Our first day in Salvador passed in a daze, having not yet recovered sleep or proper mobility. We set about a gentle orientaion of the Old Town or Citade Alto (High city) as it sits apon the highest point in the city.

It´s hilly going and the streets are roughly cobbled but it´s very pretty and has understandably become the centre for tourism in Salvador. Many of the old colonial buildings have been, or are in the process of, being resored and make amazing Hotels and Pousadas. One particular restored hotel charges about £1,000 per night if anyone is interested? Whilst we are paying £8

This is just one of the continuous reminders of the extremities in this country which seem to be highlighted here in Salvador. Hordes of wealthy Brazilians take their holidays here flashing their designer wear, whilst it has possibly the largest concentration of poverty stricken citizens in the whole of the Americas. It´s hard to see, and obviously results in high rates of petty and violent crime. We have avoided any difficulties with a little common sense and blending in.

The days are lively with street sellers, some excellent artists and performers, and the nights are even livelier. One thing about Brazilians of all kinds is clear. They love to party!

It´s all too much for us, the Samba drumming is relentless and we agree we wouldn´t want to stay for carnival. We´ve been informed that here it is a full 7 days of party from 1 pm to 5 am!

We took a trip with a guide to witness a Candomble ceremony, there is a huge African heritage here and Candomble developed as a cross between Voodoo and Catholicism. It was very interesting, the women wore dresses with big hoops to make the skirts huge (think toilet roll covers) and danced while the men played the drums and chanted. As the drumming became more intense the women went into a kind of trance with lots of shaking and strange dancing,. They believe that they are taken by the spirits and controlled while they are in the trance. We were not allowed to take photos and the whole performance wasn´t put on for us, it was happening any way although we did have to pay for the privilege.

As this is our last day on the Brazilian coast for a while we took a trip around the Bay of Saints visting two of the 57 islands that nestle within. We could not have ordered nicer weather for the trip as we set off on a scooner into the sun. There was, of course, the obligatory Samba band (Brazilians cant go anywhere without at least two percussion players in tow) and all the fruit you could eat. After an hour and a half we reached the first island. The water was crystal clear and almost body tempreature with only a slight tide as we were still in the bay. A quick swim, close inspection of the rock pools to adopt Kermit (the hermit crab) for a few minutes and then it was back on board to sail across to the next island for lunch drinks and general throwing yourself off the side of the boat!

After this trip our tans our coming on nicely so we will at least look bronzed (ish) for our trip up the amazon.

Tomorrow morning its off to the airport for a flight that takes off and lands 7 times without us ever having to leave the plane! Oh the things we do to get around this place on the cheap!

We land in Manaus where we shall be planning our amazon adventures...