Praia do Porto da Barra

Praia do Porto da Barra The best beaches of Bahia State are not in Salvador, but it doesn´t mean you can´t have a deserved sea bath after some hours strolling through the city. In this case, take the chance if you are in Barra neighbourhood, or if you are visiting the three fortress, to stop by Porto da Barra beach.  Boys diving at Porto da Barra beach, in Salvador. It seems one of the favorite sports practised by young people at this coastal city of Brazil As it lays inside the All Saint´s Bay, its waters are calm enough for stand up paddle practitioners, kayaking, diving into the sea from the remnants of a stone pier of the stronghold, and other sports.....or simply laying at the beach drinking a beer or a caipirinha.  Some tents rent chairs and beach umbrellas, and sell the drinks you need, so you don´t have to carry anything with you, unless beachwear, to enjoy the sunset by the Porto da Barra beach.

Cannons at the Santa Maria Fortress, with the Porto da Barra beach, to the left, and Forte São Diogo, atop. The Porto da Barra beach is the most visited by the LGBT community, where, by night, some bars welcomes gay-friendly visitors.

Salvador - Forte Santa Maria

Salvador - Forte Santa Maria

Salvador - Forte Santa Maria

Getting inside the Bahia de Todos os Santos, west to the Farol da Barra, is the Forte Santa Maria, the second stronghold protecting All Saint´s Bay. 

Cannons and a small museum welcome visitors. Nice pics can be taken of the Farol da Barra and the Forte São Diogo, the third fortress in line. 

Farol da Barra, view from Santa Maria Fortress

Just 650m separate Farol da Barra from Santa Maria Fortress. 

Forte São Diogo

Forte São Diogo

Forte São Diogo, at Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

The Forte São Diogo, is the third fortress on the entrance of All Saint´s Bay, just some meters from Forte Santa Maria. 

The two strongholds are separated by the Porto da Barra beach (see next post). 

The fortress is still kept by the Brazillian Army, and has a nice view from atop, for those willing to climb it. 

Built between 1626 and 1635, after the dutch invasion of Salvador (1624-1625), it granted the defense of Salvador in 1638, when a new atempt of foreign invasion was expelled. 

Also, a permanent art exposition of the argentinian artist Hector Julio Paride Bernabó, also known as Carybé, is held inside the fortification and can be visited under payment of 20 reais (about 6 US dollars). 

Carybé fell in love with Salvador, and made good friendship with Jorge Amado, Bahia´s most famos writer. Both are dead, but the Jorge Amado´s house in Pelourinho works as a museum which tells the history of the writer (see future post). Carybé died in Salvador, where some of its artwork can be found, as in this small museum inside Forte São Diogo.

Mercado Modelo de Salvador

Mercado Modelo de Salvador

(Salvador´s Central Market)

The Mercado Modelo in located at Cidade Baixa (Down City), accesible from Cidade Alta (High City) through Elevador Lacerda (Lacerda´s lift, see previous post). 

The lift works as a regular public transportation, and its tariff is less than 50 cents of real, really cheap. Unfortunatelly, at Cidade Baixa there´s no much to see besides the Mercado Modelo, as basically the Cidade Baixa helds the seaport, the customs and trade companies. 

The Elevador Lacerda (Lacerda´s lift, to the left) and the Mercado Modelo, at the Cidade Baixa (center)
 Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

The Mercado, however, is pretty much focused on tourists, where you can buy local stuff, food, and craftsmenship. 

It closes by 7 pm, but one hour before there´s a nice sunset view on the 2nd floor, at the bar facing the sea. A good place to take your favorite brazillian juice, soft dringk, beer or caipirinha, as the sun goes down.

Between the Mercado and the sea, there is the touristic harbour, from where boats departing to Morro de São Paulo (see previous post) and other touristic attractions can be taken. 

Farol da Barra - Salvador´s most remarkable landmark

Farol da Barra - Salvador´s most remarkable landmark

Farol da Barra (Barra´s Lighthouse) has now a very beautiful night lighting. During the day, inside its fortress, it is possible to visit a navy museum. In fact, the other next two fortress, going west towards the Bahia de Todos os Santos ("All Saints Bay"), have received night lighting and a urban refurbishment of its sidewalks, rendering a very good spot for a stroll, day or night.

As capital of Brazil during colonial times, all the fortress served as the city´s protection against pirates and foreing forces. 

At night, the sidewalk is full with restaurants and bars, ranging from simple options to sophisticated ones. 

See next posts about the other fortress at Barra. 

Salvador - getting ready for more tourists

A recent trip to Salvador made me notice the city is getting great improvements on its urban infraestructure, espeacially compared to a decade ago.

Metro is being built to reach the ariport (SSA), scheduled to the end of 2017, so hopefully it will be posible for tourists to use it to new year´s eve and 2018 carnival. Few cities in Brazil have the metro or subway reaching the airport, so it will be a great advantage for tourists in Salvador, though regular taxis, uber and 99taxis are also available at the airport. 

Plus, many touristic places at Barra and Rio Vermelho, and espeacially the streets, squares and gardens by the sea were improved by the Municipality, making of it a great place for strolling while feeling the seabreeze. 

The city is becoming far more welcoming to tourists, though the downside is theft/pickpocketing, so I recommend to be very carefull with smartphones, cameras and wallets. Also, there´s still plenty of people trying to insistently sell local stuff; if you´re not interested, just say no (also insistently) and get away. Leave your valuable things at your hotel´s room safe box, and enjoy this formidable historic city, a result of mixed cultures of Brazil.