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Weather in Southern Bahia
Southern Bahia
In the morning of April 22th, 1500, Pero Vaz de Caminha, scribe of the
armada led by Pedro Álvares Cabral, scribbled to King D. Manuel of Portugal:
“On this same day, at sunrise, we saw land! More specifically, at first
a very large mount, very high and round; and other lowlands to its South;
and flatlands, with large woods; the captain named the mount Monte Pascoal
(Easter Mount) and the lands Terra de Vera Cruz (Land of Vera Cruz)!”. After
spending the night anchored in open seas, the fleet, comprising 10 ships
and 3 caravels, sailed northward along Bahia's coast, searching for calmer
waters.
“And we sailed along the coast, and the small vessels found a reef surrounding
a port, very good and very safe, with a very broad entrance”, wrote Caminha.
After a brief reconnaissance on land, pilot Afonso Lopez took two natives
on board, for all due introductions: “Their complexion is dark, a tad reddish,
featuring good faces and good, well-shaped, noses. They live naked, without
any cover. They are very innocent in that regard.”
In the morning of April 26th, a Sunday, the Indians witnessed the Portuguese
faith by attending the first mass, delivered by Friar Henrique de Coimbra.
The 1,500 men led by Cabral remained on the new land until May 2nd, when
they headed to the Indies, their trip's final destination. Two exiles and
two defecting cabin boys stayed with the natives on the new land – Brazil's
first four immigrants.
Highlights:
- Bahia's typical cuisine. From Dona Isabel's acarajé, in Caraíva, to the
sophisticated dishes at Japaiano, in Trancoso
- Bahia's hospitality
- Beaches of green and calm seas
- Historical ingredients, such as a class at Quadrado, Trancoso's central
square, about the arrival of the Portuguese caravels to the region
- Flight in a double-engine plane from Corumbau to Porto Seguro. Or to Salvador