Salvador, Brazil

Back in the day, Salvador was the major slave trading port in the Americas. Most of the slaves gathered in West Africa, were brought to this central location and then shipped to the United States or the Caribbean. However, the vast majority of them (60%) stayed behind in Brazil to work in the sugar cane fields. As a result, 30% of Brazil's population is African. Because of Salvador's past, most people in this city are either African or have a mixed race background.


The old city is divided into an upper and lower part. Not surprisingly, the nice apartments and beautiful colonial mansions are located on the upper level. As you can see from the photo, the slums (favelas) where the poor people live are located on the lower level. Once you get away from this old part of town, the suburbs look like any other North American city with their shopping malls, condos and McDonald restaurants.


Instead of taking a tour, I boarded a hop on/ hop off bus to explore the city. This enabled me to check out the nice places (like the beach area above) as well as the run down sections of town.


While Coca Cola can definitely be found everywhere, many of the residents rely on coconut water to slake their thirst. On practically every street corner, there are vendors selling this natural beverage.


The upper part of town contains some colorful old buildings as well as some very ornate churches. The over-the-top Rococo style of decoration was used to display the wealth of the church. The intricate wood carvings are all covered in gold leaf and hand painted ceramic tiles adorn many of the hallways.

Make sure that you have proper shoes on if you plan on walking around the old town. Almost all of the narrow streets are made up of cobblestones. The sidewalks aren't much better since many of them are made up of Portuguese tiles.