Bahia Diving and Golf

1st day –  Salvador

Arrival in Salvador.  You will be welcomed at the airport by our guide, who will take you to the Zank Boutique Hotel.  During the day you will meet Marco Tardio for a welcome and a presentation of the trips program.

2nd day – Salvador

Leave for the tour “Going up the Hill of History” (see catalogue). We will tour the city, following the phases of its urban development, from the time of the colony until today.  Lunch (included) at the sophisticated “Trapiche Adelaide” restaurant, one of the best in the city, enjoying the beautiful view of the Bay of All Saints.

3rd day – Salvador

Scuba diving/snorkeling in the waters of the Bay of All Saints, the biggest bay in Brazil.  Submersed in the waters you can find the remains of shipwrecked boats from the colonial period.  During the experience it is possible to admire beautiful coral formations.  The tour lasts 4 hours with a break for lunch.

At night we will experience Pelourinho (the historic center), where every week the “Blessed Tuesday” is celebrated, a moment in which the sacred and the profane are united.  Participate in the mass at the Rosario dos Pretos church, where traditional African cultural elements are mixed with catholic rituals.  Dinner in the charming garden of the Maria Mata Mouro restaurant in the historic center.  After dinner is the time to experience the fun street life and plazas full of live shows and percussion.

4th day – Mangue Seco

Transfer to Mangue Seco along the gorgeous Linha Verde coast of Bahia (about 2 hours).  Mangue Seco is a small village famous because it is where Jorge Amado’s “Tieta do Agreste” romance took place.  It is known as the pearl of the “Costa dos Coqueiros”.  The village sits on a strip of sand where the river meets the ocean.  Lodging at the Pousada Fantasias do Agreste. Tour of the dunes until we reach our “private” Cultour Beach, an exclusive area decorated in nets, rocking chairs, sarongs, and a beach hut made of straw and wood built by the natives where lunch will be served.  In the late afternoon we will arrive at the Cultour Bar Dune, where we will comfortably lay out on mats and pillows, savoring delicious caipirinhas, and watch the magical and charming sunset over the Rio Real.

5th day – Mangue Seco

We will board Paulinho’s “Gazela” (a 12m scuna) for a tour through the Rio Real among the mangrove canals, discovering the uncontaminated.  We will collect fresh oysters, which we will taste aboard on the way to the Ilha da Sogra, an extensive and deserted piece of sand between ocean and river that appears during few hours of the day, during the low tide, separating the ocean from the mouth of four rivers.  Aboard, on the beach, or on floating tables we will taste the rich and yummy lunch, which the chef on board will prepare for us and the sailors will serve.  A saxophonist and a guitarist will accompany us and play beautiful Brazilian music.

6th Day – Praia do Forte

Leave for Praia do Forte, a fishermans village that is now considered one of the most renowed spas in Brazil.  Lodging at the Pousada Farol das Tartarugas in the charming Chalé dos Anjos.  Free day.  We will head to the Sapiranga de Mata Atlantica Reserve on four-wheelers, an ecosystem considered patricmony of biosphere preservation.  In the Aruá Lagoon we can use Canadian candoes and admire the richness of its biodiversity.

7th day – Praia do Forte

Free day during which we will accompany you at the time you choose to the Iberostar Golf Club so you can play golf on an 18-hole course, considered one of the best in Brazil.  At night dinner and live music at Bar do Souza to say goodbye to Bahia, “The land of happiness.”

Note:  On either of the two days in Praia do Forte it is possible to arrange horseback riding.

8th day – Praia do Forte/Salvador

Transfer to the airport in time to catch the flight to the next destination