Salvador da Bahia
The highlight of our Brazil cruise was visiting Salvador da Bahia, famous for its rich of Afro-Brazilian culture. Salvador da Bahia was the first colonial capital of Brazil (founded in 1549) by Portuguese settlers and a primary hub of the transatlantic slave trade. Over 1.3 million captive Africans—were brought through its port to work on sugar and tobacco plantations. Often called the "blackest city outside of Africa" or the, it has the largest population of African descent in Brazil, deeply shaping its religion (Candomblé), music, dance, and traditions. Eager to experience the culture for ourselves, we hired a private guide who gave us a wonderful tour that included visiting Pelourinho (Historic Center), São Joaquim Market, Salvador’s most traditional market, rich in Afro-Brazilian flavors, herbs, and local daily life. We also enjoyed eating acarajé, a type of fritter made from black-eyed peas fried in dendê (palm oil). Our guide also gave us a wealth of information about the history and the current conditions in the city. Pelourinho is also the location of the first official slave market in the Americas, where enslaved people were publicly displayed, sold, and subjected to a permanent whipping post. It was also where Michael Jackson filmed his 1996 music video for "They Don't Care About Us". We learned that every February Salvador, Bahia hosts the Bahian Carnival, which holds the Guinness World Record as the largest street party on the planet. We thoroughly enjoyed meeting local residents - especially the Baianas - women, specifically famous as the traditional Afro-Brazilian cultural and religious figureheads of Salvador. It was a day of enjoying music, drums, good food and making cultural connections.