The Historical Sites of Salvador

Due to light winds and part of the fleet lingering in St. Helena, the World ARC schedule became somewhat convoluted. Yachts straggled into Bahia Marina one by one. The Yellow Shirts had a scheduled flight and tried to accommodate as many as possible with schedule changes moving the prize-giving event to the last possible night.

They also adjusted the city tour so most people could make it. Salvador is not a city where you explore on your own so the combined bus and walking tour was appreciated. We all loved being in the air-conditioned bus as the temperature was unbearably warm. As we sail north, it is going to become more and more uncomfortable.

Our first stop on the bus tour was at the Barra Lighthouse. It is the black and white striped one that greets yachts at the tip of the peninsula. The Barra Lighthouse marks the entrance to the “Baia de Todos os Santos” or All Saint’s Bay, which is about 300 km long. On the navigational charts, the bay looked small and rather narrow, but in real life it is huge! And is filled with many anchored cargo ships.

The lighthouse is adjacent to one of the most popular beaches in the area. In fact, the beach runs continuously east from the lighthouse up the eastern side of the peninsula. The Brazilians love their beaches and spend a lot of time cooling off in the water. We walked around the base of the lighthouse and could easily see why we had to round the peninsula so far offshore: rocks and reefs!

As we continued our tour, we saw how the city is divided into two different areas. There is the “Cidada Baixa” (Town) down by the water. The city is built on the side of a mountain and the roads are steep. In fact, there is a 70-meter tall pedestrian elevator (the “Elevator Lacerda”) or the vertical tram (“Plano Inclinado”) to take one from the lower city to the upper one. The “Cidada Alta” is the Upper Town and hosts most of the historical sites. Taxis were our mode of elevation!

Here you can see the upper and lower cities from the bay.

The bus took us through the Corredor da Vitoria, Campo Grand and Piedade before arriving at the Upper City. We passed the sculptures of the Candomble deities at the Dique do Tororo and saw their famous football stadium across the lake.

Since the streets are so narrow, we had to leave the bus and head off for a guided walking tour of the city area known as Pelourinho and a museum and church. Pelourinho is considered to be the most important architectural complex dating to the 17^th and 18^th centuries.

Unfortunately, little English was spoken and all the literature was in Portuguese so it was difficult to read anything about what we were seeing. The language was frustrating even with the help of Google Translator.

They have no real need to learn English since the whole country speaks the same language. However, like many of the countries trying to expand tourism, they need to consider the frustration of visitors and how the lack of translated information decreases the enjoyment of their country.

Our tour guide spoke good English with a somewhat challenging accent, but we were able to understand most of what he had to say in the Museu da Misericordia and the Church of Saint Francis, which is located at the far end of Pelourinho Plaza. The museum had been a hospital and a government house and has a lovely chapel on the main floor.

These plain doors hide the most amazing

church interiors in the world.

Note the horns on Moses!

The hand cut marble inlay throughout was amazing. We admired the open-air plan of the architecture as it provided both shade and light while allowing the breeze to flow freely though the rooms. Obviously, in the hotter climates, these things are important when designing spaces. The furnishings were very old and the watchful staff reminded people not to touch!

The Church of Saint Francis was breathtaking! From the outside, it looked plain. Once you entered the Porch and Cloister, it began to reveal something very special. The Porch was built between 1749 and 1755. The painting on the ceiling is famous for its perspective of the glorified Virgin Mary. The Cloister was completed between 1729 and 1794 with hand-painted tiles that came from Portugal between 1743 and 1746.

The 37 tiled mosaics on the ground floor were all inspired by the paintings of the Flemish artist, Oto Van Veen. The Latin epigraphs on each painting were inspired by Horatio. The tiles in the upper cloister depict scenes of fishing, hunting, country life, symbols of the five senses, the months and the continents. We were told why the paintings of Moses show him with horns on his head. Apparently, there was a mistranslation of the word and someone thought it meant “horn” and so they were painted on the tile! Oh, the challenges of communication!

The most prized carvings within the church are made from Jacaranda wood. This includes the choir loft and the sacristy. They were completed in the early part of the 18^th century. The style of most of the church is Baroque and it is gleaming with gold leaf. You can easily see why people complain that the city forefathers spent money on the churches and governmental building instead of housing for the people.

We were told that at one time all of the gold had been covered over with plaster. Perhaps this was to protect it from invaders. It wasn’t until a workman found something underneath the plaster that this treasure was revealed again. I think the guide said there 8,000 sheets of gold leaf used in the decoration. The ceiling of the sacristy is divided into 48 magnificent paintings with the emblem of the Franciscan Order in the center. It was sensory overload time again.

Fortunately, John and Colt were able to see this church before they left. They had taken a morning city walking tour and then we all took the ferry across the All Saints Bay to Itaparica Island. It was a two hour ferry trip that is frequently taken by the locals for get-away weekends on the island beaches. We were there on a Monday so it was very quiet, but the crossing was pleasant and gave a great opportunity to watch the locals enjoy themselves.




Finding a cab or bus on a Monday to take us to the beach area on the end of the island was somewhat challenging. We finally found one and the driver was willing to wait several hours while we explored and had a bite to eat be fore returning to the ferry at dark. The little village was interesting and I can see why it is overrun on the weekends.

                                  

The night ride back on the ferry.

                                                                                                                                            

My favorite: shrimp stew, Brazilian style.

The final evening in Salvador was the Prize Giving Party. We were thrilled to have been the monohull winners of this long crossing. I would say we did alright in the World ARC events as we scored a first, second and a third. Not bad for such novice sailors! Of course, a lot of credit goes to crew, too.

We were sad that John and Colt were not there with

us to accept the first place prize. Thanks, crew!

Not only were we first across the Finish Line, but we did it with zero engine hours! At first no one would believe that we never used the motor for propulsion. We may not sail the fastest, but without the motoring penalty, we achieved our goal. Thank you John and Colt for your expertise and the fun times we had on the crossing - even without fresh water and a working freezer!

So long, Salvador. We have places to go and things to see!

It was time to say "goodbye" to Mannel, a Yellow Shirt who spoke Brazilian Portuguese. His services were most helpful to the fleet as no one could communicate with the locals. He and Victor were heading north to Cabedelo to prepare for the arrival of the fleet so we were all left on our own to finish up work, provisioning, etc. before setting sail to meet them.

Our next big social events will be one pre-Carnaval night, a trip to Olinda and one to Recife for a couple of traditional carnaval experiences. One will be an evening outing with great caution and the other will be an all day event. Let the good times roll ...