After spending the night in a fine local hotel and partially recovering from the previous days of traveling, we were anxious for our journey to begin. Salvador is a vibrant city of many different cultures and as the first capital of the country it is very historic, and is occasionally referred to as the City of Churches. There are many restored parts of the old colonial town. Today Salvador is about 2.5 million people and is the capital city of the state of Bahia. During the morning we toured around many of the historical parts of the city and saw one of the most famous landmarks, the elevator that takes people from the upper part to the waterfront level.
At the mid-point of the day we were in the colorful old part of the city where we had a lunch consisting of many different Brazilian and typical Bahian dishes. Most of us relaxed in the cool dining room and enjoyed the refreshing drinks and meal. After finishing the tasty deserts we moved to a small theater where we were treated to a very special professional performance of some folkloric dances unique to Bahia. The African slave trade of the 18th and 19th centuries brought a variety of cultures to Brazil, and the dances and songs of Bahia today reflect these influences.
Following the performance we continued the tour for a short while before arriving at the dock. As we boarded the Caledonian Star we were greeted many times by smiling and friendly faces. After everyone was accounted for we pulled away from the Salvador dock and started our journey down the coast of Brazil.
