Salvador, capital of Bahia, in Northeast Brazil at the Atlantic coast. With its tropical sea climate, the mercury on the coldest day of the last years indicated 21 C. In summer, December โ February, temperatures can rise to some 35 C. But the seawinds bring in an ever welcome cooling breeze. For centuries Salvador was the transfer harbour of the Brazilian slave trade.
These days the city calls itself proudly the black city of Brazil. A lack of women in the former Portuguese colony made for a mix of black, white and indian races, creating a particularly beautiful people. Wandering the Salvador streets, your eyes are continuously drawn to beautiful men and women. Stunning combinations of deep dark skin with light blue or bright green eyes.
Beautiful heads, lots of half-naked, muscular bodies, moving with more supple grace than the average European. This recent development has met with innovative city planning synchronous with the sign of the times.
At this moment a metro is being built traversing the city. Major motorways are being designed on the drawing table and the hilltops are graced with skyscrapers to catch as much of the seabreeze as possible. The old Portuguese area of the city, the Pelourinho, was saved from ruin some ten years ago by Unesco and is now on its list of cultural momuments.
Salvador is a mix of 1st, 2nd and 3rd world cultures, mirrored in its posh, middle class and slum areas. Salvador also prides itself on its traffic lights with huge numbers indicating how many more seconds to go before the light will turn from orange to red. Buses and taxi drive around by the thousands and cost virtually nothing. There are few traffic jams and at night you can simply drive through a red light unpunished.
