We arrived at Ilheus about 200 miles south of Salvador in Brazil.
 |
| Met by drummers ... |
 |
| Old Church (1556) |
 |
| Vesuivio coffee house |
 |
| Cathedral |
 |
| Bataclan - Ilheus |
 |
| Cocoa pods on the tree |
 |
| Drying Cocoa beans - they smell like chocolate! |
 |
| Helen enjoying some Cocoa drink made from the outer part around the beans (it was a bit hot even in the shade!) |
Today is a slightly cloudy day, but still a balmy 28C. Fog back home according to Sky and BBC news which we get on our cabin TV.
Ilheus used to be the old Cocoa capital of Brazil, but fell upon hard times.
We were met by drummers, then around the old town. Church (1556), followed by the Bar Vesuvio, Cathedral and Bataclan (house of ill repute in Ilheus, but named after the Paris version).
Bar Vesúvio (Vesuvius Bar)
The Bar Vesúvio (Vesuvius Bar) has been one of the most visited places in the town ever since its creation, at the end of the 1920s, when it was frequented by cocoa farmers who would meet their friends and recount their stories and love conquests.
Many visitors and tourists who drop by know it from the Jorge Amado novel Gabriela, Cravo e Canela (Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon), and who come to savor the famous “Nacib’s kibbeh” – one of dishes most referred to in the novel, in which Mr. Nacib is the owner of the Vesuvius bar, the place where young Gabriela works.
.
Finally, a look round a Cocoa plantation, the drying sheds and some products!
