Week 8: Morro de São Paulo & Salvador
Day 50: February 21st 

Had a nice breakfast at our new place then I did some laundry while Sarahi went to the coffee shop to do a little work. After a walk on the beach I met her back in our room for a lunch of sandwiches. We went back to the coffee shop for the fast wifi and then walked to the west side of the island for the sunset. We headed back and took a nap before going to dinner at a nice Italian place. We spoke with the owner for a long time in English and got some good advice on where to travel. 

Day 51: 

After breakfast we went to the beach. I swam a bit will Sarahi read a book. We spent the afternoon relaxing by the beach and then had sandwiches for lunch. We returned to the west side of the island for the sunset and pictures. We found another path back that went through the native section of town. We had some awesome seafood pasta for dinner. I’ve never had octopus before but it was pretty good! 

Day 52: 

After breakfast we tried some snorkeling on a secluded beach. It was low tide so we didn’t see too much and tried not scrape ourselves on the coral. Then we returned to our hotel to check out. We started walking in the heat of the day with our backpacks. We stopped halfway for lunch and had some incredible shrimp moqueca (imagine tomatoes, coconut milk, and shrimp soup crossed with fajitas). Then we continued walking for another mile or two down the beach. We were the only people backpacking down the beach and got some weird looks. We found a nice spot with a big tree and dropped out stuff underneath. We set up a hammock and relaxed for awhile. We hid our bags and walked back for dinner as the sun set. We had pasta, Sarahi’s with cheese and mine with lobster which was quite disappointing. We returned to our campsite to find the ocean was at low tide and had retreated 200 yards out to sea. We were disappointed but glad that it hadn’t gone the other direction and flooded our campsite. We set up our hammocks, hid our bags under some palm branches, and fell asleep to the sound of distant waves. 

Day 53: 

We woke up to an ocean that had returned within twenty feet of our campsite before beginning its retreat. It wasn’t the best nights sleep of our life but it was a great experience. I went for an early swim and watched a cloudy sunrise. Soon it started raining and we scrambled to secure our rain tarps above our hammocks. The rain stopped after 30 minutes and the tide continued retreating. We ate a mango and granola for breakfast, did some yoga, and studied Portuguese. Eventually we packed our bags and headed off in search of food and lodging. We returned down the beach just as the clouds broke and the sun reached its hottest. We have a bad habit of making this mistake… We ran into a guy who tried to sell us on a room the night before. After some negotiation and searching we found a great room for under $40 with a/c breakfast and a balcony with ocean view. We were so happy to shower off the complete coating of sand on our bodies. We headed to lunch and had some delicious chicken Parmesan that was more expensive than I expected but oh well.  We took a nap and then walked around the beaches a bit. We were feeling a bit exhausted and only ate crepes  and a bowl of fruit for dinner. We were soon asleep and thankful for a bed with air conditioning and no sand. 

Day 54:

I woke up early and took some awesome pictures of the sunrise. We had a nice breakfast after walking on the beach for a while. We took another walk on the beach and then packed our bags and checked out of our room. We took the long hike back to the docks and attempted to buy tickets back to Salvador. We could not buy them without cash but the arm had been empty since the day we arrived. We were worried we would be stuck on the island forever. After arguing with some police who were gaurding a brokers arm we decided to have lunch. Luckily the arm had cash and was functioning by the time we returned and we were able to take the boat back that afternoon after all. It was choppy and we were happy to be back on land. We walked to our hotel which we really loved. We had a nice dinner and relaxed the rest of the night. 

   
   
  
Day 55: 

After a great breakfast we relaxed in our room for a bit and then headed to find some museums. Our hotel is in the heart of Pelourinho which is the historic center of Salvador. The architecture is incredible and there are many beautiful churches. The streets are made of stone and are closely lined by centuries old buildings. There are countless museums within a square mile or so from our hotel. We when to six museums before lunch. They included a museum about a famous author from Brazil, one full of old pictures of Brazil, one about all the governors of the state of Bahia and some history, one full of various art displays, and our favorite was the museum of misericordia. The museum is located inside the oldest hospital in Brazil, and maybe the Western Hemisphere. It was funded by rich Catholics and was free to all. It served many impoverished women and children. The chapel inside was incredible and there was a multicolor marble staircase inside. There are only three multicolor marble displays like this in the world, including the Taj Mahal. It was really cool and had a great view of the bay of Salvador. I was cranky and tired of museums and hungry by lunch. We returned to a burger place and had massive burgers topped with sausage. We had a food coma and relaxed for the afternoon. Our hotel room had a second door leading to a large balcony area with a great view of the bay. We hung out here and watched some Netflix because our hotel had fast internet. We were very happy. We took a nap at some point and woke up at 1 in the morning. It was too late to eat dinner so we went back to bed and woke up starving the next morning. 
Day 56: 

The next day we had breakfast and then went shopping on a street near Pelourinho. There are countless shops selling mostly clothing and we needed to buy a couple things for Sarahi’s wardrobe. After a painful couple of ours of shopping we successfully bought a romper and several shirts for Sarahi as well as a couple pairs of sunglasses for $5 each. Mine are “genuine” ray bans and Sarahi’s are Gucci. I bought a jiu jitsu tank top to make me look tough but passed up the naike, beebok, and buma brand shorts. We bought pasta and spaghetti sauce and cilantro and returned to our hotel to cook lunch in their kitchen. After lunch we went our separate ways for a few hours. Sarahi went to a museum about tiles and I got my haircut by an elderly Brazilian man. He used a straight razor to shave my neck and clean up my beard, while a groups of Brazilian drummers marched by playing on the street next to me. It was a great haircut and shave for only $6. We met back up at the hotel and watched some Netflix. After a long nap we walked across the street for a $6 pizza and liter of soda. Then we headed to bed.