Tropical Paradise > Articles > Voodoo Nights

When a beautiful woman walks towards you across a dancefloor carrying a knife you show respect. I join those around me in bowing my head and holding my hands up as both a gesture of peace and symbolic shield. "She is Oxum," whispers my friend Joao as she passes by, her eyes closed in a trance as she communes with the spirit world. It’s nice to know the name of the voodoo goddess you've just had a brush with - and a relief to know the knife is just part of her traditional gear for meeting the locals in this terreiro (spirit house).

It's another hot night in northeastern Brazil, and inside a plain white building in a dusty suburb of Salvador I’m hanging out with ancestral spirits known as orixas ("orishars"). They’re the kingpins of candomble, a potent Afro-Brazilian mix of Catholicism and African spirit worship that, along with its more modern cousin umbanda, still exerts power today. Candomble’s roots stretch back four centuries to the slaves who first set foot in Brazil after their voyages from West Africa, and their legacy is everywhere in Salvador, Brazil's most African city. Here, 80% of the population are slave descendants and the colourful colonial heart of the old town still bears the name of the whipping post - Pelourinho - where slaves were punished.

African ingredients, such as dende (palm) oil, also underpin the unique cuisine of the region, known as Comida Baiana. The most famous local dish is vatapa, coconut, shrimp and garlic cooked in dende oil (a version with okra is called caruru), while acaraje is a deep-fried bean cake stuffed with vatapa and (optional) hot pepper sauce called pimenta. Many dishes can be bought on the street from traditionally-dressed women street vendors, though for a rapid grounding in Bahian food you could try the Restaurante do SENAC, inside a mansion on Largo do Pelourinho, which has a large buffet of local food for a set charge of about £15.

You could work up your appetite on Salvador’s hills. The city centre is split into the Upper and Lower City (Cidade Alta and Cidade Baixa) by a 150-foot high ridge, the two halves linked by the 1930s Art Deco Lacerda Elevator, though you can also get up and down via precipitous streets known as ladeiras. To minimise any risk of robbery, though - a side-effect of Brazil’s continuing poverty - it’s best to stick to the elevator by day and taxis by night.

Founded in 1549, Salvador’s early years were marked by fierce battles with the local Caete Indians, who ate the first governor and the first bishop before succumbing to Portuguese rule. Sugar and cocoa soon made Salvador rich, however, the slave-worked plantations of Bahia’s interior creating the wealth that produced the grand mansions that still adorn beautiful colonial towns like Cachoeira or Santo Amaro. Either town makes a fine day trip from Salvador, as well as a glimpse into Bahia’s past.

The plantations also funded Salvador’s 300-plus churches, of which the most famous (though not the prettiest) is Bomfim, in the west of the city. People come here from all over the country, drawn by its reputation for miraculous intercessions. Inside you’ll even find a Room of Miracles, adorned with objects (known as ex-votos) - from pictures to plastic body parts - that accompany the heartfelt pleas which provide a vivid snapshot of local hopes and dreams.

You can, though, send your wish skyward simply by tying coloured ribbons called fitas to the railings outside the church. An army of ribbon vendors will besiege you as you arrive, though you can also buy them throughout in the city.

Despite its religious devotion, Salvador’s heat can make it seem a tad closer to hell than heaven - it wasn’t for nothing that Brazil’s most famous writer Jorge Amado called one of his Salvador-set novels Suor ("Sweat"). Thankfully, Salvador also has some of the best city beaches in Brazil, stretching along the Bay of All Saints from the chic central suburb of Barra northwards until the city peters out in the blue collar district of Pituba - though the beaches continue towards the equator. It’s a lovely drive, the route lined with lighthouses and forts, as well as the homes of Salvador’s rich and famous.

It’s also the starting point of the glorious coastline known as the Literal Norte, punctuated by tempting stop-offs. Arembepe, about 30 miles out of Salvador, was a famous hippy hangout for Jimi Hendrix among others in the 60s, while further north, Praia do Forte is home to a turtle conservation project that will warm your eco sensibilities as much as the Brazilian sun warms your skin.

Along with the sun worship on the beaches and the Catholicism/ candomble, there’s a third ‘religion’ in Salvador - music. This is a city that marches to the beat of countless drums, the most famous of Salvador’s many percussion bands being Olodum, whose regularly outdoor rehearsals (usually Tuesday nights) turns the streets of Pelourinho into a riot of sound and colour.

Bahia has also nurtured many of Brazil’s musical greats. Astrud Gilberto may have famously sung about Rio’s Ipanema but her own heart lay in Salvador, while Carlos "Tom" Jobim invented Brazil’s coolest musical export - bossa nova - in one of its hottest cities. Salvador was even hip enough to make a star like Gilberto Gil the state Minister for Culture.

On my last night, I sat outside the Nega Fulo bar in Pelourinho, tuning back into normal reality after candomble’s spirit world with the help of a caipirinha, Brazil’s blissful blend of cachaca (cane spirit), lime juice, brown sugar and ice.

Voodoo goddesses, fabulous music, stunning beaches. That’s a pretty fine cocktail, too.

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