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Afro Salvador
10 days
The African influence can be felt by all five senses. Learn traditional rhythms, dance, religion and cuisine of the black heart of Bahia, one of the worlds most interesting and vibrant destinations.
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About Salvador
Request Quote
Program Day-by-Day
VIP Brazil has no fixed departure dates. We plan One-of-a-Kind Luxury Travel completely designed for you. Call our travel planners now to see how easy it is... 800.772.9188.
Day 1
Arrive Salvador Airport; Your tour guide will greet you at the gate and you will be driven to Hotel Pestana Bahia. Bahia Briefing: An informal but informative talk/lecture on the different aspects of Bahian culture, history and present day realities, given at your hotel, followed by a stroll through the narrow, bustling streets lined with buildings in pastel shades of an age gone by. Soak in the sights and sounds of this vibrant city. Visit the old historical section of town, the Pelourinho area with the largest and best preserved complex of colonial architecture in the Americas. Highlights of the tour are the Afro Brazilian Museum and the church of São Francisco. This tour shows two distinct aspects of Salvador, the new and the old, concentrating on the early expansion of the city and is a very good orientation for those wishing to further explore the city.
Day 2
Breakfast, then a visit to a traditional Candomblé house of worship, established at the turn of the century, maintaining traditional religious and social values of African daily life. Our visit will focus on the religious and social traditions of the temple. We then visit a primary school whose curriculum includes Yorubá language studies, the study of the spiritual and medicinal properties of sacred plants, as well as normal academic studies. This temple is one of the most respected in Brazil. Social tip: We recommend that a group donation be made, preferably in school materials. Afternoon at leisure, to visit all those shops you saw on the first day’s tour.
Bahia By Night with show by Balé Folclórico da Bahia and dinner in Pelourinho. The performance by the internationally acclaimed Balé Folclórico da Bahia at the Miguel Santana Theatre in the Pelourinho area is a showcase of the different African traditions still so much alive in Bahia. We will see the sacred dances of the Candomblé; puxada de rede, a song by fishermen in honor of Yemanjá, the goddess of the sea; maculelê, a stick and sword dance with its origins in the cane fields; capoeira, a martial art/dance of Angolan origin and the samba de roda, a spinning, swirling version of this exuberant national dance, followed by dinner.
Day 3
Urban Development Tour This tour will take us to a side of the city not always seen by visitors to Salvador. We will see the different realities of urban life, that of the fortunate and the less fortunate. Our tour ends in an inner city community, a favela deep in the heart of some of the most exclusive residential areas of Salvador. We will be met by the community leaders and given a detailed explanation of the work being done within the community. We will visit the school, a children’s day-care center, medical center and small business project, all financed by the community itself. This is a warming example of a community bravely finding solutions to its problems. Afternoon free to relax by the pool or at the beach.
Day 4
Cachoeira: A Day in the Heartland. We leave the city behind and drive through the oldest farmland in Brazil. This is the land of sugar cane and tobacco plantations, peaceful colonial towns and busy country markets. We visit an experimental cacau plantation. We lunch in Cachoeira, a charming colonial town in a beautiful setting on the banks of the Paraguassu River and later take a walking tour of the town with its many wood sculptors’ ateliers, bustling market (Wed, Fri and Sat) and visit the Sisterhood of the Boa Morte, a sorority which traces it's origins back to the time of slavery. We cross to the western bank of the slow moving river and visit the Danemann Cultural Center where we can also see world class cigars being expertly rolled. A journey back in time to the Brazil of yesteryear.
Day 5
AM Percussion Workshop: Focusing on rhythms from the candomblé, samba and samba reggae, students learn from master percussionists. the subtleties of Brazilian rythym. The workshop will cater to all, no previous musical training or experience is necessary. The drum is the most important instrument in Bahian culture and this experience is to be not missed. Afternoon visit to several artist studios. Bahia has always been famous for its music, but there is a also a thriving visual arts scene, which, like the music, borrows heavily from African influences. Our tour takes us to the ateliers of three artists, each working in distinctly different mediums. Visits can be arranged to suit individual group interests, for instance to a cooperative of self-taught painters working in the naive style; a wood sculptor; metal sculptor, textile or ceramic artist. Each one of our visits is to a part of town not normally seen on any city tour, giving us an even broader view of this multi-faceted city, where artistic expression, whatever the medium, is such an important part of life.
Day 6
Mid-day Dance Workshop. Here we will focus on Samba and street dances, touching on some of the rhythms from yesterday’s workshop. In the afternoon, we visit the Regional Capoeira school where we focus on the variations of capoeira: There was a movement in the 1930’s, under the notorious Brazilian dictator Getúlio Vargas, to create a unique Brazilian sport. A Bahian capoeira master, Mestre Bimba, was given the task of adapting the Angolan capoeira to a new distinctly Brazilian form of capoeira. The new form, Capoeira Regional, was born. This form is faster, indeed flashier, than the original Capoeira Angola, where the blows are directed to the head in a spectacular display of strength, technique and control.
The musical form for the Capoeira Regional is similar to the Angolan form, a faster, stronger rhythm but using only the berimbau, tambourine and conga. Both forms have their intrinsic qualities, the Angolan form is certainly subtler then the more “gung-ho” Regional form.
Day 7
Morning at leisure to explore town or lounge at the beach. In the afternoon, our Highlight tour/cooking class. We meet our bilingual guide at the local market where, with help and guidance we will buy the ingredients for our evening meal. We'll tour the stalls trying local fruits and delicacies, learning their origins as we eat our way thru the market. Having purchased all our ingredients, we'll make our way to our hostess' home. This is a unique opportunity "hang with the locals" and see how they use all these strange and wonderful foods. We'll be watching (and helping if we want) the preparation of a local specialty. Be sure to take notes so you can amaze your friends at home! Then we'll learn how to make caipirinhas (the Brazilian national drink) while we smell the tantalizing aroma of our dinner cooking. At last, we'll sit down with our hostess and her family and enjoy the fruits of our labor.
Day 8
After breakfast, board a schooner and cruise to two of the 36 islands in this sparkling bay. Our first stop is at Frades Island with time to relax in the sun or swim in the warm waters. We re-board the boat for the short crossing to the larger Itaparica Island for lunch. After lunch more time to relax on the beach or an optional visit to the colonial town of Itaparica. A day for rest and relaxation on one of the great bays of the world. Finally, return to Salvador, crossing the majestic Baía de Todos os Santos, with tremendous views of Salvador.
Day 9
Breakfast at the hotel then take a tour of the lower city and the quiet waters of the Itapagipe Peninsula where the first holiday residences were built. Now a peaceful family district, life moves at a slower pace than the bustling upper city. Fishermen fish from dug out canoes, locals collect shellfish at low tide, and schooners are at anchor, all protected by the famous Bonfim church, one of the most important churches of pilgrimage in Brazil and deeply synchronized with the Candomblé. We continue on to the Monserrat district with its panoramic view of the city and on to the Mercado Modelo, a thriving market for local artifacts. It's time to bargain!
In the evening we learn about “MPB” Brazilian Popular Music starting with an informal lecture at the hotel with the assistance of a group of three musicians tracing the development of the Bossa Nova and MPB, from the master João Gilberto to the modern day singer songwriters (Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Chico Buarque & Carlinhos Brown). The talk is about 2 hours. Then go out for a traditional Brazilian Barbeque dinner in Salvador’s top restaurant.
Day 10
Open day of leisure until departure for Salvador airport.
Duration: 10 days.
Price From: $1,850.00
Departure Dates
To be announced.
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Includes: 14 meals included. All transfers, visits and activities indicated. Guide/Valet assistance throughout the trip
Not included: Air transport and airport taxes; All drinks and personal expenses. Click above to request a complete quote incl. Air.
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