We have been on the Atlantic Ocean for the last few days slowly making our way to Europe via Cape Verde and the Canary Islands. The Canaries are off the coast of Africa and while they are not on the European mainland, administratively and politically they are part of Spain, and therefore Europe. 

Now, after going to Carnaval we made several more stops in Brazil. Specifically, we visited the islands of Ilhéus, Salvador and Recife. As we were leaving the “new world” for the old, our first stop was in Ilhéus, which means “beautiful island”. And it certainly is beautiful. For instance, there were scores of colorful houses.

A chocolate store named “dengo” snared us; we bought some chocolate bars and other goodies. A photo of a sales lady from the store is below. 

Another building featuring large green wooden doors of varying heights also caught our attention.  

The next stop a day or two later, was Salvador. Not to be confused with El Salvador. Among other things, we stopped off at an ice cream store. The store was across the street from a bay full of boats where some of the locals were hanging out. Note the cell phones.

Finally we went to an island named Recife. When we got there they were busy dismantling a stage that they had erected for a celebration of –wait for it–Carnaval.

After we saw that we headed off for a tour of the Jewish section of town and a tour of a synagogue. It must be a major tourist area because it was loaded with visitors and buses that had “Tourismo” written all over them. There were also quite a number of Military Police as it turns out. 

Anyway we have finished up with South America and now we are on our way to the coast of North Africa and then on to Europe. We’ll post from there soon. 

JFB