Porto da Barra

Thought it was about time I wrote about my very fun weekend. I spent almost all of it at Porto da Barra, the main beach in Salvador itself and about 5 minutes walk from the hostel. I was told by someone here that it was listed as the third best beach in the world in this article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2007/feb/16/beach.top10
I´m not totally sure that it is but it´s great fun!

A group of about 7 of us went from the hostel. The sea was rough so there were big waves for jumping and unlike most of the week before it was gloriously sunny. The beach was really busy but it seemed like most of the people there were trying to sell us something. We ate cheese on sticks that the sellers melt over little barbeques and drank coconut water- the coconuts are huge and green and full of water which is apparently really healthy. It doesn´t taste of coconut but is nice and really refreshing. They chop of the top and give you a straw and then you can go back and they cut it in two so you can eat the flesh. It tastes much nicer than the ones in the UK, which are much older and dried. Then later in the afternoon we moved onto caipirinhas (lime, cachaça, sugar and ice cocktails)! It was very relaxing and so nice after three days in hospital, which is really hard work. There´s so much going on at the beach, it becomes the hub of the city at weekends. We went back on Sunday until the skies opened and it started to pour with rain- the weather changes so quickly here.

On Sunday evening I went to a churrascaria with Jayne and Mike, an English couple I met in Lima and kept in touch with so we could meet up again in Salvador! Basically they are very Brazilian meat restaurants which have buffets of salad and then waiters who come round with different types of meat on sticks. You have a piece of card with one side red and the other green and they give you meat whenever it´s green. I went last time I was here and just ate salad but I thought I should try it now I´m not vegetarian! The meat was really nice but so filling- I didn´t really have an appetite all day Monday as I ate so much! Don´t think I´ll go back but it was a good experience and very cheap for what it was. Also the restaurant was right on the beach so we had good views of the huge waves breaking in the dark!