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Porto Seguro
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The most popular destination in southern Bahia is the resort area around the town of
PORTO SEGURO
, where Cabral "discovered" Brazil in 1500. Founded in 1526, it has some claim to being the oldest town in Brazil, and buildings still survive from that period.
The story goes that in 1500 Pedro Alvares Cabral and his men, alerted to the presence of land by the changing colour of the sea and the appearance of land birds, finally saw a mountain on the horizon, which must have been Monte PA?scoal, to the south of today's Porto Seguro. First landfall was made on Good Friday, on a beach to the north of Porto Seguro, and the anchorage Cabral used was probably the cove where the village of Santa Cruz de CabrA?lia now stands. The Indians were friendly at first, though they might have been better advised otherwise, since Cabral claimed the land for the king of Portugal, and thus began over three centuries of Portuguese rule.
These days Porto Seguro is about as far as you can get from pre-colonial tranquillity. It's become one of the biggest holiday resorts in Brazil, and heaves with Brazilian tourists throughout the year, reaching saturation point at New Year and
Carnaval.
You may actually enjoy yourself here if your main interest is nightlife, but you've got to like crowds, and don't expect much peace and quiet. All the same, Porto Seguro has somehow managed to retain its reputation as a fairly classy destination. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Brazil,
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