travel - daye july 4th, 06.pdf · ecotravel, , and instituto de hospitalidade / sustainable tourism...

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Travel

Photos & Editing by John Daye

While on a recentsojourn to Brazil (seeJune 13 – 27th editions), Ihad the opportunity totravel up to the state ofBahia. “Bahia situated onthe NE coast of Brazil is alovely tropical state withwhite sandy beaches,coconut groves, goldensunshine, refreshing bluesea and great weatheryear round; it is the heartof Brazil.“ Roberto M. F.Mourao, director of BrazilEcoTravel, www.brazil-ecotravel.com, andInstituto de Hospitalidade/ Sustainable TourismCertification Programand Carolina Cordioli,www.hospitalidade.org.brhosted my trip.

“Bahia is colonial, mod-ern and mystical. Whitesettlers from Europe,black slaves from Africa,along with the nativeIndians built a harmo-nious life, which still pre-vails today. Salvador / TheSavior - capital of Bahiawas the first capital ofBrazil. It is divided into 2- “Lower City” at sea levelcontains the old port andcommercial district -“Upper City” is reached bystone steps and theLacerda elevator, it con-tains the old governmentbuildings, residential dis-trict, museums andchurches.”

“Salvador and its manybeaches are there to bediscovered and enjoyed.There are enough church-es for each day of theyear; majestic and simple:made of gold, silver andstone like the São

Francisco and Senhor doBonfim. There are manymuseums like the CostaPinto, which portray theart, customs and life ofthe past. Fortresses builtcenturies ago in medievalstyle still stand.Pelourinho is consideredthe most important archi-tectural setting in theworld that has completelyrestored recently. Bahia isa unique architectonicmonument, with its oldmansions and houses.”

“The warmth of the“Baianos” and their open-ness is evident. People ofmixed blood - mulattos -the result of an incrediblemixture of races: black,white and Indian.Religious festivals like theCapoeira, a dance gameoriginated from the slavesusing a musical bow“berimbau”, are fascinat-ing. Bahia is known as theLand of All Saints. It ischaracterized by its pro-found and multiple reli-gious beliefs speciallyCatholicism andCondomblé. Bahia is afantastic mixing of reli-gions, which constitutes agreat part of Bahia soul.”

“‘Bahia, O Brasil nasceuaqui.’ (Bahia. Brazil wasborn here). This sentenceis more than just anadvertising phrase; itexpresses a reality. FromBahia emanates the cul-tural and historic tradi-tions of Brazil.The PortugueseNavigator, AmerigoVespucci, made his way tothe Atlantic coast of theSouth American conti-nent, arriving in thebeautiful bay of Bahia deTodos os Santos. He

named it after the date onwhich he arrived,November 1st of 1501, theday of all saints.”

“Almost half a centurylater the Portuguesedecided to divide thecolony of Brazil into cap-taincies and Bahia wasgranted to FranciscoPereira Coutinho, whoarrived in 1535. However,the first Governor Tomede Sousa officially found-ed the city of Salvador in1549. For a short periodin the late 17th century,Salvador was under thecontrol of the Dutchcrown. Through naval andland battles, however,Bahia reverted to thePortuguese crown andremained under itsdomain until its inde-pendence in 1823.”

“The growth of the cap-ital city of Salvador camewith the advent of sugarplantations at the end ofthe 16th century and con-tinued throughout the17th century. The planta-tion economy required astrong workforce, whichwas imported from WestAfrica. Hence the begin-ning of Brazil’s slavetrade.”

“For the next three cen-turies, Salvador, Bahiabecame the most prosper-ous and important slavetrade center not only inBrazil but in all of theAmericas. The 18th cen-tury brought with it thegrowth of coffee basedeconomy and the discov-ery of gold and diamondsin southern and centralBrazil. Bahia lost its pri-mary economic signifi-cance to the PortugueseCrown and, in the 19th

century, Salvador wasreplaced by Rio de Janeiroas the capital of Brazil.”

“Throughout these cen-turies, Bahia was shapedby a myriad of differentcultures; the Africaninfluence, with its can-domblé religion, was byfar the strongest. By the17th century, Brazil hadalready imported a halfmillion slaves to work onthe sugar plantations,resulting in a populationcomposed mainly of

African descendants. Bythe time of abolition inthe late 19th century,Brazil had alreadyimported about 3 or 4million slaves. The econo-my of the state remainedbasically agriculturaluntil the introduction ofpetrochemical industriesand tourism in the 20thcentury.”

“The state of Bahia isthe most visited state andthe Bahian economy isthe fastest growing in

Travel WithJohn Daye

Brazil EcoTravel & Instituto de Hospitalidade Hosts Salvador

A view from Museu Nautico da Bahia of the Bay of Bahia de Todos os Santos, which was at the site of the firstcity of Salvador.

One of several rooms in the Museu Nautico da Bahia depicting a replica of one ofthe first slave ships.

An upstairs lounge in the Museu Nautico where visitors can unwind and reflect.

Fort Santo Antonio da Barra, the first fort built in Brazil, which houses the MuseuNautico da Bahia (Maritime Museum of Bahia).

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July 4, 2006

Brazil. This state has vastmineral resources, pos-sessing gold, rock salt,chromite, magnesite andcopper, making it one ofthe richest states inBrazil. These mineralresources attracted theattention of globalinvestors who, in the1970s, invested in theregion of Camaçari (50kilometers away ofSalvador) to create whatis today called PoloPetroquimico deCamaçari, (the petro-chemical center ofCamaçari). The sugarplantations and agricul-tural resources in Bahiagave path to a more mod-ern economy, the indus-tries. Bahia is now in thetop five most populatedstates of Brazil, withmore than 12 millioninhabitants, making it theprincipal state of theNortheast region.”

As a port city, boats andships have always been animportant part ofSalvador’s history. Shipsimport and export goodsinternationally and movecargo from the port ofSalvador to other citiesand national regions.Today, enormous oceangoing freighters tie upand depart fromSalvador’s commercialdocks every day, which liein the downtown area.”

“Small boats and fisher-men continue to be anevident and importantpart of Bahian cultureand history. The localfishermen use smallwooden crafts, jangadas,canoes and pirogues tonavigate the coast,swamps, lakes and rivers.Many of them concentrateon catching shrimp withnets, as well as fishing forbigger fish with nets andlines. These activitieshave been part of daily lifein Bahia for hundreds ofyears.”

“Today, Salvador and

the state of Bahia pre-serve their historicalcolonial significance intheir architectural monu-ments, magnificent man-sions, baroque churchesand forts, but mainly, inthe natural expression oftheir people, the culturallife, and their naturalbeauty. Walking throughSalvador’s historic centerof Pelourinho, one is sur-rounded by classic 18thand 19th century

European architecture,much of it Iberian.Restoration projects haverecuperated the glory ofmany of the oldest build-ings, and the Pelourinhois protected today byUNESCO as a WorldHeritage Site. Most of theold streets continue to becovered by cobblestones,just as in the days whenhorse drawn carriageswere the principle formsof transportation.”

For editorial and advertisement, contact John Daye atdayeco@msn.com

or call 866-329-3261Go to www.dayeandcompany.com

to view Travel Archives.

Travelde Bahia; the Center of African Culture in Brazil

A tourist shop recently renovated by the Instituto de Hospitalidade / SustainableTourism Certification Program., and a prime example of what there work is allabout.

A rooftop lounge in the Museu Nautico, with an upclose and personal view of the lighthouse.

A view of theruins of theold city slat-ed for reno-vation by theInstituto deHospitalidade /SustainableTourismCertificationProgram.

A lovely hostess welcomes you to the Museu da Misericordia, a museum recent-ly renovated by the Instituto de Hospitalidade / Sustainable Tourism CertificationProgram.

The brothers welcome you to the offices of the Instituto de Hospitalidade /Sustainable Tourism Certification Program.

A view of the “lower city” through a window of the opulent Museu da Misericordia,which was once headquarters of the main exclusive organization comprised of theoriginal aristocratic land barons of Salvador de Bahia.