Final Destination

Salvador de Bahia, Brazil

24.03.2010 - 29.03.2010
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More than a year after landing in San Francisco, having been through 17 countries and travelled more than 30,000km, we arrived at our final destination, Salvador de Bahia.

After such a wonderful time so far in Brasil, perhaps Salvador didn't quite live up to what had gone before but it was still a fun, vibrant and energetic city characterised by great food, music and a very strong African influence.

The further north that we'd traveled in Brasil the greater that influence had become and in terms of culture, Bahia could hardly be more different to somewhere like Florianopolis. Pelourinho, in the historic centre of the city, was awash with bright, colourful houses and churches.

The streets were full of jewelery sellers, musicians and women in traditional dress.

One night at dinner (more delicious Moqueca) we were entertained by a deafeningly loud samba band before coming across some capoeira - a cross between dance and martial art - which was quite hypnotic to watch.

And all that came after we'd turned up in Pelourinho to find a reggae concert in full flow, complete with stalls selling beer and the by now compulsory caipirinhas. Away from the city, the beach suburbs at Praia Flamengo and Praia Itapua provided miles and miles of soft golden sand, with plenty of good options for lunch.

We were staying in Barra which had some nice beaches and an iconic lighthouse.

It felt a little shady at night but during the day there was always lots going on - plenty of football, volleyball sailing and surfing to watch.

In fact beach football was like a religion here - at the weekend there were some pretty serious matches going on, and nobody was taking it easy when near the rocks or in the ocean. The rest of the time there was plenty of skill and showboating on view, though not much success at scoring in the miniature sized goals. Once we had to vacate our position on the beach after a pitch was set up around us, though they did ask very nicely.

There was an inevitable sense of sadness as the end of the trip drew ever nearer but we had a nice last day, starting with a visit to the Bonfim Church which is full of plastic and artificial limbs - apparently to symbolise those that the church had cured.

We had a lovely last lunch overlooking the sea in Barra, one final Moqueca and (more than) one last Caipirinha.

I'm so glad that we kept on going and had this time at the end in Brasil - it really is an amazing place. And, despite one or two obvious setbacks, I'd have to say the same about Latin America.