On the morning that we arrived in Brazil, I woke up very early once again, but was disappointed to learn that I had just barely missed the sunrise, once more. I was so disappointed again, but that just means I'll have to be an early riser on the rest of the days on the final days to Fort Lauderdale. Anyway, I got up on deck a little late and I saw that Salvador was already in sight. It seemed to be very close, but we couldn't reach it for another 2 or 3 hours. I was able to get some breakfast and squeeze in a short work out on deck 7 as we docked. While I was lifting in the open air, I was reminded just how lucky I am to be able to work out as we pulled into the beautiful sights of the Brazilian coast side. I took quite a few breaks that allowed me to stop and take in the scenery. The coast looked kind of like the cliffs of the American west coast, except there were old traditional buildings all the way up the rocky side. The buildings were all sorts of pastel colors with beautiful Spanish style shingles. Most of them were eroding and often times the paint was chipped away, but it only added to the character of the scene. The weather was about 70's and warming, it was gonna be a hot and sunshiny day.
During my workout, I was pleased to hear the loud speaker come to life and announce that we were clear for landing. After a shower and throwing on some swim trunks and flip flops, I met up with a few friends and we set off to explore the city. We had been warned over and over of how dangerous the city is, and we were careful to wear clothes with zipper pockets and to not forget our money belts. The crime rate in Salvador was truly outrageous, that is the only negative thing that I have for Brazil, and especially Salvador. We would come to learn that snatch-and-grabs were a more than common occurrence; and by the end of the day, 14 Semester at Sea kids had reported some sort of theft. Luckily, I have done a full revolution around the world without experiencing any of this.
The crew that day was some of my Tokyo traveling buddies; Jimmy and Jeff, along with Sam and the two girls across the hall, Bailey and Tracy. After exiting the terminal and the ever-present swarm of hustling merchants and cab drivers; we headed for an ATM and once we finally found one that had English, we made our withdrawals and headed for the nearby market. Once we got there, we looked around for a little bit and then headed uptown. When I say up town, I don't mean north town. I'm talking about altitude, there was a giant elevator that can be taken to get from the bottom of the rocky cliffs to the top where you can find the historical Salvador area. We boarded this Elevator for the equivalent of about 25 cents each, and headed for the top. There, we found a beautiful plaza that over looked the lower part of the city. It was here that we noticed all the beggars and homeless people; many of them children. You had to be very careful to keep your distance though, because this was how the people got close enough for a quick grab, especially the kids. They would follow you until you got into vulnerable position and then make their move. We kept moving down the street and found ourselves in an even more beautiful plaza with a great big catholic church at least 40 feet high. There was a large fountain and a cross in the middle of the plaza, and on the ground there was a pattern of white and black rocks, which we learned, are distinctly Portuguese. We continued down these streets to find shops and bars with umbrellas and tables set up outside and the Brazilians lounging and enjoying the beautiful morning.
Down one street, we stumbled upon a crew setting up a stage at a large fork in the road up on a hill. We found out that they were scheduled to shoot a music video there that day. We snapped some pictures and made our way into a nearby cab and set off for a beach. We requested a beach called Flamingo beach which we would soon learn was 45 minutes away. Our cab driver was singing in the car the whole time and encouraged us to sing along when the American song "All by Myself" by Celine Dion came on the radio. We were happy to enthusiastically oblige. Did I mention we had stopped at one of the outdoor cafes for a few beers before we got into the cab? Once the radio returned to music sang in Portuguese, we were relatively silent for the rest of the ride. Another reason was the growing anxiety of the cab fare clock steadily rising. 50 dollars later, we were at flamingo beach, and we decided to cut our losses and make the best of it. The beach was mostly locals and very few people that spoke English. The Brazilian women were absolutely beautiful on that beach, and the Brazilians were not shy about seeing and being seen. I think I had eye-sex with at least 5 women in the first 5 minutes and everyone was decked out in their finest thongs and Speedos. We sat down at a table and enjoyed a nice lunch of fish, chicken, and fries; and took a walk down the beach. The water was gorgeous and very warm so I took a very relaxing swim. Bailey and Tracy didn't bring their swimsuits for some reason and ending up buying some. The most conservative ones that they could find left very little to the imagination, which quickly became the theme of the afternoon.
The afternoon ticked on and we decided that it was time to return to the ship. This time we were able to knock the cost down and all squash into one cab and split the pay. The ride was uncomfortable but we had to be economical. We were dropped off in front of a market close the ship called Mercado Modelo and did some shopping for something very specific. I suppose it's no big deal now to spill the details, but we spent a few hours doing some covert ops, arranging supplies, so that we would have a GREAT time at the Alumni Ball for the voyage back to Fort Lauderdale. Who ever heard of a party for college kids without alcohol anyway? It was then, that it started to rain, a nice warm rain, it was though. Jimmy, Sam, and I explored the lower part of the city for a while making sure to stay close to each other. We returned to the ship and had a very average SAS dinner. Then set out for some nightlife back in up town. That night we spent most of the time at a bar called Samba where the rest of the SASers showed up a little later, and had a great time. The next day, I would leave for my riverboat adventure in the Amazon!
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