Caribbean & South America 2017: Salvador da Bahia (FEB 20)

Approaching the city and port, Pam & I noted some apparently new high-rise construction at the ‘modern’ end of the city, but otherwise Salvador was as we remembered it. (Click here to see my 2014 post.)

The modern part is out towards the point of land on which Salvador sits. Ships dock in the older part of the city. There is a busy street right next to the pier with lots of buildings and businesses on it. Going back a block or two, the buildings are in severe disrepair (i.e. falling down). Although an unattractive part of the city, it is a good location because it provides easy access to the upper part of the old city. The fastest way up in the elevator. The fee is $.05, but it can cost considerably more if you are a victim of one of the pickpockets who work the crowded elevators.

note the decaying building is the lower right quadrant

There is an interesting factoid about the houses on the streets in this part of the city. When Brazil was ruled by Portugal, the houses on each street had no street number. Each was a different color. No two houses on a given street were allowed to be the same color. People gave their address by street name and house color (e.g. “blue house on Bahia Street”) When the tax collectors from Lisbon were expected, everyone painted their house white. If not true, it makes a good story.

Pam & I walked from the ship to the crafts market located next to the elevator. After walking through the market, we took the elevator to the upper city. Mindful of the pickpockets, I had worn pants with zippered pockets. As an added precaution, we pressed ourselves again a wall.

being welcomed at the entrance to the marine terminal

Last time we had been here, Carnaval had just ended. This time the city was in preparation for Carnaval. We noted with interest that along the parade route statues and fountains had boards around them to prevent people from climbing on them. And it was not just statues and fountains. For example, churches had boarded up their fences for the same reason.

We wandered toward the main square, noting that while work was still going on, the repairs to the main basilica that were about to start when we were last here were still far from complete.

The church behind Pam in the picture above is one of the most famous of the 200 catholic churches in Salvador. We had gone into part of the St. Francis complex on our last visiting. This time we went into the museum where we made a new friend – Carmelito.

His approach was clever. We originally thought he was the curator, and perhaps even the creator, of the statues of saints on display.

One thing lead to another, and soon he was taking us on a tour of the entire museum. Along the way, I kept recalculated the inevitable gratuity.

Note the wide of the floor boards

Carmelito was all set to take us to the former convent part of the complex but (1) we had been there before and (2) we were ready to do something else (whatever that might be). As I pulled out my wallet in anticipation of a generous tip to Carmelito, he informed me of his ‘fee’ as a ‘guide’. It was a bit more than I had planned to tip him, but close, so I paid him his fee with no tip. This was satisfactory to all parties, so after much handshaking, we went our separate ways.

While we had been touring the church, we had heard a drum concert taking place somewhere in the area. We followed our ears to find a group we presumed was practicing for the Carnaval parade. They were good.

We went into another church, making sure Carmelito or none of his ilk were lurking nearby. The alter was beautiful.

We wandered around a bit more, then retraced of path to the elevator and having descended, once again following full pickpocket prevention protocol, walked back to the ship. It was interesting that on the elevator, the operator made it obvious that he was scanning for pickpockets.