Visiting Brazil: The samba state of Bahai features the best of Brazil

I call in at Olodum’s HQ in the heart of the town, where they’re getting ready for the Carnival. On another cobbled street, 
I stop in at the shop for Dide, an all-female drum troupe. They sell clothes and jewellery inside. Many of the city’s percussion groups do social or outreach work with street children or drug users, so much of the money from these shops goes to a good cause. 

Tula and I walk down to the main tourist market, Mercado Modelo, close to the seafront with stalls selling paintings, football tops and souvenirs. Outside, a high energy posse performs Capoeira, the Brazilian mix of martial arts and dance created by descendants of African slaves, all to – what else? – a drum soundtrack. 

Back in my hotel room, the music continues with rhythms reverberating into the evening, on the streets, an impromptu gathering of singers and drummers forms, the sound thundering through my room.

At a football match the next day, a derby between local teams Bahia and Vitoria, the drum squads get the party atmosphere started as the sunny stadium fills up. They play throughout the match and continue long after the game has finished, as the fans file out into the evening darkness. The beatmakers must be even more exhausted than the players, who between them fail to score a single goal. 

The drums stop the next day. I catch an early bus across the state of Bahia, through increasingly lush green countryside, to the town of Lençóis. It couldn’t be more different. Salvador has crowds, crime and a relentless energy; Lençóis’ cobbled streets are spacious, quiet and safe. 

I meet Jaime, a local guide, and together we hike out of town and up into the overlooking hills of the Chapada Diamantina National Park. It’s hot work under the afternoon sun and I envy a group of bikini-clad girls bathing in rock pools in the Lençóis river. The town below grew from the diamond trade that sprung up here in the 19th century (Chapada Diamantina roughly translates as ‘diamond plateau’).