Navigating Salvador Bahia

Time seems to run away, as its been a while since my last update, we have been pretty occupied with the size 11 saga. Despite this we have not been boring, in between the medical chaos, we have managed to get around a fair amount. The first week in the hotel was actually a pleasant change of scenery. Right across the road was a great little local restaurant/pub that we went to frequently, often with our awesome crew joining us for a lunch or caipirinha, or in the hotel to chill at the swimming pool. We also enjoyed the privileges of an in house hair salon which was an absolute treat as we have not had this luxury since we left South Africa.

A week after surgery we were very happy to get back to our floating home, albeit with Eric's challenges of getting on and off the boat as well as getting down to the cabin, but as always we made it work.

We have been in Salvador almost one month and our feelings on this city have changed. On arrival we were unsure of how long we would want to stay in Salvador, and we were all on safety alert. The fact of the matter is life took an unexpected turn and it was no longer a choice but a necessity that we stay, in hind sight this was a blessing in disguise as we actually fell in love with this gorgeous city and its people, we are now more than comfortable in our temporary home.

Having made some local friends which is always a bonus, when you need to learn the ropes of a new town. It can be very challenging here to find the good places as the websites are not always great, or very reliable, everything appears very rundown, however the surprise, is that inside these very rundown buildings are some fantastic places, upon entering you are never quite sure if you will find a gem or if you will soon appear in a kidnapping documentary. 😳😂

We are still mobility restricted, so Makyla, Lester and Angela have seen more than us, as there are some places that are just not practical for a wheel chair or crutches, such as cobble stone in the old town, although we can say we have become very au fait with hospitals, doctors surgery's physio and restaurants. 😁

Fortunately some fun days and nights out with friends makes everything seem more fun, due to the length of time we have been here, we all made friends in different circles, Makyla even ended up helping out on a few charters.

Lets talk driving and Uber, never have I ever experienced such crazy driving, not even in Indonesia. Nobody drives in their actual lane, they drive like total maniacs, skipping traffic lights, playing chicken with busses seems to be a daily sport. After being here a while we have actually become rather accustomed to this driving and have realised that there is some kind of unspoken and unwritten rules to this organised chaos, strangely enough we have not seen any accidents or fender benders. You can even order and Uber motor bike, which to my horror I have discovered Makyla has been using as it's much cheaper and clearly much more fun if you are young.

Some Fun Fact, most cars run on gas not the slang word gas for petrol or diesel, but actual gas, discovered this when I was putting the Benz in the trunk of Ubers as they all had huge gas bottles.

As you all know by now our first food experience was pretty lousy and I was convinced we would become anorexic, well it was quite the opposite, we all gained a few pounds 😩🙄 We have subsequently had some fantastic local food. There rare 3 products that stand out for me:

Plantain (looks like an oversized green banana) these are used with everything, fried, pureed, boiled skin on, jam, and much more. Often served warm with some main courses and also in the form of round fried crisps for dipping. Initially I never like it much but after spending this much time in a place certain things certainly do grow on you, and this is one of them.

Palm oil, for the most part and certainly in Europe red palm oil is unheard of, as it is always processed and filtered hence is almost clear in colour. In the State of Salvador Bahia it is red in colour and almost in its natural state and is widely used in most of the favourite local dishes, which we loved. Only when I started to question this oil and did some re-search did I discovery that it can significantly raise your LDL cholestrol, which clearly has been the case for both Eric and Lester since leaving Brazil. So this is something I would certainly try to avoid when visiting.

Brazil is very much a carnivore friendly country, vegetables, generally are not an important component of any meal, with one exception of CASSAVA. This is served everywhere and with everything, is is unbelievably versatile and Brazilians have really learnt how to use this product to its maximum and in so many different ways. It is a root vegetable, carb heavy, but extremely nutritious with many health benefits.

Fun Fact 1 Proper preparation is extremely important as cassava contains cyanide to protect the plant against parasites and disease.
Fun Fact 2 Brazilians have named it the saviour against starvation.

A few examples of what you can expect to get on your plate that is made from Cassava that we have experienced, somehow I am sure there are plenty more that I don't know about.
1. Fries
2. Farofa ( I would compare the texture to couscous)
3. Tapiocas this is hard very white crispy and shell like that gets stuffed with anything you like and is made in all different sizes
4. Cassava Flour used for everything you would use ordinary flour for.
5. Mash kind of like mash potato a little thinner but quit deliciouse.
6. A multitude of desserts

Last note we are all happy and healthy, in the pictures below you will see a Captain that is very happy to be back on his boat, as well as a multitud food dishes involving CASSAVA
On various days and times we miss our people that are far away, but we are certainly enjoying this journey of exploration.