My stay in Salvador started off pretty hectic. Our bus in to the city arrived 3 hours late as we were stuck in traffic. The traffic was caused by a huge storm that saw more rainfall in one night than all of April last year. Houses were ruined, traffic came to a standstill, and sadly lives were lost.

The poor weather continued throughout the start of the week, gradually getting better. But my friends in Salvador told me this was the case for the majority of the year.

Still, this being my second time in Salvador meant I could skip the typical tourist spots and seek out sights. Luckily I was put in touch with Sálua, a friend of one of the staff at a hostel I stayed at in Rio, who was able to give me some tips on what to see.

After the first night, I switched hostels to the one I stayed at last year during the World Cup - Barra Guest Hostel. This place I knew was well kept, clean and served a great breakfast. I was almost considering a stay at a new hostel in Salvador - Açai hostel - that is, until I read a recent review from a guest explaining how the hostel was robbed at gunpoint at 4AM a couple of weeks ago ... pass!

On Wednesday I took a trip to the Museu de Arte Moderna da Bahia, which had a very interesting exhibition on the history of slavery in Bahia. A lot of photographs were matched up to locations from the famous Tintin comics, which brought back memories of my childhood reading these with my Dad. Afterwards, I stopped for a juice in the cafe, then went back to the iconic lighthouse in Barra to try some Acarajé and see the sunset.

On my last night, I met up with Sálua and her friends in Rio Vermelho for a drink and some more Bahian food - more Acarajé and I also tried some Abara. It was a great night and while Sálua's friends could barely speak English, we had great fun. Unfortunately I couldn't stay the weekend to spend more time with them, but my visa in Brazil is coming to an end so I need to move on!