A Land of Passion, Nature, and Rhythm

The first stop after my departure from Rio to the northern part of the country was in the city of Salvador, or Salvador da Bahia, or – in its full name – São Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos, Holy Savior of the Bay of All Saints, the capital of the state of Bahia and the first capital of colonial Brazil from 1549 to 1763.

Salvador

The former capital of Brazil is the country’s most “non-white” city: white people make up only 19% of its nearly three-million population. The remaining 81% consists of Black people (around 30%) and a group referred to by the Brazilian term “pardos,” or “brown” people (similar to the English term “coloured”). This includes mulattoes, mestizos (called caboclo or mameluco here), and sambos – descendants of mixed marriages between Indigenous peoples and Black people. Nationwide, pardos constitute about 42% of the population. The city also has a small Asian community. As a natural result, Salvador’s cuisine, music, and even architecture is markedly influenced by African culture. The city is renowned for its week-long carnival, nearly as famous as Rio’s carnival, earning Salvador the title of “Capital of Joy.” Salvador’s carnival is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest street party in the world.

The city is positioned on two levels. The old part of Salvador is in the Upper City (Cidade Alta). For some unclear reason, it’s called Pelourinho, which translates as “pillory.” This area houses government offices, museums, and famous churches. The Upper City is often referred to as a “city within a city” because of how distinct it is from the Lower City. To descend from the Upper City to the Lower City, you can use a rare kind of urban transportation – an elevator.

Salvador is the third-largest city in Brazil not only by population but also by crime rate. However, authorities have taken care that the old city is safe for tourists: you can see police officers stationed every few meters there.

I spent the first half of the day exploring its landmarks. Obviously, I started with Terreiro de Jesus, the heart of the old city. Its name, Terreiro de Jesus, traces back to the mid-16th century when the land was granted by the governor to the Jesuit Order. A century later, the Jesuits built a magnificent church here using a rare type of limestone found in the Sintra region in Portugal – the stone used for the Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon. After the Jesuits were expelled from both Portugal and Brazil, the church housed a military hospital, then a medical school. In 1933, when the old cathedral was demolished, it became the cathedral of Salvador. It is considered one of the finest examples of Mannerist style in the Portuguese Empire. Restoration work began in 2018 and lasted several years, leaving the church gleaming with gold and silver, as if brand new.

In addition to the cathedral, Terreiro de Jesus is home to the Church and Monastery of St. Francis (Igreja e Convento de São Francisco), built in the early 18th century in Spanish Baroque style. This church is among the most famous in the world, renowned for its incredible wealth of decorations in gold, silver, and precious stones.

The ceiling is painted so beautifully that it is often compared to the Sistine Chapel. But there’s more. Nearby you can find the Church of the Third Order of St. Francis (Igreja da Ordem Terceira Secular de São Francisco), which competed in the Seven New Wonders of the World contest, primarily due to its richly ornamented Baroque façade adorned with bas-reliefs. Still, these are just the main churches in this UNESCO-listed area of the city. The district is also rich in charming old buildings in pleasant pastel hues.

In the afternoon, I gathered my courage and took the elevator down to the lower city. I strolled through bustling streets lined with vendors selling exotic fruits, visited the Mercado Modelo shopping center, where I bought a semi-precious stone, then went to the shore and took a boat to Itaparica Island.

That evening, the city was celebrating a major festival. The entire Terreiro de Jesus square was filled with food and drink stalls, music blaring, and capoeira dancers captivating onlookers. I sipped on a caipirinha, which, from this vendor, tasted more like moonshine, and headed off to prepare for my departure.

Manaus

I took off as early as 5:20 a.m., but didn’t arrive in Manaus until 1 p.m., as the flight included a stopover. After settling in, I went to exchange money (strange as it is, but at that time, Manaus, a major tourist hub, there was no currency exchange office, so I had to exchange money at a sporting goods store’s cash register) and headed to the opera house, my main reason for coming here.

This breathtaking theater, Teatro Amazonas, seating 701 people, was declared the most beautiful opera house in the world by Vogue magazine. Built in a Neo-Renaissance style in the late 19th century during the rubber boom, the city’s fathers sought to show to the world their wealth, and succeeded brilliantly. Construction materials were sourced from around the globe. The dome is covered with 36,000 ceramic tiles in the colors of the Brazilian flag. The interior matches the grandeur of the exterior – truly a masterpiece. After taking a tour of the theater, I intended to explore more of the city, but my sore foot, injured back in Rio, protested.

The next day was dedicated to the Río Negro boat tour, all the way to the point where it merges with the Amazon – a “must-do” tour here in Manaus. Río Negro’s dark (negro) waters flow lengthy side by side with the lighter waters of the great river without mixing. It was great. Just knowing that I have reached the Amazon was enough to make my heart beat faster.

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After that, there was a sortie into the jungle, not wild but still the jungle, where I, trying to take a better picture of the lilies while standing on the shore of a swampy lake, started slipping into the water and was saved by the strong hand of our guide.

Then we sailed two or three hours to drop off two tourists who were heading deeper into the jungle. During that time, we had lunch, played with a baby crocodile and a snake, and napped in hammocks. The way back to Manaus was even longer (and boring). I was sure I would be met and taken back to where I had been picked up, but my agent had a different idea. Seeing a tall building in the distance, which I knew to be a multi-story parking garage close to my hotel, I wandered towards it as dusk was falling. Another thing tourists usually do in Manaus is a nighttime crocodile hunting tour, but it wasn’t my kind. So my introduction to Brazil was almost over.