Arrival in Salvador, Brazil

Salvador, Brazil - (31/01/05)

WE DID IT!!!!!!!!! We've arrived! We've crossed the big pond!

Yup, we‘re here in Salvador after a great run down from Ascension Island and have arrived just in time for Carnival which sounds as though it´s going to be really something! This place is hectic already - the music, drums, costumes, people, people and people!!! Amazing!

Calypso really performed well on the crossing, it was 5 days from St Helena to Ascension Island then another 12 over to Salvador (we ran out of wind for 3 whole days) but have no complaints at all. We have a few little items to attend to but nothing untoward or serious. Right now we´re just chilling out (wrong! it´s bloody HOT!) and enjoying things here on terra firma.

The cruising lifestyle is GREAT!!! Right up our alley - we can thoroughly recommend it.

Upon arriving, the first boat we saw was 'Sunshine' our fellow Governor's Cup participants, Debbie and Wayne. It's amazing that we travelled right across the Atlantic and met up with people we know! They've been here for a month now and meeting up with them has proven to be very fortuitous as they've been able to show us the 'ropes' which makes things so much easier when in a foreign country.

It took us forever to clear customs here as the red tape is to be experienced but we got through it finally. We’ve been warned that this is a sign of things to come in the future, in fact, the smaller the island, the larger the paperwork hassles. All part of the experience!

Carnival has proven to be a very noisy but colourful affair. How they all don't suffer from severe hearing problems is beyond me. We've watched parade after parade and have learned how much this all means to the Brazilians. They put so much effort into the costumes even for the littlest of their children and they really know how to enjoy themselves.

The ‘Blurb’ on the city reads: “Salvador, capital of the state of Bahia, was the first major port and the capital of colonial Brazil for almost two centuries. The city lies between green tropical hills and broad beaches along the bay of Todos os Santos. It was built on two levels with administration buildings and residences constructed on the hills; forts, docks, and warehouses on the beaches.

To this day the city is still divided into upper and lower cities. From 1500 to 1815 Salvador was the nation's busiest port. A significant portion of the sugar from the northeast and gold and diamonds from the mines in the southeast passed through Salvador. It was a golden age for the town; magnificent homes and churches resplendent in gold decoration were built. Many of the city's baroque churches, private homes, squares, and even the hand-chipped paving bricks have been preserved as part of Brazil's historic patrimony. In Salvador, more than anywhere else in the country, the African influence in the makeup of Brazilian culture is readily visible, from the spicy dishes still called by their African names (caruru, vatapa, acaraji), to the ceremonies of candombli which honor both African deities and Catholic holidays, to the capoeira schools where a unique African form of ritualistic fighting is taught. Its population is around 2,250,000 inhabitants.”

We´ll probably stay here for a few weeks then go over to the island of Itaparica across the bay - we´ve heard that the water there is really nice (it´s foul here so we won´t be filling our tanks as yet). It´s also apparently quieter with nice beaches so we may just spend a week or so there too. I

PHOTO GALLERY: