48 Hours In Sunny Salvador De Bahia, 'The Birthplace Of Brazil'

The pulsating heart and soul of Brazil is said to be in the state of Bahia (http://www.bahia.com.br) and its capital, Salvador. If you were to compare the entire country of Brazil to a human torso, Bahia would be positioned in the northeast just about where a human heart would be. Forged by the millions of captives brought there by the Portuguese to mine their gold, build their streets and tend to their farms, African culture pervades the hearts and streets of Bahians.

"Bahia is the heart of warmth, hospitality and [human] touch," said José Alves, Secretary of Tourism of the State of Bahia.

Rio de Janeiro, has beauty and bikinis, and Sao Paulo, a business megalopolis, but Salvador, Brazil's third largest city was there first and its capital for 200 years. Bahia has more than 1100km of cool crystal-clear waters and 1150 sunny beaches. It was also the dark epicenter of the South American slave trade, and as a result is the also the deepest heartfelt center of Afro-Brazilian civilization with 4 out of 5 of its 3 million inhabitants of African extraction, today.

Bahia welcomes over 14 million tourists a year, and can be easily reached by several daily flights from Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Recently, LATAM airlines, has begun non-stop flights from North America via Miami to Salvador.

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 More than just sun and fun magical Afrocentric Salvador de Bahia connects to many C's: Carnaval, Candomblé, capoeira, culture and cuisine.

Although Rio de Janerio's samba-immersed Pre-Lenten Carnaval gets all the attention, Salvador's big bacchanalian bash, attracting over two million hedonistic revelers, is the largest in the world. The saying goes, "Baianos aren't born, they have an opening night," as a testament to the extravagance and showmanship. The Carnaval's signature music is axé, a uniquely Afro‐Bahian farrago of samba-reggae and other genres.

The celebration is anchored by garishly decorated eighteen-wheelers, called trios elétricos, snaking through 25 kilometers of streets and squares blasting axé through an array of loudspeakers. Surrounding each is a retinue of revelers called blocos.

You can see them in the parks, streets and beaches. Twirling and twisting and ducking with snaking fluid movements, handsprings and cartwheels sparring in a dance where fighters come close with dizzying swiftness, but never touch. They are practicing Capoeira, the gymnastic martial art that is part dance, part religion, part game. Over 400 years old, with Brazilian-Indian roots, accompanied by an incessant, dizzying beat of drums and a berimbau, a single string instrument incorporated into the heart of Capoeira. When visiting Salvador, one might visit a Capoeira academy or take a class yourself.

In Bahia, practiced clandestinely until 1970, Candomblé is the syncretic belief system fusing West African religions brought by slaves with the Roman Catholicism of the Portuguese. The religion centers around deities called Orixás. Each one governs a specific element of nature like rivers or the sea, and has a matching Catholic saint. Each practitioner has a specific orixá looking after them. Salvador has 1,165 terreiros or houses of worship.

The LATAM flights land late in the evening and nearby is a ten-minute drive to the Mar Brasil hotel (http://www.marbrasilhotel.com.br/en-gb) in the funky, artsy beachside neighborhood of Itapuã featuring bars, water sports, restaurants and nightlife.

The Mar Brasil hotel has 71 rooms and suites, some with full kitchens and a pool. On the grounds is the former home of Vinícius de Moraes, famous Bahian poet, musician and lyricist (he wrote the words to "Girl from Ipanema"). You can even stay in his former bedroom with its sweeping view of the ocean. The home is also the setting for the hotel's restaurant, Casa di Vina.

Its Chef, Maria das Graças, a graduate of the SENAC culinary school, cooks up a modern spin on traditional Bahian food. Using fresh seafood, chicken cooked with bananas and sliced octopus creatively along with local staples yuca and manioc (cassava). There are also several exotic pizzas baked in an outdoor brick oven.

Across the street is a welcoming sandy beach with a picturesque lighthouse. Itapuã also features, the Abaeté lagoon or Black Lagoon. Surrounded by white sand dunes and wild horses, the lagoon is considered sacred in Candomblé. There is also a nearby square of street food sellers including, of course, the ubiquitous Acarajé, a fritter made of black-eyed peas deep-fried in dendê (palm) oil, split open with a piquant chopped salsa with or without shrimp or hot sauce. Sold here by a traditional Acarajé da Cira, perhaps the best in Salvador.

Going into the center of the city via metro, central freeway (Paralela), or coast road (Orla) leads to the Pelourinho district. Pelourinho means pillory and it was the gruesome sight were slaves were whipped and tortured. This, the old city center, lined with Portuguese-styled tiled sidewalks and cobblestone streets, encompasses Art Deco and colonial architecture, restaurants, bars, markets, hotels, boutiques, churches and many other sites. The district is perched upon a 100m cliff that divides the city between Cidade Alta, upper city and the Cidade Baixa, lower city.

For the time-starved traveler the best way to get a dose of Capoeira sparring, Carnaval dancing, and folk dances related to Candomblé rituals is to visit the Topázio folkloric show at O Coliseu (www.ocoliseu.com.br). Served with a straightforward international buffet that is friendly to vegetarians and those who might yet have acquired the taste for Bahian cuisine. Although, regional eats are well-represented with feijoada (a meaty stew that is the Brazilian national dish), puréed cashews and a grill for steaks.

The folkloric show itself features 18 dancers, dazzling costumes and throbbing percussion. Each aspect of this part of Bahian culture is give a section as the dancers show a taste of the traditions of capoeira, Carnaval, and Candomblé.

Bahia is known as the cultural center of Brazil as home to many of its musicians, poets and authors. Brazil's most famous author, modernist Jorge Amado, was born and lived in Bahia. His work has been translated into 49 languages and made into several films. His home in Salvador has been opened up to the public allowing you to stroll the gardens and learn about this author who celebrated the Bahian intermingled world. The home's up-to-date exhibits, videos and interactive displays genuinely bring to life Amado's life. You can even learn via video how to make a moqueca, the ubiquitous, peppery Bahian fish stew, from Salvador's most famous chef, Dadá.

In Amado's most famous book, Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands, the scenario is set; "In the hall of the Palace [Hotel] Dona Flor and Vadinho went dancing in a tango of sweetness and voluptuousness."

That elegant Art Deco Palace Hotel, centrally located in the Pelourinho district originally built in 1924 for the Bahian "colonels" of cacao, based on the Flatiron Building on Fifth Avenue in New York City, is reborn as the elegantly stylish Fera Palace Hotel (http://www.ferapalacehotel.com.br), after a multi-million-dollar renovation. In its heyday, it was a salon and host for the likes of Orson Welles, Carmen Miranda and Pablo Neruda.

The Fera Palace features a scenic roof deck with an infinity lap pool. While grabbing some rays, sipping caipirinhas, feel free to dig into to a zesty ceviche or bite down on a magnificent sweet and salty Fera Burger. The expansive view of the bay is perfect to enjoy the sunset in Salvador.

The hotel is also home to the cozy Adamastor Restaurant and bar. The focus is on contemporary culinary trends with a nod to comfort food in the Italian and Brazilian traditions. There are gorgonzola risottos and penne dishes mixing South American filet mignon with the Italian stand-by. The lobby bar has stiff margaritas and a DJ on Thursdays.

A short walk from the Fera palace is the newly opened Carnaval museum, The House of Carnaval. If you happen to miss Carnaval week, this is the place to learn and experience all about the extravaganza. This showplace is anything but stodgy, its interactive videos and colorful exhibits almost make you feel like you are at Carnaval itself. You can even make a stab at dancing the Bahian version of the samba or learn how to dress for the occasion.

Another "c" in the Bahian descriptors is churches, representing the highly spiritual Bahians. Besides Candomblé, there are evangelicals and 70% Roman Catholics, or some mixture of all three.

Just down the street from O Coliseu is the baroque Igreja de Sao Francisco, built in the 1700 by slaves whose walls are dripping gold-leaf as a testament to the vast wealth of the Brazilian gold mines, also mined by slaves.

Down the hill, across from the former site of the pillory, is the cornflower blue Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Rosário dos Pretos, known as the Church of the Blacks, built by slaves for slaves as far back as the sixteenth century, as blacks were initially forbidden from praying in churches. The church celebrates black saints and has a slave graveyard. It features Sunday and Tuesday masses that incorporate conga drums, percussion and singing with a nod to Candomblé.

Further away in the northern suburbs is the Church of Nosso Senhor do Bonfim, also a high church of Candomblé. Bonfim has a colorful tradition that echoes throughout the city, its gates and doors are decorated with countless colorful ribbons (fitas). It is traditional to give three ribbons away to make wishes come true—once they naturally fall off the wrist to which they were tied. Tying them to the outside of the doorways help those wishes along. Attesting to its success, "The Room of Miracles" ceiling is adorned with mannequin parts representing the hands, hearts, and legs healed by visits to the church, its walls covered with letters and pictures for the cured.

For a journey to Bahia you get to witness, sensate and experience, a fused spiritual and cultural playground birthed by the African diaspora, which in turn has fused the heart and soul of Brazil. Visitors are certainly welcome to come along on this journey.

There is a saying in these parts, "Bahia é para quem merece," or "Bahia is for those who deserve it."

Travel expenses for this article were paid for by LATAM Airlines.