Finally Real Vacations - South of Bahia - Brazil

  Caraiva, State of Bahia, Brazil
Friday, July 4, 2008

Finally, after almost one and a half year, we took real vacations travelling for two weeks. Nothing comparable our 8 months trip in 2006, but way longer than the last two trips to Amsterdam and Atacama.

To save some money and to get back to one of the most relaxing places in Brasil we decided to go by car to the south of Bahia

Quick stop at Iconha City on the way to Bahia

from Sao Paulo. In two days (we spent on night in Teixeira de Freitas at Pousada Lord) we drove 1.400 km and our first stop was Ponta do Corumbau. Because it was low season almost nothing was open. It was hard to find a place to stay, and no restaurants except the hotel restaurant were open. The beach was no so beautiful, so we decided to stay one night only and drive to Caraiva next day morning, a bigger place but still very small as it is only a village.

So after three days we finally were able to unpack and relax for a few days.

the quiet Caraiva

We stayed in Pousada Lagoa (VERY RECOMMENDED), one of the most traditional pousadas of Caraiva, in a small cottage in the middle of gorgeous garden. There is a river delta half a kilometer alway from the village and good beach bars to spend the days having good food and beers (Bar da Praia is very recommended too).

Caraiva River Delta

Caraiva is very small with sand streets and without cars, now with electricity (arrived in july 07) but all wires are under the surface keeping the original appearance. We did the trek to Praia do Espelho, it is a two hour walking on the beach going north, to reach the beautiful Espelho beach. There you can have good food relax, and get back to Caraiva by bus taxi (very expensive with prior arrangement in Caraiva) or walkback. We chose a taxi!

trekking to Praia do Espelho

TIP: if you are backpacking in Bahia is VERY easy to get to Caraiva. Although some guides books or locals in Porto Seguro says that is a hard job to get there, it is very simple. Take a bus or airplane to Porto Seguro and from there take a taxi to the ferry to Arraial d'ajuda (crossing the river takes about 15 minutes), and from the other side of the river take a direct bus to Caraiva (with some stops during the way). When you arrive you have to cross a river to get in to the village, it costs 3 reais per person and takes 5 minutes.

After four days in Caraiva we drive to Trancoso, another village but much bigger than Caraiva, with hundreds of hotels from 10 to 1.000 dollars a night. But this belongs to the next post.

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