Day 1: Brazil

Arrive Salvador

You will be welcomed upon arrival and transferred to your hotel. Overnight at your selected hotel.

Day 2: Brazil

Salvador – African Heritage Upper City & Sao Diogo fortress

Trace the African roots of Salvador on a city tour combining the residential areas at the mouth of the bay and continue to the older Historical Center of Salvador, the Pelourinho area. Visit the Afro-Brazilian Museum, which traces the West African origins of the city, and see the superb wooden sculpted panels of the orixá’s by Salvador’s most celebrated artist, Carybé, one of the city´s treasures. We visit the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, the famous Black church, built with meagre resources over a period of almost 100 years in the heart of the famed Pelourinho Square so called after the pillory or whipping post that stood in the main square. In this square, we also visit the intimate Bahian Gastronomy Museum, which focuses on the African influence on Bahia cuisine. Lunch at Odoya Restaurant (beverages not included). Late afternoon you will be taken to São Diogofortress, to watch the projections of Carybé’s works on the outer walls of the fort after the sunset. Dinner at BarraventoRestaurante.(BLD)

Please note:

– Afro Brazilian Museum is closed Sat and Sun.

– Gastronomy museum closed on Sun.

– Both church and museums are closed on local and public holidays.

Day 3: Brazil

Salvador – Market, Cuisine &The Lower City tour with Irmã Dulce Memorial Market and Cuisine – Morning only

Down through the centuries Salvador’s São Joaquim market provided an essential link to the farming hinterland of the western shores of the bay. It was to here the sugar cane and tobacco came to be exported. This was also the market for farm produce to supply the city. Ever bustling and bordering on the chaotic, today the market still sells a myriad of products and produce, from fruits and vegetables to spare parts for domestic appliances, to sacred herbs and religious artefacts of the candomblé, to the ingredients for Bahia cuisine’s signature dish, the moqueca – cilantro, limes, garlic, coconut milk and dendê palm oil. We visit the market (is there a better place to seek to understand a city than it local markets and later savor the famous moqueca dish in a local city restaurant.

Note: This tour is not a cooking class, but a cooking demonstration.

Standard Departure times: 09:00 AM

Duration: 5 hours (includes lunch)

Dress Code: Light clothing, comfortable shoes, hat and sunscreen.

Terrain: Mostly uneven cobblestone. Easy-to-moderate slopes at the historical center and a few steps to access some locations.

The Lower City tour with Irmã Dulce Memorial

Complementing our Essential Salvador excursion, the Lower City tour offers another perspective of the sprawling city, passing the Tororo Lagoon with the imposing statues of the candombléorixas in mid-lake, and Irmá Dulce Memorial.

Inaugurated in 1993, one year after the Bahian nun’s death, the Irmã Dulce Memorial (MID) is a permanent exhibition on the legacy of love and charity of the Good Angel of Brazil, gathering more than 800 pieces that help preserve and keep alive the Ideals of the religious. The habit she used, photographs, documents, and personal objects can be seen in the MID, which still preserves, intact, Sister Dulce’s room and the chair in which she slept for more than thirty years because of a promise. Other striking facts of her life are remembered through mock-ups, books, diplomas and medals.Among the pieces of the collection there is also the Santo Antônio image, from the nineteenth century, belonging to the religious family. She used to pray in front of this image. At Sister Dulce Social Works (OSID), she used to present the saint to visitors as the “treasurer of the house.” The visit to the Memorial extends to the Chapel of the Relics, in the Shrine of Blessed Dulce of the Poor, where, since June 2010, her tomb has been found.

From here we drive us to the quiet waters of the Itapagipe Peninsula where life moves at a slower pace than the bustling upper city. Fishermen fish from dug out canoes, locals collect shellfish at low tide, schooners lie at anchor, all protected by the famous Bonfim church, one of the most important churches of pilgrimage in Brazil and deeply syncretised with the Candomblé. We continue to the Monserrat district with its panoramic view of the bay and city beyond and on to the Mercado Modelo, a thriving market for local artifacts and souvenirs.

Bahia by Night

The show takes place at the intimate Miguel Santana Theatre, located at the historical Pelourinho area. The BaléFolclórico da Bahia Company performs a seamless presentation of the multiple African traditions that underpin Bahian culture. After show, dinner at CucoBistrô restaurant. (BLD)

Important note: the show is not available on Tuesdays, Sundays and National holidays.

Day 4: Brazil

Salvador / Cachoeira

Private transfer from Salvador to Cachoeira.Lunch at Pousada do Convento. After lunch we take a boat tour along Paraguaçu River followed by a transfer to Casa do Morro Farm. (BL)

Day 5: Brazil

Cachoeira – Tobacco Tour, Dannemann/ Salvador

Today we will visit a tobacco farm where we learn about the sowing, planting, drying and fermentation process of tobacco. We continue to a reforestation area where the group can engage on their “Adopt a Tree” project, which aims to restore the traditional specimens of rainforest on the region. Our tour ends atDannemann’s Cultural Centre where can see cigars being rolled by experts and even try our hands at the craft and make our own cigar. Lunch at Fazenda Santa Cruz, transfer back to Salvador. Rio Vermelho by Night – car & guide ONLY (dinner NOT included). Overnight at selected hotel. (BL)

Day 6: Brazil

Salvador / Depart

After breakfast the morning is at leisure. Private transfer from hotel to airport to take flight bound for home. (B)