Seven weeks after I left Rio for the big inland loop via BH, Brasilia, Cuiaba and Brasilia again, on Saturday I saw the sea once again and also Salvador for the first time across the bay!
My cycle east across Bahia was delayed for a day in Itaberaba when I realised from zooming in on Google Maps satellite imagery that none of the state highways leading to the coast were fully sealed, and not wanting another slog across sand/dirt roads, I decided to take a bus part of the way.
And that brought me to Ilha de Itaparica where I’ve stayed for the weekend in a beachside village called Mar Grande…
Map of the island
My room (on the left) with a view
Wanted to go for a dawn stroll, but was locked inside the pousada!
Beach kiosk
Beach
There’s Salvador across the bay
Ships, chuva (=rain) and city
The estádio’s seen better days
Local guys playing beach footy, despite the rain, spectators retreated to the kiosk
Then I set off on a 90km cycle tour of the island…
Northern beach
Itaparica town
Colonial Dutch fort (pretty much the same as one I saw in Sri Lanka a couple of years ago)
Lovely cycle path from the fort to the marina
Now down south, one of the island’s two road junctions
I’ve stopped at worse lunch break locations
Back at the pousada, dawn this morning
Now gotta get packed up and head for the ferry to Salvador!
PS. to everyone who’s told me that Brazil isn’t a country for cycling, watch this video!
