We have a lazy morning, taking our time to get out of bed. Once we are able to struggle up, we head out to our now regular coffee shop for breakfast. We have some fresh fruit juice, rolls and coffee. After a short internet session, we head off to the district of Barra. This is a wealthy suburb of Salvador that has beaches on both the bay and the ocean.
We take the local bus down the coastline, getting off at the St Marie Fort. The coast line along the bay is dotted with little forts established to protect the city and port from raiders in the old days. We walk along the sea front, admiring the lovely beaches they have down here. The water is unbelievably clear - we can see the feet of the bathers. The beach consists of a number of different coves and inlets - each has its own character and seems to attract different types of folks.
We walk all the way down to the glaringly white Forte de Santo Antonio, which is capped with a light house, at the point where the Atlantic Ocean becomes the Bay of Todos os Santos. We wander up and into the fort, which has now been converted into a museum. Our primary purpose is to go to the coffee shop that is located on the top of the fort, but we still have to pay the museum fee. We therefore decide to check out the museum - it could be good except for the fact that nothing is in English.
We have a drink on the terrace of the fort overlooking the sea and up and down the beaches. It is a beautiful spot and it is fantastic that they have kept this spot relatively preserved. After we finish our drink, we continue our stroll along the beach. We take off our shoes and head down to the sand to get a closer look at the locals at play. We head back the same way, picking up an ice cream (but which was not so good) and a fresh coconut along the way.
Around 3 PM we take the bus back up to the town center, where we go and change some money. Then back at the hotel we take a short siesta and wait for the truck to arrive. We want to get one bag - we traveled very light here. After the truck arrives and we collect our bag, we rush out to watch the sun set. We only have time to head over to the look out at the top of the bluff overlooking the bay, but it is still a wonderful spot (despite to drink to go with it).
That night we go and have dinner at a school that trains people for the hotel and catering business. They have a buffet of local dishes that we wanted to try out. It turns out to be fantastic. They have over thirty different dishes for us to sample from. Some are excellent and others, well, we passed on when we were not sure what they were. But we did try the dish labeled "slop". The desserts were really yummy - we went back multiple times and cleaned them out of the fried banana dishes.
While dinner was going on, there was a dance show going on in the courtyard below. It was folk dancing, but a bit more touristy than the other. It had more western influences, but we enjoyed a quick glance down in between trips to the buffet (of which there were many).
After dinner we wandered the streets for a while before heading back to the hotel for the night.