Salvador de Bahia

A friendly turtle who popped his head up to say hello
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Flew to Salvador Tuesday afternoon and on Wed took myself up to Praia de Forte to see the Tamar Project, a turtle conservation & research station.  As well as pools of turtles and the usual souvenir shop there was a wealth of information on boards and videos about the work they're doing,  a vital part of which includes local fishermen who are taught how to resucitate turtles caught in their nets and then release them.  Due to the success of the program more than half a million baby turtles have been sent on their way to the sea via the program - very inspiring.!!

Newborn turtles
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That evening I went to a folkloric concert/dinner. We were treated to a variety of dances of the kind performed for Candomble ceremonies.  Candomble was a religion which came to Brazil with the African slaves brought to work on the sugar plantations. Slavery only ceased in Brazil in 1888. The dancers portrayed the different orixas ( gods or saints) with appropriate colourful costume and movements pertaining to that particular god´s attributes. The music and dance forms the greater part of their ceremonies. The music consisted mainly of intense drumming using several different types of drum with a berimbou ( a one stringed instrument) . There were also other dances including a wonderful display of capoeira with lots of tumbling & kicking & spinning ( the boys in our class would love it )