On the northeast coast of Brazil, in the state of Bahia, there is a city called Salvador. It’s famous for spicy food and being the capital during colonial times. Unfortunately, I don’t know anything about it, since I didn’t go there. I went to Praia do Forte, which is quite close.

Praia do Forte, perhaps translated as Castle Beach, was a small fishing village before a guy called Klaus Peters bought tons of land, developed it, and called it the Eco Resort. I went there on holiday this last summer, and unfortunately the rest of this page is going to be one big advert for it. It was amazing.

Two hours by plane from Rio de Janeiro is Salvador airport, where the resort sends a driver to pick you up. The countryside is sparsely populated and consists mainly of scrubby clay soiled fields, with the odd construction project, rural town, and garage along the way. To alleviate form-filling tedium, champagne and machete’d-open coconuts are served at reception. You get a photo-id dog tag thing which acts as currency during your stay. Just show it to the minions and they’ll serve you anything you like, at any time, wherever you are. (Well, maybe not in the middle of the night.)

Salvador from the air

The grounds of the resort are spectacular.

Xango Orixa da Praia do Forte

A giant bamboo tree

The swimming pool and the sea

The swimming pool is the best I’ve ever been in. Not quite olympic size, but you can’t beat the location: right next to the sea! It has a novel filtration system: the sea-side of the pool is a waterfall, so any leaves or grass or bits that land on the surface eventually just get swept away by the gentle lateral current. It’s not heated, but even the coldest Brazillian winter is still hot.

Actually, there are lots of pools. The big one by the sea is the best, while the others wind their way around the restaurant, bars, and wooden footbridges, proper James Bond Supervillain Lair style. There’s a children’s pool and a water polo pool. The towel system reminds me of the cabana boy bit of The Curse of Monkey Island… you get them from a little wooden hut.

The apartments

The apartments are strung out in loops through the gardens. The rooms are nice, but who cares when there’s so much to do outside? Wildlife spotting is easy, since it’s everywhere:

Look carefully…

Cheeky monkey

The monkeys were all over the place. On the balconies in the morning, at the restaurant at night, in the trees during the day. There are signs in the grounds saying “Do not feed the animals. They can bite.” I don’t doubt it.

A hummingbird

Click for a larger version of the above photo. Look carefully! Look at the wings! They say they beat up to 80 times a minute while feeding. The exposure time of that photo was 1/80, and the wings are still blurred. I’d need something like 1/3000 and better lighting to completely freeze them, but I don’t like the idea of blasting small animals with the flash.

I like this one

No, it’s not a golf course

Parts of the grounds look like a golf course, but thankfully there isn’t one.

Giant chess board

This is very cool.

The birds match the deckchairs

It’s the coconut donkey!

This guy wanders around with coconuts. If you fancy one, just ask, and he’ll take one out of the donkey’s ice-filled pack and cut it open for you. The other side of the pack is for empties. There are worse places for donkeys to be.

View from a horse

Probably the most dangerous thing I’ve ever done, except walk past Moss Side at night, is horse riding. I’ve done it a few times and never worn any kind of protective gear. These horses were well trained, but had no qualms about galloping through the dunes and bushland. Indescribable fun!

Me and Andorinha

That’s me! On a horse! On a dune!

The mangrove swamp

The resort is bounded on one side by the River Timeantube, which is in turn bounded by dense mangroves. We went up it in canoes. The guide said “Sometimes sharks come into the river, but there are no snakes.” That’s a relief. The trip didn’t last long as the upriver was too shallow to get past. We turned back and headed for the sea, but that too was also too shallow to pass. In fact, there didn’t seem to be an entrance or an exit to the river. Maybe it was a lake. The guide told us to beach ourselves on sandbanks, then stepped out and grabbed crabs out of the silt.

Timeantube

There is a big wooden shed (titled “Nase Bautica”… roughly translated “Baval Nase”) full of fun sea equipment - kayaks and Lasers and things. I went out in a kayak with my brother. He stayed afloat, but I capsized eventually, and then again and again. It’s hard to get back in once you’re out! I wouldn’t have minded, but I lost my sunglasses to the Atlantic. Pretty stupid wearing them really.

The beach around the resort belongs to the resort, so it’s quite private, but if you walk further down you come across a small fishing town with a nice church and a lighthouse:

Praia do Forte town

Around the lighthouse is a turtle sanctuary called Project Tamar. The tanks were pitifully small for the size of turtle there. Maybe these were the adults which were ready for releasing into the wild. I think more likely is that they are the thing that attracts the tourists. The reserve opened about 20 years ago, and has so far released nearly 600,000 turtles into the wild. That doesn’t sound like an animal which needs reserving. In fact, a good portion of the sanctuary is filled with other fish, and a few manta rays. The turtle saving function of the sanctuary appears to be over, and the place is now used for training scientists and helping out other animals like little fish. Unfortunately, little fish are not as interesting as turtles, so they must’ve kept some turtles on to attract the tourist dollar. I wouldn’t have bothered visiting a Fish Sanctuary.

My goodness what a large turtle!

The sanctuary thoughtfully put this horror on display to make the turtles feel at home:

Turtle skeleton

It rained as we left, producing a beautiful horizon to horizon double rainbow over the sea:

Rainbow

Large tidal flats

Gratuitous palm trees

It doesn’t show in the photos, but the best part of the place is the food. The Goa restaurant, open for breakfast and dinner, is a buffet, and what a buffet! There’s food everywhere. All you have to do is grab a plate and load up with anything you want, and if you’re still hungry, you can go back for a second, third, fourth and nth course.

Let me start with breakfast: fresh fruit juice squeezed right there behind the counter. All kinds of bread, baguettes, rolls, and loaves, and fruit jams to go with them. Donuts. Yes, unmetered supplies of donuts! Every kind of cereal, with raisins, prunes, peaches, and every kind of milk or yoghurt. A chef is on standby to cook whatever kind of omelette you ask for. The ingredients are there - just point to what you want and he’ll mix them in! Bacon, sausages, ham, cheese and eggs of any style. Even cakes.

If breakfast is good, dinner is better. Sprawling salad bar with every kind of leaf, root and sauce you can imagine. More choice than a hundred Subways. Fresh pasta with half a dozen different sauces and bologneses. Spicy Bahian shrimp. The bread island from breakfast is back, restocked and restocked again. Garlic bread, orange bread, sesame buns, croissants, danishes, more donuts, butter, jam, marmalade, honey, cream cheese… it goes on. Mussels and shellfish, crab and smoked salmon, trays of steamed vegetables, quiches, savoury pies, lasagnas and soups. Steaks done how you like them. Chicken ten ways. Unlimited deserts too! Apple pie, ice cream, cheesecakes, mousses, pies, tarts, and fudge, as well as fresh fruit and sorbets.

However much that sounds like, there was more. It’s just not possible to remember it all. Easily the most stunning feast I’ve seen, in real life, or even in films.

In conclusion, Praia do Forte is one of the best places in the world. I can’t write anything that’ll do it justice.