Sao Paulo
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How do you put the third largest city in the world in a nutshell? In the case of São Paulo, with two words: food and business. São Paulo is, first of all, a major business mecca. Just about everything that comes into or goes out of Brazil, goes through São Paulo–and a huge portion of Brazil’s own product base is manufactured, in whole or in part, in São Paulo. Communications, automobiles, coffee, textiles…São Paulo stands in strong contrast to the third-world images that most foreigners have of Brazil. Most foreigners (even Brazilians from other parts) are stunned by the efficiency and velocity of the São Paulo scene.
If you find yourself in this grand city, there’s an 85% chance that you’re here on some kind of business. Just keep in mind that the pleasure of doing business in São Paulo comes from all those incredible business lunches and dinners you’ll be enjoying. The city’s central area alone has over 1400 restaurants featuring over 40 different types of foods. But if you’re in São Paulo to take in some sites, you won’t be disappointed. The city offers some charming neighborhoods (including several ethnic centers); museums focusing on Latin American art and culture; performance halls with internationally-known music groups, dance and theater groups; street fairs; shopping centers; and many parks and open spaces.
São Paulo, while enormous in geographic scale, is easily accessible by metro. The system, recognized as one of the best in the world, is cheap, fast, clean, and safe and can take you as far as you’ll want to go (or should go) in any direction. The basic divisions of the city are known simply as Centro, Zona Norte, Zona Sul, Zona Oeste and Zona Leste and the metro forms a big cross, taking you in each of these four directions.
Centro: Most probably where you’ll spend the majority of your time, the center of São Paulo is a collection of neighborhoods, each with its own character. The old Centro Historico has most of the city’s old buildings and churches, including the Teatro Municipal and Catedral da Sé. The area is in a constant state of upgrade, having suffered a heavy decline over the past fifty years or so, but you can walk around during the day without worry (nighttime is another story) and visit most of the area’s offerings on foot. The Liberdade neighborhood is known as the Japanese district and is a haven for sushi lovers and anyone interested in Japanese culture. Bela Vista is the Italian district and, of course, a nucleus of great Italian food (although good Italian restaurants are spread throughout the city). At night, the area at Av. 13 de Maio in Bela Vista becomes one of the city’s night spots. Finally, the Jardins area along Avenida Paulista is the city’s upscale, high-rise district with a rich concentration of shops, restaurants and cafés. Here, you’ll find the best selection of hotels. This area is also known simply as Paulista.
Zona Norte
The north part of the city is primarily a business district and often loaded with visitors from afar, due to its various convention centers and conference halls. It has several excellent hotels, designed for business travelers (comfort, technology and access) and which are well worth considering as alternatives to the hotels in the Center or Paulista (Jardins) areas, and you get great discounts on weekends. The strip of restaurants and clubs on Av. Luis Dumont Villares brings a crowd from all over the city.
Zona Sul
Home to the Congonhas airport (principal location for domestic flights), the South Zone offers some of the largest and most impressive hotels in the region, golf courses, and great restaurants and night spots. Other highlights include the zoo and botanical gardens, the Boating Club, Formula One track in the Interlagos area and two concert halls: Credicard Hall and Tom Brazil, which feature a variety of shows all week long. This area begins at the Parque Ibirapuera and is home to three great neighborhoods for food and nightlife: Moema, Itaím Bibi and Brooklin.
Zona Oeste
The farther west you go in São Paulo, the more you run into the city’s bohemian, side. This is probably due to the concentration of universities in the area. You’ll also find a couple of interesting, alternative neighborhoods with great bars and restaurants, specifically Pinheiros and in the Vila Madalena neighborhoods (the latter being one of the best spots in the city for nightlife, with a slightly hippie style to it). Far out on the west side is the Butantã Institute for snake cures (open for viewing).
Zona Leste
The East Side is the city’s international portal, thanks to the Guarulhos International airport. As a result of its presence, many new hotels have sprung up here offering competitive alternatives to the North and South Zone hotels. The Brás neighborhood, which is just one stop east of the Centro, is a major garment district with some of the best shopping in the city (although you have to look for the good shops).
The Beauty Within
The city is temperate most of the year with winter months (June-August) getting fairly cold, averaging around 19*C. The city can get pretty muggy during the summer (November-January) due to the smog and humidity. São Paulo has a reputation for being one of the world’s ugliest cities. What with its polluted rivers, offensively poor air quality and excess of highrise buildings, it can seem like the ugly cousin of Los Angeles or Hong Kong. But the city’s beauty does not reside in it’s natural endowments, nor in any special architectural charm. Rather, the beauty of São Paulo, for those who are open to seeing it, lies in its unique and special rhythms. Rhythms that can be heard in the people’s conversations, in the daily business activities, in the nights out for dinner and drinks, and in the mornings riding the metro. São Paulo is not really a city to see, it’s a city to be in. This is no more apparent than in the city’s inhabitants themselves. Paulistas are extremely satisfied being in São Paulo. They are friendly, polite, generally sophisticated and unparalleled at attending to the needs of others.
beaches, trancoso
The pace of life in Trancoso is always calm and laid-back. Even in peak season, the little village does not get too stirred up. Here, the pousadas are spread around the old village and along the beaches. And those are the two most important parts of Trancoso.
The Village is where you’ll find shops, pousadas and restaurants in quaint, 16th-century constructions, not unlike the Cidade Historica in Porto Seguro. But unlike the old village in Porto Seguro, the Trancoso Quadrado (as the main village square is called) is a place to pass the late afternoon an evening.
During the day, most folks are enjoying the many beautiful beaches below (like its neighbors, Trancoso is built upon a high bluff overlooking the sea). Trancoso is quite a bit smaller than Arraial d’Ajuda, with fewer establishments. Some prefer the quietude and minimalism of Trancoso–and find the establishments more quaint and inviting. Others find Trancoso a bit too high-brow, since it is frequented by Brazil’s rich and famous, causing the finer restaurants and pousadas to demand higher prices.
arraial d-ajuda
When the beach bars close for the evening at around sundown, the village road begins to light up. People hit the village shopping for a restaurant or bar or just walking around to take-in the charm of the place. Things really get moving at around 10pm and it’s a good idea to already have chosen your spot by then, as the best seats in the best restaurants go fast.
You might notice an unusual amount of world-beat and drum-and-bass music in Arraial d’Ajuda. It seems that all the bars and beach kiosks are playing some kind of electronic groove music. It has become something of a tradition in town. It serves as another reminder that you’re in a more hip part of Southern Bahia.
Cool Cafés and Bars
There are bars all along the village roads and praças. A couple of cool places to hang out for coffee or drinks include the Hokaffé coffee bar on the village road, just before the descent to the beach. This place has great outdoor seating and various coffee drinks or cocktails. You have to make sure you sit at the tables that are marked by their candle on the table. Other tables belong to the restaurants next door. Also, be sure to walk into the Beco das Cores area, which is basically a small, dead-end road that crosses the main village road (Estrada do Mucugé). Cars are not allowed on this road and entrance is marked by an archway. Inside are several great bars and restaurants, including a sushi bar and some live music.
Every afternoon starting at around 2pm the Cactus Club has live rock and blues music in on their patio that overlooks the ocean. The atmosphere here is young, casual and very cool. It’s a great place to end the afternoon or begin the evening. They make a great Capeta cocktail. A personal favorite is the Girasol, bar located down a small galeria of shops on the corner of Rua Amendoeiras and the Estrada do Mucugé. There is a large, new restaurant in front and shops lining the other side of a pathway. At the end of the pathway is the Girasol bar. Don’t confuse this with the Gerasol restaurant, which is farther down the Estrada do Mucugé and not at the end of a pathway.
Also, on the road behind the church in the old town square (Rua Bela Vista), there is a small jazz bar called the Blue Bar. It opens only during peak season, but it offers a different kind of atmosphere. Nights only. Down the road, at the end of Rua Bela Vista is a Cachaça bar called Nos de Bahia. Get there in the late afternoon when they are just opening for the evening to get a shot of their incredible view along with their Cachaça.
Music and Dance
During peak season, the two large beach bars offer late night music and dancing in the Porto Seguro style. These are located on Praia Parracho and at the beginning of Pitinga. The offerings are generally Bahian Axé music and dance (see Porto Seguro) or electronic music. If you’re really interested in Brazilian music and dance, then a trip up to Porto Seguro would be in order for the evening. Remember that the ferryboat back and forth operates 24-hours a day, so fique a vontage!
However, Arraial has some pretty rockin’ options of its own–a bit more sophisticated than those of its neighbor and probably appealing more to foreign tastes. There’s nothing that goes on in town that is not known to anyone interested. People will pass you fliers and billets as you stroll the streets–especially if you look like the profile of their place. The principal location for late-night groovin’ is the Plato Espaco Bahia located on the descent to Praia Mucugé. They often have techno or other music that starts at about midnight and goes until sunup. There is often regional music going in the outdoor stage at the Shopping d’Ajuda in front of the Gandaya burger joint. You can catch some authentic samba music and Capoeira demonstrations in front of the Sky Lanches diner at the end of the Estrada do Mucugé near the Praça Hippie. Everything else will be revealed as you walk around town.
arraial d-ajuda, excursions
Excursions available in Arraial d’Ajuda are pretty much the same ones available in Porto Seguro. Whether you book your excursion in Porto Seguro or Arraial is just a matter of comparing prices and options. Some agencies in Arraial are just re-selling an excursion that leaves from Porto Seguro anyway, so be sure to ask about the details and see the Porto Seguro section for more details. There are tour agencies all along the main village road.
The one thing that is probably better to book in Arraial d’Ajuda is a rental car or dune buggy. Most likely, you’ll be taking the buggy south to Trancoso and beyond, so renting it in Porto Seguro to the north is pointless. One excursion that is specific to Arraial is a horseback ride down the southern coast. Check with local agencies for details.
If you are a diver, you might consider working with Arraial Dive (Estrada do Mucugé 471, arraialdive@bol.com.br), since they are one of the three official groups in the area that have certified dive masters (the other agencies resell their excursions). The other two are in Porto Seguro, but the folks at Arraial Dive are excellent, professional, and speak English and German. They offer a full course in English for R$800 (4-5 days), and a baptism dive for R$100 in the ocean or a swimming pool. Dive excursions generally go from 9am–3pm and take-in two spots (including one of the two shipwrecks in the area) for about R$120, including a simple lunch. Talk to Osmar or any of the dive masters there.
arraial d-ajuda
In my opinion, the best shopping is in the old village, but by all means check out the more upscale offerings all along the Estrada do Mucugé too. An interesting shop in the Praça Brigadeiro E. Gomes is the Casa de Renda, with hand-made and hand-painted fabrics. There is also a well-stocked souvenir store on the far corner of the praça, opposite the church. While you’re hanging around the old town praça, take a look inside the Claudio Macedo, Atelier de Madeira for a look at some interesting wood sculpture.
Sao Paulo
São Paulo is not really a tourist city, so it’s relatively easy to see it’s principal attractions in a couple of days. Such a visit would focus on the city center and Paulista areas, with a walking tour of each. Afterward, you’ll have just enough time for a hop into Brás to do some shopping and head to Vila Madalena or Itaím Bibi for a night out.
If you’re in town for a week or so, you might spend two days exploring the Centro Historico, allowing you to really take your time in the museums and churches. You can actually take the little tours offered in the majority of these places. Then, you’ll probably want to get to know the Jardins area and its many eating and shopping establishments. It’s a great place to hang out, people watch and drink coffee. You’ll have enough time to spend a day in the Zona Sul–starting or ending with a walk around the Parque Ibirapuera. Your nights can be spent sampling the various dining and nightlife hot spots: Jardins, Itaim, Moema, Vila Madalena and Bexiga being the most frequented of them all. A final shopping excursion in the Brás neighborhood and you’re ready to head for the beaches.
If you’re in town on business, then you’re leisure time will probably be focused on dinner activities. Lucky you! You’ll be spending most of your nights in the Jardins area, Pinheiros, and Itaim. These are the dining hubs, although there are great restaurants all over the city, including some great choices in the North region and, of course, Japanese food in Liberdade.
trancoso
The small square that is historical Trancoso, called the Quadrado, was once the only civilization for miles and miles. On horseback, the trip to Porto Seguro to sell sugar and cocoa products took an entire day. But life in the Quadrado was slow and simple. As you walk into the square you can imagine how life here must have been. The place is intact, with its small structures perfectly restored and functioning as restaurants or pousadas. At the far end of the square toward the cliffs that overlook the ocean, is the town church, looking exactly as it did in the 1500s. As you walk toward the cliffs, you’ll pass locals (including native cultures) selling rustic jewelry and other items in the square. The quality of these hand-made good is generally much higher than that of neighboring towns, so if you’re gong to do some purchasing, Trancoso is the place to do it. Most visitors drop their jaw when they reach the far end of the Quadrado that overlooks the ocean. The view here is world class. Below you, the Rio Trancoso glides toward the ocean with a couple of serpentine turns between sandbars and past tall palm trees. You might want to hang out at this viewpoint for a while to drink it in. Later, you can walk down to become a participant in the scene.
The Quadrado used to be the only part of the village and was home to twelve traditional families that lived quite isolated from the rest of the world. Families would arrange marriages between young men and women only if they lived on opposite sides of the square. The principal economy of the village was, of course, fishing. The village was discovered in the 70s, along with much of the southern Bahia coastline. In the 80s it underwent a major transformation, with the addition of electricity, telephones and little by little investors from other parts of Brazil, building their pousadas and restaurants in town. Today, the Quadrado remains much as it did before civilization hit. No outdoor lights are allowed in the square and, if you want to walk around the area at night, you might want to bring a flashlight.
On the other side of the Quadrado, away from the ocean, is the new part of the village, known as the Bosque area. An extension of the Quadrado, here you’ll find some of the town’s more well decorated restaurants and boutique shops. The entire Bosque area consists of just a few streets: the main road entering the town and a few others forming a single square block.
beaches, trancoso
The beaches in Trancoso are slightly less populated than those in Arraial, but the layout is similar. In Trancoso, however, the northern and southern beaches are separated by the Trancoso River, which you can cross either by swimming or by taking a small boat for about R$3. Of Course, you can also hike up to the village, across, and back down the other side.
The main beach, Praia dos Nativos, is below the village on the north side and has most of the establishments, beach bars and activities. The north coast has long stretches of sand and surf and are great for swimming–especially at low tide. These are also terrific beaches for unforgettable sunrise and sunset walks. The farthest you probably want to walk to the north is to Praia Rio da Barra, which is one of the prettiest beaches in the area, at the mouth of the Barra River. The river bends a few times before it reaches the ocean, where it opens into a large lake. The entire scene is lined with palm trees and there are few visitors here during low season. Still, there is a beach kiosk to help you refuel for the walk back. It’s about four kilometers from the villa (1.5 hours walk) and you’ll pass some lovely coconut groves along the way (but few or no beach kiosks).
To get down to the northern beaches, just take the road on the left side of the village (as you enter the town) and cut through to the ocean at Praia dos Nativos. You’ll see the signs. Unfortunately, this little walk downhill can be annoying, due to the many badly mannered drivers going back and forth along this dirt road. If you’re sensitive to dust and easily angered by rudeness, then take a taxi to the beach. A motorcycle taxi is a fun option.
beaches, trancoso
On the south side of the village are beaches with slightly more turbulent waters, although they are nevertheless excellent for swimming. The water here is clearer and bluer than on the north coast, largely due to the many rivers that flow into the ocean along this part of the coast. The first beach you come to on the south coast is Praia dos Coqueiros. Here you’ll find plenty of beach bars and shady umbrellas and chairs. The farther you walk south from here, the more sparse the beach kiosks become and the more deserted the beaches. You’ll pass Praia do Rio Verde as you continue south, which is just past a small river opening (which you can cross on foot).
After the river, you walk onto an excellent stretch of beach–with warm, blue water and medium-sized waves. This was once a nudist beach, known as Praia do Nudismo. Today you might come across a few people looking to revitalize the practice (fique a vontage, ok?) but mostly it’s just a great place to swim and get some sun. At the far end of this beach is the best beach kiosk on the coast, the Pé Na Praia barraca. It has an excellent position on the beach with plenty of wooden chairs, hammocks, and places to lay out on a straw mat or sit and sip a cold one. They usually have some kind of electronic groove music going, which puts you in a great, relaxed mood (or maybe that’s the beer).
If you walk further south, you won’t come across anything but lovely sand and surf for about five kilometers. This is a good place to get away from the crowd. There are reefs just off shore in this area, and the beach is slightly murky with seaweed and kelp (evidence of the reefs). You can go snorkeling out in these waters and in peak season, you will find groups of people doing just that–on some excursion or other. It doesn’t look so inviting from the beach around the point (called Ponta de Itapororoca), but once you get out beyond the barrier reefs, you’ll understand the attraction. Again, there are no kiosks around this area until you get all the way to Praia Jacumã, where you’ll find some great beach bars at the Jacumã coconut plantation. There are also more natural tide pools for snorkeling at jacumã and boats to take you out.
If you don’t like the idea of walking on your own all the way to Jacumã to go snorkeling, then join an excursion from Trancoso or Arraial d’Ajuda that visits these pools. Alternatively, you can take a taxi or bus from Trancoso directly to Jacumã to spend the day there. South of Jacumã are the very sought-after Praia Curuípe and Praia do Espelho, which receive visitors from Porto Seguro excursions. If you get to Jacumã, you can walk to these two beaches in about 30 minutes.
To get to the southern beaches from the village, take the trail that leads from the right side of the Quadrado down until you reach the sand and surf. You can’t miss it.
blog, food, porto seguro
Chocolate, or more specifically the Cacao fruit, first appears on our radar in Egypt in the 16th century BCT. Little is know of its use in Egyptian culture, but the first known cultivation of the fruit is by the Aztec culture of around 600 CT. The Aztecs and Mayans believed that their ancestors brought the Cacao seeds from paradise where the god Quetzcoalt presented the fruit as a gift. This fruit bestowed wisdom and power upon all who ate it or, in most cases…drank it.
In Southern Bahia, Cacao (or Cacau as it’s spelled in Portuguese) created something of a revolution in the area. Although sugar was the region’s principal cash crop, Cacao played an important part in exports to Europe. In the years before Spain managed to steal a number of seedlings in an act of bio-piracy, the fine powder came mostly from South America, with Southern Bahia being among the main producers. Cacao is not easy to cultivate. Trees are sensitive to weather and temperature and prefer to be surrounded by other trees. The Cacao industry in Southern Bahia was consistently riddled with problems and hardships. Nevertheless, the European market for Cacao powder increased throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, although it was still used principally by the rich. It wasn’t until the 20th century that chocolate was mass produced and industrialized. By then Spain had created and lost its vast monopoly of Cacao production, which it had established in Africa and Malasia. Today, most of the Cacao produced in the world comes from these same African nations, although it is believed that the plant originated in the Amazon Region.
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