Hidden Corners of the Wild Cocoa Coast
ITACARÉ
Bahia, Brazil
The small town of Itacaré has the best waves in northeastern Brazil, so it’s no coincidence that surfers were among the first travelers to discover this sun-drenched destination in the 1970s. They kept it off the radar until the end of the 1990s, when the road linking the village to Ilhéus, to the south, was paved, securing Itacaré’s role as an eco hot spot on what is called Bahia’s Cocoa Coast.
Vacationers of all ages looking to improve their wave-riding skills (or those trying it for the first time) enroll at the EasyDrop Surf School, where programs range from single-day lessons to a surf camp that includes stays in beachfront pousadas. Visitors may also take classes in yoga, Portuguese, rappelling, and tree climbing, and can trek through the Mata Atlântica, an unspoiled forest ecosystem full of waterfalls and rare tropical flora and fauna. Pathways meander through the rain forest–covered hills to many of Itacaré’s coveted outer beaches.
These days, more affluent travelers have been showing up, and they invariably find their way to the low-profile Txai Resort, 20 minutes outside town. On the site of a former 6,000-acre coconut plantation, Txai (pronounced chai, like the tea) consists of breezy, luxuriously simple bungalows that are tiered up the jungly hillside overlooking Itacarezinho beach. Add in multiple swimming pools and the hilltop Shamash spa, and it’s easy to see why most guests spend their days moving from bed to pool to lunch to beach.
Ilhéus, 40 miles to the south, was built on the wealth of the cocoa trade, but is better known as the hometown of Jorge Amado, who immortalized the region in his ribald and comical tales of Bahian life in such novels as Gabriela, Cravo e Canela (Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon).
Surfers find powerful waves at the protected São José beach.
WHERE: 273 miles/440 km south of Salvador. EASYDROF SURF SCHOOL: Tel 55/73-3251-3065; www.easydrop.com. Cost: from $600 for a 4-day surfing course. TXAI RESORT: Tel 55/78-3634-6936; www.txairesort.com.br. Cost: from $695 (off-peak), from $770 (peak). BEST TIMES: Sep–Apr for nicest weather. In Ilhéus: early Jan for Gincana da Pesca, a fishing event; mid-Jan for Festa de São Sebastião street festival; Apr 23 for Festa de São Jorge, a religious ceremony that combines Catholic and Afro-Brazilian traditions.
Proud Heart and Soul of an Afro-Brazilian City
CIDADE ALTA
Salvador da Bahia, Brazil
The colorful Pelourinho district, architectural jewel of this former capital’s hilltop Cidade Alta (Upper City), has been restored and transformed into the cultural heart of a city long famous for its rich Afro-Brazilian heritage.
In the 18th century, sugarcane as well as gold and diamonds from interior mines brought enormous riches here, as evidenced by the gold-drenched Baroque churches in the city’s Colonial center. These outstanding religious landmarks are clustered in the Pelourinho (pillory) district—one of many reminders of the city’s historical and emotional ties to Africa. More than 4 million slaves were brought to Brazil from Africa (by contrast, about 600,000 were brought to the United States).
Pelourinho was home to Salvador’s affluent European descendants until the beginning of the 20th century, when it descended into squalor and physical collapse. With a massive restoration that began in 1992, the district is now the haunt of poets and artists as well as a showplace for Bahian craftsmanship. Landmark buildings in Easter-egg colors now house museums, art galleries, cafés, and restaurants.
Largo do Pelourinho, a small plaza commemorating the day in 1888 when Princess Isabel signed the decree that ended slavery, boasts lovely Colonial architecture and nightly music on public stages. Make sure to visit Terreiro de Jesus, the historic and beautiful main square surrounded by four polychrome churches. Dominating the square is the 17th-century Catedral Basílica, an eclectic mix of Neoclassical, Baroque, and Rococo styles, flanked by the 1808 Faculdade de Medicina building and the excellent Museu Afro-Brasileiro da Bahia, which documents the evolution of Afro-Brazilian culture.
The best time to visit the elaborately Baroque São Francisco complex—two churches and a convent built between 1686 and 1750—is on Tuesday, when a lively street party follows the 6 P.M. mass. Also on Tuesdays, the steps of the Igreja do Santõssimo Sacramento do Passo fill with performing musicians.
Some of Salvador’s most entertaining performances are the gracefully competitive acrobatics of capoeira, a martial art from the state of Bahia that is as much about music and dance as about combat. You can see it weekly at Mestre Bimba, a local capoeira school.
Like its religious and cultural traditions, Salvador’s cuisine is a mélange of African, indigenous, and European elements. Coconut, cassava, peppers, and fresh seafood are staples at Casa da Gamboa, a longtime favorite. Flavorful Bahian dishes (like moquecas, or seafood stews) and Italian-influenced ones highlight the menu at the upscale Jardim das Delicias, set in an antiques-laden dining room with a lovely bougainvillea-shaded courtyard. Traditional cuisine, such as acarajé—deep-fried bean cakes—is plentiful at the souklike Feira São Joaquim, the city’s oldest and biggest daily market. A short cab ride away is Trapiche Adelaide, a contemporary restaurant where Italian, French, and Bahian cuisine come deliciously together on a pier overlooking the island-studded Bay of All Saints.
Afterward, check in at the Convento do Carmo just steps away from the Igreja da Ordem Terceira do Carmo, a Carmelite church built in 1636 on a dramatic hilltop location and refashioned with Neoclassical details following a fire in 1786. Dating to 1586, the Convento is an atmospheric hotel and restaurant that welcomes guests with its luxurious ambience. At the charming Solar dos Deuses, each of the nine rooms is named after one of the Afro-Brazilian gods, called orixas, and many of the rooms overlook the Church of São Francisco. Another lodging option with architectural character is the Hotel Catharina Paraguaçu in Rio Vermello, 15 minutes away. A pink, art-filled, 30-room Colonial mansion, it has lovely gardens and rooftop views of the beach.
Colonial buildings date back to when Salvador de Bahia served as Brazil’s first capital, from 1549 to 1763.
WHERE: 749 miles/1,206 km northeast of Rio. MUSEU AFRO-BRASILEIRO: Tel 55/71-3283-5540; www.ceao.ufba.br/mafro/. MESTRE BIMBA: Tel 55/71-3322-0639; www.capoeiramestrebimba.com.br. CASA DA GAMBOA: Tel 55/71-336-1549; www.casadagamboa.com. Cost: lunch $18. JARDIM DAS DELICIAS: Tel 55/71-3321-1449. Cost: dinner $12. TRAPICHE ADELAIDE: Tel 55/71-3326-2211; wwww.trapicheadelaide.com.br. Cost: dinner $20. PESTANA CONVENTO DO CARMO: Tel 55/71-3327-8400; www.pestana.com. Cost: from $430. SOLAR DOS DEUSES: Tel 55/71-3320-3251; www.solardosdeuses.com.br. Cost: from $80 (off-peak), $160 (peak). HOTEL CATHARINA PARAGUAÇU: Tel 55/71-247-1488; www.hotelcatharinaparaguacu.com.br. Cost: from $140. BEST TIMES: Dec–Mar is peak season, although sunny weather year-round makes the off-peak Jun–Sep equally attractive.
Bahia’s Special Heritage
THE FESTIVALS OF SALVADOR
Salvador da Bahia, Brazil
Rio’s Carnaval is a carnal, seething, pulsating extravaganza that attracts all the notoriety (see p. 1012), but these days many travelers are heading north to Salvador da Bahia for an authentic, more participatory, and no less indefatigable pre-Lenten blowout. The people of Bahia are known as the most festive and musical of their countrymen, and Rio’s samba is replaced here by African-based axé music played on trio eléctricos (motorized floats) that make their way along various parade routes all across town. Salvador has the highest percentage of people of African descent of any large city outside Africa, and elements from both Portuguese Catholicism and the Afro-Brazilian Candomblé religion come together during this feverish, unending street party that lasts a full seven days.
Preparations start months in advance; several blocos (bands) stage rehearsals open to the public, making it easy for off-season visitors to absorb some of the myth and magic (for example, the prominent bloco afro called Ilê Aiyê welcomes visitors to its rehearsals, which begin as early as November). Founded in 1979 as a recreational organi
zation for residents of the neighborhood, Olodum is Salvador’s most innovative Carnaval percussion group. It stages weekly public practices at Casa do Olodum for those who can’t make it during Carnaval season.
With more than 20 festivals and processions each year, Salvador has much more than Carnaval on offer, especially in December, January, and February. Candomblé is fervently practiced here, yet 70 percent of the population is Catholic. On December 4, worshippers join the procession through the Pelourinho neighborhood to the sound of sirens and live music, in honor of Santa Bárbara, who is also known as Iansa, the Candomblé goddess of the winds. The Festa de Nosso Senhor dos Navegantes takes place on New Year’s Eve, with a maritime procession and beachside revelry on Praia da Boa Viagem. Lavagem da Igreja do Bonfim, an 8-day celebration in mid-January, brings African hymns to Salvador’s most famous church, the 18th-century Nosso Senhor do Bonfim, as local women perform a ritual washing (lavagem) of the steps to symbolically cleanse sins away. Follow the faithful inside to the Sala dos Milagros (Room of Miracles), where worshippers hang haunting casts and replicas of body parts as thanks for miraculous healings. Then, on February 2, Iemanjá, the Afro-Brazilian protectress and goddess of the sea (a counterpart to the Virgin Mary), is honored with the massive Festa de Iemanjá.
Drummers perform in the city’s squares year-round.
CASA DO OLODUM: Tel 55/71-3321-4154; www.olodum.com.br. BEST TIMES: Carnaval is in Feb or Mar, culminating the 7 days prior to Ash Wednesday; Aug or Sep for Festin Bahia, which celebrates international music; Dec–Feb for more festivals.
A Seaside Town Where Simplicity Rules
TRANCOSO
Bahia, Brazil
Much more than just a gateway to the beautiful, untouched beaches for which southern Bahia is known, the laid-back village of Trancoso represents a way of life. Visitors and locals coexist in harmony, whether beachside or during long, lively nights spent listening to reggae and world-music-spinning DJs. There are few ATMs and no traffic lights, just dusk-to-dawn parties along magnificent stretches of virgin sand, a cluster of rustic-meets-stylish inns, and plenty of high-profile types who arrive by helicopter, willing to pay big to live an unpretentious beach-getaway dream.
The heart of the village is the blufftop Quadrado de Trancoso, an expansive, grassy town square anchored by a whitewashed 17th-century church, the second oldest in Brazil, and ringed by colorful old one-story houses that have been converted into pousadas, boutiques, and restaurants. The Quadrado overlooks the Praia dos Nativos, a 2-mile stretch of sand that is the town’s main beach, where visitors sip beer and passion-fruit caipirinhas at open-air cafés. For more time at the shore, there’s Arraial d’Ajuda to the north, the tranquil village famous for its Pitinga and Taípe beaches. Half an hour south of Trancoso, day-trippers stroll peaceful Praia do Espelho (Mirror Beach), perhaps sampling the catch of the day at Sylvinha’s Place, an easygoing seaside restaurant open only for lunch.
In Trancoso, Capim Santo, one of the first and still one of the best restaurants in town and right on the Quadrado, has an inspired menu of Brazilian dishes with an Asian accent. Check into any of its crisp white guest rooms, with outdoor soaking tubs surrounded by a pool and gardens. Also on the Quadrado, villas at Uxua Casa blend a rustic vibe with sleeker touches and are decorated with works of Bahían artisans; days center on the hotel’s quartz-lined pool. The décor at Etnia Pousada reflects a global sensibility; names of its colorful, themed bungalows include Kyoto, Goa, Tribal, and Mediterraneo. One of the few good hotels directly on the water, Estrela D’Água, was built around the former home of legendary Brazilian singer Gal Costa. It is now a 28-room luxury resort with a tiered swimming pool and the best bar on the beach.
WHERE: 460 miles/741 km south of Salvador. SYLVINHA’S PLACE: Tel 55/73-9985-4157. Cost: lunch $30. CAPIM SANTO: Tel 55/73-3668-1122; www.capimsanto.com.br. Cost: from $125 (off-peak), from $175 (peak); dinner $20. UXUA CASA: Tel 55/73-3668-2277; www.uxua.com. Cost: from $750. ETNIA POUSADA: Tel 55/73-3668-1137; www.etniabrasil.com.br. Cost: from $310 (off-peak), from $400 (peak). ESTRELA D’ÁGUA: Tel 55/73-3668-1030; www.estreladagua.com.br. Cost: from $535 (off-peak), $750 (peak). BEST TIMES: Mar–Apr for nicest weather and fewest crowds; winter months Jun–Aug are pleasant and less of a scene; Jan 20 for Festa de São Sebastião with fireworks and processions.
Capital City and Oasis of Modernism
BRASÍLIA
Distrito Federal, Brazil
Oscar Niemeyer, born in 1907 in Rio de Janeiro, has been called the Pablo Picasso of architecture and a living legend of Modernism. The biggest concentration of his work is in Brazil’s capital of Brasília.
Calls to move Brazil’s capital from Rio de Janeiro to the nation’s unpopulated geographic center began in the late 19th century. But not until the 1950s did anyone make good on those plans, when President Juscelino Kubitschek selected a large, empty stretch of land to create what would be the world’s first and most ambitious master-planned 20th-century capital. The city was inaugurated in 1960. Lúcio Costa was responsible for the city’s urban planning, and Niemeyer—a protégé of Le Corbusier—was the man behind its most important buildings. A window seat on a Brasília-bound flight provides the best glimpse of the city’s eyecatching shape, which resembles an airplane or a bird with outstretched wings. The less dramatic view from the iconic TV tower illustrates that, although dominated by concrete, Brasília is poetic and surprising, whether in the gentle curves of the Palácio do Planalto, the president’s office, or in the daring, almost impossibly angled 16 columns of the Catedral Metropolitana. The public buildings are open to visitors and are relatively close to each other; most stand along the Eixo Monumental, with the exception of the slightly removed Palácio da Alvorada, the president’s official residence.
The capital is also home to an impressive culinary scene, including one of the best French restaurants in the nation: Alice, across from the presidential palace, where a cozy, unpretentious ambience attracts the political elite and visiting dignitaries, who savor the masterful creations of chef Alice de Castro. Or try the decidedly stylish Zuu, whose tasting menu might include such dishes as fresh sesame tuna and mint-marinated lamb.
The unique design of the Catedral Metropolitana is emblematic of the capital city’s enclave of Modernist architecture.
WHERE: 468 miles/754 km northwest of Rio de Janeiro. RESTAURANTE ALICE: Tel 55/61-3248-7743; www.restaurantealice.com.br. Cost: dinner $40. ZUU: Tel 55/61-3244-1039. Cost: dinner $35. WHERE TO STAY: Royal Tulip Hotel Alvorada is located on the shore of Lake Paranoá, near the president’s residence. Tel 55/61-3424-7000; www.royaltulipbrasiliaalvorada.com. Cost: from $230. BEST TIMES: Oct–May for the dry season; Jan for International Music Summer Course; Jun for National Fair.
A Wildlife-Watching Wonderland
PANTANAL
Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil
The largest freshwater wetland in the world, a place where more than 100 rivers meet, the Pantanal is an oasis for wildlife of staggering variety. It supports the greatest concentration of fauna in the western hemisphere and constitutes one of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet. On a typical multiday excursion you might spy various species of monkeys, giant river otters, tapirs, giant anteat-ers, marsh deer, caimans, and anacondas, plus macaws and toucans (just two of the 600 bird species). And there are the creatures you’ve never heard of—jabiru (a large stork), chachalaca (a turkeylike game bird), capybaras (the world’s largest rodent), and coati (a relative of the raccoon). If you’re very lucky, you might even see a maned wolf or the elusive jaguar.
Most of the South Dakota–size region is privately owned and devoted to huge cattle fazendas (ranches) tended by horseback-riding pantaneiros that have turned to ecotourism in recent days. The Caiman Ecological Refuge—a family-run, sustainable ranch that pioneered the movement here—is an ideal base for exploring the Pantanal. Located about 150 miles from Campo Grande, the state capital, it offers guided field excursions (on foot or by boat, jeep, or horsebac
k) throughout the 131,000-acre refuge. Nature’s spectacle continues into the night, when millions of fireflies twinkle like Christmas lights, and the eerie sounds of evening predators fill the air.
Life on this working fazenda centers on the main pousada, a handsome, Mediterranean-style building that was originally the manor house of the owner’s family. Together with the nearby lodges, the accommodations offer total immersion in this unique wildlife reserve, with air-conditioning, a pool, and great home cooking thrown in for good measure.
Collared anteaters forage in the wetlands of the Pantanal.
WHERE: Campo Grande is 199 miles/319 km northwest of São Paulo. CAIMAN ECOLOGICAL REFUGE: Tel 55/67-3242-1450; www.caiman.com.br. Cost: from $1,170, all-inclusive; 3-night minimum. When: Jul–Sep. HOW: U.S.-based International Expeditions organizes a 10-day program that includes the Pantanal. Tel 800-234-9620 or 205-428-1700; www.ietravel.com. Cost: from $5,000, all-inclusive. Originates in Rio de Janeiro. When: Jun–Aug. BEST TIMES: Jul–Sep is dry season with the best bird-watching; Sep–Oct for spotting jaguars.
Baroque Splendor in the Mountains
GOLD TOWNS OF MINAS GERAIS
Minas Gerais, Brazil
Brazil’s early economy, based heavily on sugar revenue, took a sharp turn in 1690, when huge deposits of gold were discovered in what is now the state of Minas Gerais. With trade enriching the region like never before, towns showcasing stunning Baroque architecture and unprecedented wealth proliferated.
1,000 Places to See Before You Die Page 158