12:58:330S 038:30:977W Salvador-Brazil

Shaya Moya
Don & Susan Smyth
Tue 17 Feb 2015 17:46

The leg from St Helena to Salvador did not get any better than the leg from Cape Town to St Helena. We were becalmed for days on end forcing us to motor, we used up almost all our diesel. The sea-life was also disappointing with very little fish being caught. We were entertained just before we got to Salvador by a hundred or so spinner dolphins. The delightful creatures surf the waves, jumping out of the water and spinning a number of times before surfing again.

 

 

After 15 days and 1879nm miles we finally arrived in Salvador where the rest of the ARC fleet are, to be welcomed by the ARC support team with the infamous national drink, the caipirinha, a blend of limes, castor sugar and cacchaca, a white cane spirit. We would have a few of these over the next few days, quite refreshing. We ate at a few restuarants in the old town which is accessed by a lift just outside the marina.

 

 

Once the capital of Portugal's New World Colony and still a major city of Brazil, Salvador is an interesting place to visit. The main city is on a peninsula that overlooks the Baia Todos os Santos( All Saints Bay) and its 3 million population is a melange of nations and cultures The city is also known as Roma Negra for the 365 churches there. Some of the most splendid examples of Latin art is found here.

 

 

Salvador is the hub of a huge art movement with a blend of many cultures and people of different extraction living in harmony together. Although the Salvadorians do not seem to perceive a difference in colour or creed, it soon becomes apparent that there is a huge contrast of rich and poor, just like in the rest of Brazil’s 180 million population. 

 

Home to the famous Brazilian Capoeira dance and martial art style, we were fortunate to have a private show by one of the top dance troupe's at the ARC cocktail evening in the old city. This is absolutely amazing to watch. This is a martial art that the slaves used to practice under the guise of a dance, and is a formidable method of hand to hand combat.The musical rhythm is provided by a small group of percussion players and a stringed bow like instrument with a resonating gourd called the berimbau.

 

 

Two individuals engage in hand to hand combat in a graceful ballet. Each making a feint at attacking the other in a twirling of legs and arms without ever actually touching, in perfect harmony.

 

 

The stop here has been planned around the prevailing weather pattern and of course the Carnival, Most cities have some sort of carnival, a festivity to celebrate the arrival of Lent, however Salvador is famous for its four day celebration by its 3 million inhabitants. One hundred and fifty floats, gigantic low bed trucks, equipped with a deafening sound system, mounted by a large platform on which groups of musicians entertain the crowds. These vehicles are surrounded by groups of singers and dancers all dressed in matching style. The marshalls encircle each float and its thousand of dancers with a rope that keeps the crowds at bay.

 

 

Enormous podiums are erected along the route as hospitality venues that can be hired, or in our case, where you pay to get in. This is the only sort of place to see the spectacle, as one is looking down on the parade and the thousands of spectators, and you are not being crushed or worse case being mugged or pick pocketed. Brazil has a really bad reputation for crime and we were warned repeatedly not to walk alone or carry any valuables. I have to say that I felt more at risk here than I have in South Africa.

 

 

As I mentioned in the last blog, our AIS system packed up and we were hoping to get it fixed or replaced here. No such luck, Brazil and particularly Salvador is not really geared for yachting. Another more crucial failure was our freezer packing up. We had run its contents down on the way over and were lucky to be able to save most of whats left in the other two fridges small iceboxes. We struggled for days to get a refrigeration mechanic. Finally one pitched with two apprentices to carry everything(reminds one of Africa). He worked all afternoon to no avail, and we had to pay hime before he left promising to return with a spare compressor the next day. Lesson learnt never pay before ones satisfied.

 

 

We decided that we had to push on without a freezer and did our provisioning accordingly. Lots of pasta, cold meats and veggies. Ant has obviously been missing bread on the last leg as he bought the entire bakery. Guess its sandwiches and toast from now on. The next leg is our longest one yet, some 600nm from Salvador up the east coast of Brazil to an island group, Fernando de Noronha, where we will take a day or so before tackling the next 2000nm to Grenada in the Caribbean.