2025 Salvador de Bahia

The second stop on my Atlantic Crossing was Salvador de Bahia. Salvador was founded in the 1500’s and is the capital of Bahia.

Salvador de Bahia was the first capital of Portuguese Brazil and is recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Salvador is also the home of the World’s largest Street Party, well it is according to the Guinness Book of Records. We missed it by a couple of weeks.

The current city was originally a fortress called São Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos, the Holy Savior of the Bay of All Saints, and was built in 1549. This makes Salvador one of the oldest European Cities in South America.

Highlights of Salvador

Today’s tour was called the Highlights of Salvador. Unfortunately we ended up with a tour guide that struggled to engage us. I also think that the tour itself was fairly bland, it was the sort of tour that only ticked the standard boxes.

Barra Lighthouse

Our first stop was Barra Lighthouse. This is the second lighthouse built on the site and was built in 1839. Something interesting, well to me anyway, about the lighthouses in Brazil, is that they are all owned by the Brazilian Navy.

After a nice stroll around the lighthouse it was time to head back to the bus. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to check out the lighthouse itself.

Whilst at the lighthouse I noticed a group of divers who had been on cleanup of the area. Way too many single use plastics and people being too lazy to dispose of them properly. Not as much rubbish as I expect would be found in a lot of other places, which is a positive.

A few pics from the area around the lighthouse.

Everywhere you go in Brazil there are people in bright gear and music, sometimes even a bit of dancing. This group were having a lot fun.

Salvador Upper Town

After the lighthouse we headed up to the Upper Town (Cidade Alta). Our first stop was Praça Thomé De Souza the plaza in front of the Palácio Rio Branco and at the top of the Elevador Lacerda.

A nice view of the port and out to São Marcelo Fort.

Fallen Cross Monument

This is a monument to the resilience of the people of Salvador de Bahia.

Cathedral Basilica of Salvador

Our next stop was the Cathedral Basilica of Salvador. The Cathedral was built by the Jesuits in the mid 1600’s. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site and I can see why, it is another amazing Cathedral in Brazil.

We were lucky enough to get a look inside on a Sunday during the morning mass.

Time for a Wander

After the Cathedral we decided that it was time for us to go our own way. As mentioned our guide was not the best and we thought we could do better ourselves. Especially as it was not that difficult to get back to the ship from where we were, just take a lift down and a bit of a walk.

Igreja e Convento de São Francisco

We came across this Monastery not far from the Cathedral and whilst I was taking a few photos of the curators of the Church and Convent of San Francisco let us know that we could take a look inside.

The price of entry was about USD2 and was definitely, IMO, worth the price of entry. What do you think?

If we had stayed on the tour we would have missed this place.

The Streets of the Salvador Upper Town

Street Art

The street art of Salvador is vibrant and everywhere. There is a lot more to find, another reason to return.

Salvador Carnival Museum

The entrance to the Salvador Carnival Museum. It was closed, so skipped it, another reason to return.

Salvador Port

After wandering the streets of the Upper Town it was time to head back to the ship to cool down.

Getting down to the port area is easy, take the lift.

IMHO the murals, sculptures and monuments add to the attractive architecture of the place.

Sail Away

The sail away from Salvador was one of the more picturesque of the cruise.

I was able to enjoy it from the comfort of my balcony. We had only scratched the surface of the place, guess I will need to return.

Dinner

Tonight’s dinner was in Sette Mari. As always s a great meal. The 2017 Vandguardist “MVG” Grenache from McLaren Vale was not bad, actually it was pretty good. A fitting end to an enjoyable day.

Our Route

Two ports down..