We left Recife very early, and of course I was tired and grumpy due to listening to the over exuberant Brazilians having a wild time in the bar last night. I knew my mood would change from compassionate and inspired to cranky and irritable due to lack of sleep!! But after a few cups of coffee and dip into the exotic Brazilian breakfast buffet, I was ready to go, and back to my old normal former self!!
At the airport we were met by the delightful Fabio again, who waited patiently with us for over an hour as the huge rain cloud sat, of course directly over the airport. Weirdly though, as the rain increased so did the odd shaped flying bugs, swarming around the lights, doorways, and of course the airplane. When the downpour finally cleared (for a few minutes in a brief lull), we made our way hastily down the runway towards our next heading, Salvador, our next destination.
When we were finally on our way to Salvador, I let my mind think about what I knew of Salvador, and our next night stop to Bahia. I was really excited about flying to this new place, as it has a huge slave history which has a connect to me, and it is one of those destination places that I have seen on those travel programs that seem both forbidden but luring! The strange dancers, the drums and music, the women with big headdresses, a religion that is all on its own with influences and mixtures of African beliefs, Catholic and voodoo(as some think).
The flight, after takeoff, and for most of the duration of this leg was very bumpy and really not that comfortable, as we had rain that seemed to go on for most of the flight. I was constantly hitting my head on the ceiling and was totally exhausted having been kept awake for most of the night. Chris bless him, had slept like a long and was really much more alert and bushy tailed. Try as I may I could not keep my eyes open and in the end Chris ended up taking over and doing 2/3 of the flight in which he said was just rain, rain, and more rain!!
After a much needed 20 minute catnap, I opened my eyes and saw that we did not have long before we were landing. Time to pay attention, I said to myself, as we snaked around the city. On landing we taxied along the main runways of the huge international airport .It seemed almost unbelievable that our little Cessna was directed to park not far away from the Embraer 170’s jets, 737’s ,and Airbuses.
On disembarking our plane we were of course met by our cherished representatives of Lider/Signature. I really cannot express how relieved and lucky we feel when we land, and always have delightful, friendly people who are happy to meet us and can speak English. Today we are met by Mateus and Daniel who are really helpful and book us into a hotel in the center of Salvador. They warn us to not walk around in certain areas at night and tell us the do and don’ts of their city.
After getting a taxi to our hotel we decide to take a walk area. We see locals sitting out in charming cafes and bars in the sun and decide to buy a coconut with the top chopped off (a local tradition) and sip the juice as we walk along. Within seconds we hear screaming and shouting and see a young boy running with all his might dodging local traders. It appear he has stolen something (a wallet, money?) from an old man, and within minutes the whole community are chasing him and penning him in. A buff, macho man catches and grabs something out of the boy’s hand, and passes back to another man who then passes to the old man. We see the old man examine it, nod, and talk to the local vendors and people who had given chase to the boy. Within minutes a local trader shouts at the young boy, and gives what seem like a big old fashion lecture, makes a fist sign and sees him off!! Wow what a start to our new city, a new residence!!How exciting!!
Today we decide to be total tourists, and got involved in the whole culture of Bahia, many visiting places of interest around the city and enjoying the culture, history, and the people. We both took way, to many pictures which we may bore all our friends and family with on our return home, but we were so genuinely blown away with what we experienced today, that we could not help going overboard, and taking as many pictures as we could.
At the airport we were met by the delightful Fabio again, who waited patiently with us for over an hour as the huge rain cloud sat, of course directly over the airport. Weirdly though, as the rain increased so did the odd shaped flying bugs, swarming around the lights, doorways, and of course the airplane. When the downpour finally cleared (for a few minutes in a brief lull), we made our way hastily down the runway towards our next heading, Salvador, our next destination.
When we were finally on our way to Salvador, I let my mind think about what I knew of Salvador, and our next night stop to Bahia. I was really excited about flying to this new place, as it has a huge slave history which has a connect to me, and it is one of those destination places that I have seen on those travel programs that seem both forbidden but luring! The strange dancers, the drums and music, the women with big headdresses, a religion that is all on its own with influences and mixtures of African beliefs, Catholic and voodoo(as some think).
The flight, after takeoff, and for most of the duration of this leg was very bumpy and really not that comfortable, as we had rain that seemed to go on for most of the flight. I was constantly hitting my head on the ceiling and was totally exhausted having been kept awake for most of the night. Chris bless him, had slept like a long and was really much more alert and bushy tailed. Try as I may I could not keep my eyes open and in the end Chris ended up taking over and doing 2/3 of the flight in which he said was just rain, rain, and more rain!!
After a much needed 20 minute catnap, I opened my eyes and saw that we did not have long before we were landing. Time to pay attention, I said to myself, as we snaked around the city. On landing we taxied along the main runways of the huge international airport .It seemed almost unbelievable that our little Cessna was directed to park not far away from the Embraer 170’s jets, 737’s ,and Airbuses.
On disembarking our plane we were of course met by our cherished representatives of Lider/Signature. I really cannot express how relieved and lucky we feel when we land, and always have delightful, friendly people who are happy to meet us and can speak English. Today we are met by Mateus and Daniel who are really helpful and book us into a hotel in the center of Salvador. They warn us to not walk around in certain areas at night and tell us the do and don’ts of their city.
After getting a taxi to our hotel we decide to take a walk area. We see locals sitting out in charming cafes and bars in the sun and decide to buy a coconut with the top chopped off (a local tradition) and sip the juice as we walk along. Within seconds we hear screaming and shouting and see a young boy running with all his might dodging local traders. It appear he has stolen something (a wallet, money?) from an old man, and within minutes the whole community are chasing him and penning him in. A buff, macho man catches and grabs something out of the boy’s hand, and passes back to another man who then passes to the old man. We see the old man examine it, nod, and talk to the local vendors and people who had given chase to the boy. Within minutes a local trader shouts at the young boy, and gives what seem like a big old fashion lecture, makes a fist sign and sees him off!! Wow what a start to our new city, a new residence!!How exciting!!
Today we decide to be total tourists, and got involved in the whole culture of Bahia, many visiting places of interest around the city and enjoying the culture, history, and the people. We both took way, to many pictures which we may bore all our friends and family with on our return home, but we were so genuinely blown away with what we experienced today, that we could not help going overboard, and taking as many pictures as we could.
RSS Feed