight flight, we landed in Salvador da Bahia – the African Capital of Brazil (it has the second highest population of African descendants, behind Lagos, Nigeria) early this morning, ready to explore the area and bring back it’s most interesting sights and sounds for BlackAtlas<sup>SM</sup>.
First up, we traveled to the statues of the Orixás. The Orixás are gods of the Candomblé religion which was created in Brazil by enslaved African Priests. They combined their knowledge of religion with their culture and religion to their sets of beliefs, all based around nature.
Next, we headed to the Pelourinho District, home to the last slave market in Brazil. Pelhourinho is Portuguese for ‘whipping post’…the name alone tells you plenty about the history of this area. Carnival ended a couple of weeks ago, yet many of the decorations from that celebration could still be seen.
We stopped to have lunch at Sorriso da Dadá – translated as “Dada’s smile” – an eatery that specializes in Afro-Brazilian foods. The owner, Dada is as known for her beautiful smile as she is her cooking. Though she was traveling when we stopped in, we were able to sample her delicious moqueca, a Brazilian seafood stew.
After lunch, we ran across some young men and women performing capoeira. Not only did we get to watch them battle each other, we also got a little education on the history behind the sport.
We then headed over to All Saints Bay to catch the sunset. At the park surrounding the bay, we noticed lots of couples snuggled up and showing affection – lots of affection.
After the sun set, we wrapped for the afternoon. It’s back to the hotel for a bit of rest…in a few hours, we are heading out to capture Brazil night life, Salvador da Bahia style. I’ll keep you posted.