Mar 10 Salvador, Brazil

Another Brazilian port today, Salvador. Salvador was the first colonial capital of Brazil hundreds of years ago. They have had several since then including Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and currently Brazilia.  There are millions of people living in Salvador. There are two distinct parts of the city and communities (these are like suburbs in our country). The original, old part of the city was built on a hill overlooking the natural port. The buildings are old and there are many areas that would be considered slums in our country. The houses are made of whatever materials were available. They are built very close together and almost on top of each other. There are no streets through these areas only narrow sidewalks. Because most are built on hillsides, the sidewalks often are long, narrow stairways. Sam is not sure that he would like to live this way.

Other distinct part of the city is the new part, areas built within the last 100 years. There are many tall buildings, apartment houses, malls, shopping areas, etc. It is quite a contrast.

Sam’s tour today was to another town on the north coast, Praia do Forte. It is mainly a resort area that Brazilian people go to during the weekends or vacations. There are also accommodations for tourists. It is very commercial. Sam got to have lunch in a Brazilian restaurant. This one specialized in more fish dishes prepared the way the local people enjoy. There was also steak, Brazil is big into beef just like Argentina.

 

Along the coast where this town is built sea turtles come each year to lay their eggs. There are five different variety of sea turtles that are native to the area. As the town grew and more people came, the nests of the sea turtles were in danger. The eggs are laid in a hole the turtles dig in the sand. If the nests are disturbed or uncovered before they hatch, there wouldn’t be any little turtles. Sam visited the TAMAR Project that is trying to protect the sea turtles. He saw the protective fences that were placed around some of the nesting sites.

 

He also saw some of the little turtles in a pond.   

 

He saw some of the larger turtles that had been rescued. It is in Brazil to keep sea turtles as pets, but sometimes people do. And when they get too big or the people are tired of keeping them, the project will take them and try to introduce them back to the sea.

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On the way back to Salvador, the bus stopped at the Garcia D’Avila Castle. It was built in the 1500’s. It is in ruins (no roof on most of the structure, some walls have crumbled, etc.) but very interesting. There were two floors and many, many rooms in the castle. It was situated on top of a hill. The views were spectacular and the breeze was very nice. With temperatures in the mid 90’s today, this site was very pleasant.

Once the bus was back in Salvador, Sam saw more of the city. There was a man-made lake that was created by the Dutch people that were some of the first European settlers in the area. In and around the lake were large sculptures that were dedicated to the people that came from Africa to settle in the area. Most of those people originally came as slaves but their descendants are now a large part of the culture of the city.