I N T OX IC AT I NG BAH I A
Bahia, in the northeast region of Brazil, I was immediately welcomed by its candy-colored Portuguese colonial architecture and rainforests full of life. It was February, Brazil’s summertime, and the first stop in Bahia was Santo André. It’s a sleepy fishing village only accessible by ferry boat and nestled between Rio João de Tiba and the Atlantic Ocean. We were surrounded by wild empty bays, mangroves and beaches walkable for hours, never crossing another person. It’s almost a mystical place where horses run wild, indigenous tribes emerge from the rainforest to fish along the golden coast and bright-eyed marmosets steal bananas off your plate if you’re not looking. It was a perfect place to make friends with nature, get lost in a book on the deserted beaches or indulge on Brazil’s national cocktail — the caipirinha — paired with some pastéis to fill your day. I most fondly recall sailing through the mangroves down the João de Tiba River, grilling off the back of the boat, birdwatching and swimming between the maze of trees and sinking our feet beneath the shallow waters into the smooth clay river bottom. It was like being lost in paradise, yet we found a piece of ourselves in this striking, raw nature. Our journey continued southward to Trancoso, the jet-set destination of Bahia. The drive here was a bit of a rollercoaster ride along unpaved roads until we finally found the isolated cliff top village. Trancoso is set in a dense rainforest overlooking golden beaches and protected by mangroves. I heard Trancoso described as the Saint-Tropez of Brazil, but there is nothing pretentious here. Locals and tourists, rich and poor, are equals here. We settled into our new destination with tapioca in the Quadrado square, located inthe heart of the village. When the sun is blazing, it’s abandoned save for a few wild horses. At the cliff’s edge, we discovered the entire village relaxing by the South Atlantic, some playing football,, horse drawn carriages selling oysters and even a family of humpback whales in the distance.
UPWARD MAGAZINE - 31