Travel: Brazil

When I was invited to Salvador in northern Brazil – specifically to stay at two amazing hotels (of which more superlatives later) – I had to think. For approximately 1/1,000th of a second. Before I started drooling and rushing home full-tilt to start packing. Until I remembered the trip wasn’t for another month. Still, I got there in the end.

Brazil’s third-largest city, Salvador, is on a triangular peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean like a wagging, admonishing finger, forming a breakwater that creates the natural harbour Todos Os Santos (All Saints’ Bay). Salvador is the wealthy capital of the north-eastern Bahia region, and an astonishing 80% of the local population claims Black-African ancestry, this being the ancient capital of Brazil to which slaves were brought and traded in the main square – now the Unesco World Heritage Site that is Pelourinho, the Old Town. A heady mix of cultures, Portuguese colonial architecture abounds, sitting cheek-by-jowl alongside vibrant nods to African heritage.

And there is no finer example of Portuguese colonial architecture than the fabulous Convento do Carmo hotel run by the Pestana group. A former monastery that dates back to 1586, the hotel is arranged around two enormous courtyards along the sides of which stone cloisters give welcome shade from the blistering Brazilian midday sun.

Rooms are on the football-stadium side of enormous, and the colonial theme is reflected in antique-style furniture such as dark-wood beds and furniture. Close to the historic centre of Pelourinho, it is perfectly sited for exploring the locale. The city is divided by an enormous escarpment that creates Cidade Alta and Cidade Baixa – the Upper Town and Lower Town (the latter sitting some 280ft beneath). Pelourinho and the Old Town are built on the higher ground, while the port and colourful markets are below.

The two are connected by Elevador Lacerda, a huge lift that is seriously not advisable for vertigo sufferers.

But the best course of action is existential; simply wandering through the cobbled streets and squares of the Old Town is its own reward. Be sure not to miss the breathtaking Church of São Francisco of Salvador; locals claim the only church in the world with more gold leaf is St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Though parts of it date to the first settlements in the late 16th century, most was built in the first half of the 18th century – and it’s no less impressive for that.

After a few days in this exciting, frenetic city, you’ll have earned a rest. And believe me, there is nowhere in the world that does R&R better than the astonishing Uxua in Trancoso which, if it didn’t exist, someone would have to invent. Nowhere is the meshing of Portuguese colonial culture with African-Indian Brazilian roots more magical and delightful than here.

Uxua is in the old part of the town, where brightly-painted adobe and wood houses are arranged along the two longer sides of a grass-laid rectangular town square, the Quadrado. This is on an elevated promontory that overlooks miles of golden, sandy beach and the Atlantic.

It was discovered on 21 April 1500 (the day before my birthday, thanks for asking – 21 April, I mean; I’m not 511 years old) by Portuguese explorer Pedro Alvares Cabral. In 1583, those Johnny-come-latelys the Jesuits jumped on the Trancoso bandwagon. Luckily, they left something of worth other than scarred-for-life, guilt-ridden schoolboys – a beautifully simple whitewashed church facing the ocean set on the Quadrado.

At night, a few restaurants with tables on the Quadrado hang fairy lights across the branches and boughs of enormous trees, making you feel you are in a wonderland. And if you are staying at the incredible Uxua, the magical element increases exponentially. Slip through a side entrance on the Quadrado and you are instantly transported to an enchanted world. Uxua is a large walled space in which owner Wilbert Das has wrought a miracle of tranquillity and beauty. That the design is possibly the most impressive I’ve ever seen in the world of five-star accommodation is hardly surprising – Das was Diesel’s chief designer for 20 years. There are ten residences in the gardens of Uxua, ranging from one-bed studios to a three-bedroom house.

Das came here in 2004, and at the last minute his partner Bob – now his business partner at Uxua – was unable to fly. So Das came on his own. “I felt miserable to be without Bob at first,” he says in a gentle voice that belies his broad-shouldered 6ft 2in frame. “But soon I met people and fell in love with this place. So I bought this huge piece of land that had various outhouses and we have spent the past few years converting them into what we have now.”

And what they have built has to be seen to be believed. There’s a spectacular tree house, ideal for honeymooning couples, a safari-style lodge with its own private pool, plus a three-bed villa with colonial-style veranda and hammocks.

Set in bewitching gardens with wooden-slat trails leading the guests to their own private corner of paradise, each casa is cleverly hidden behind plants and trees, creating an unrivalled sense of privacy. At night, all is lit by fairy lights, making you feel as though you have arrived in the elf resort of Rivendell. Das has also created the Uxua beach cocktail bar in a fishing boat complete with day beds. The food on the menu is excellent, as it is at Uxua itself, and the best choice at the beach bar is the local dish moqueca, a cross between a Thai curry and a Cajun gumbo. Back up at Uxua you will find it hard to tear yourself away to journey out and dine at one of the local restaurants once you have tried the grilled fish with black rice.

And if you do fancy something completely different, Londoners Naihala and Aaron have created a very special place ten minutes out of the hustle and bustle of the centre, in the countryside and close to the most secluded part of the beach. Villa Aiyana is an amazing, huge, one-bed house with four luxury tented chalets with ensuites, king-sized beds and mosquito nets in the grounds to accommodate larger parties (£2,500-£10,000 per week, villaaiyana.com).

The magic of Bahia is such that I arrived back home to a drizzly east London in a state of mild clinical depression: the “I’m-missing-the-blue-seas-and-blue-skies-of-Bahia blues”, if you will. All was not lost, though as yourholidaywash.com collected my mountain of laundry and delivered it back to me three days later, all beautifully pressed and folded – even the socks. Well, life is all about the little things – I gave up on the big ones years ago.

£2,795 per person for a seven-night itinerary, including three nights at Convento do Carmo and four nights at UXUA Casa Hotel, including flights with TAM Brazilian Airlines, transfers and breakfast. Contact Abercrombie & Kent: 0845 618 2211; abercrombiekent.co.uk; uxua.com