We visited Rio de Janeiro the day before our cruise set sail.
Click here to learn about Rio
This post is about the three Brazilian ports we visited during our first week on the #MSCSeaview. We booked excursions through MSC to ensure that we could learn about the cities as we do not speak Portuguese. All of the excursions were well organized and allowed us learn a little about the history and the present day ports in the north east part of Brazil. These ports were the reason we needed to get the yellow fever vaccine, and luckily the wind kept the mosquitos away! We had hot, windy and sunny weather for all of these ports!
Ilheus (BRIOS)
This small coastal city has a large port and was once the cocoa capital of Brazil. The city was founded by 10 Cocoa barons. The success of the city has followed the rise and fall of the cocoa plants over time, kind of like to gold rush days of the Yukon. The boom and bust of supply and demand and health of the monoculture shaped the city. The ornate historic buildings were built in the early 1900s at the height if the cocoa economic successes. Many buildings are in need of repair. Our guide was excellent as she gave us a tour of the historical part of town and then we went out to a beach. The city has 186000 residents and 85km of beach. The water was warm and the waves were perfect for surfers.
Salvador (BRSSA)
The original capital city is working hard to restore their historic buildings. It was once the first Portuguese America capital and the capital of Brazil. It is recognized as a Cultural UNESCO site. We took a 3h walking tour with an excellent English speaker named Ray. It was sweltering!! The buildings are mostly from the early 1900s and of the Portuguese style. We tried a drink made with lime and coconut which was delicious! We took a large elevator up from the port to the old town. We enjoyed meeting some other English speakers on the tour. We walked 11 000 steps in the sun, with high humidity and 31C weather so we needed a shower and a late lunch on our return to the ship.
Maceio (BRMCZ)
This city of 3 million people was another hot and humid place. We travelled out to a reserve at a lagoon. The water was warm but not ideal for swimming because of the strong current. We got out of the crowds and managed to enjoy a beer in some shade. The area reminded us of a quieter Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. It was another very humid day but we had shade on the boat and on the beach side. We saw some white herons, egrets, crabs, and a school of catfish came up to the shore to sample french fries!
Brazil is beginning to develop their tours for visitors. There are opportunities for petty theft in the streets and so we kept our passports locked up in our cabin safe. We avoid bringing valuables when travelling to reduce the chance of being a target and we make sure we are aware of our surroundings. I purchased an RFID cross body bag -with a reinforced strap. I love the size, quality and it is wearing well despite its use on many travels/flights.
We successfully used our eSIM purchased from Airalo. For $5USD we had 1G of data for our week in Brazil. I turned off my ability to roam on my home phone plan. We could receive WhatsApp communications with my home SIM card and we had data with the eSIM. It was a convenient way to stay in touch with family at home or use email or WhatsApp to confirm tours etc.
