Brazil
On the southern coast of Bahia state, where the Brazilian Atlantic Forest meets a coastline of reef-protected waters, Porto Seguro occupies one of the most historically significant sites in the Americas — the spot where the Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral first sighted and landed on the coast of Brazil on April 22, 1500, claiming an entire continent for the Portuguese Crown. The Marco do Descobrimento — a marble pillar planted on the bluff above the harbour — has stood as a boundary marker of empire for over five centuries.
The character of Porto Seguro is split between its historic upper town (Cidade Alta) and its modern lower town, which caters to the Brazilian beach tourism that fills the city during summer months and Carnival. The Cidade Alta, reached by a steep climb from the harbour, preserves the oldest built environment in Brazil: the Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Pena (1535), the first church in the country; the Marco do Descobrimento; and a row of colourful colonial houses that now serve as museums and cultural centres. The view from the bluff — across the harbour, the reef-protected bay, and the coastline extending north and south — is one that Cabral's crew would still partially recognise.
The cuisine of Porto Seguro is Bahian — one of Brazil's most distinctive and celebrated regional cuisines, deeply influenced by the African heritage of the enslaved people brought to work the sugar plantations. Moqueca baiana — fish or shrimp stewed in coconut milk, palm oil (dendê), tomatoes, and peppers — is the region's masterwork, its rich, orange-hued sauce a flavour experience of remarkable complexity. Acarajé — deep-fried black-eyed pea fritters stuffed with vatapá (a paste of shrimp, coconut, and peanuts) — is the quintessential Bahian street food. Fresh tropical fruit juices — açaí, cupuaçu, graviola — are consumed in quantities that suggest they may be the true national beverage.
The coastline south of Porto Seguro — the Costa do Descobrimento — includes some of the most beautiful beaches in Brazil. Praia do Espelho (Mirror Beach), with its natural pools formed at low tide among the reef, is regularly ranked among the country's finest. The Trancoso district, once a hippie retreat and now a chic destination of boutique pousadas and barefoot luxury restaurants around a grassy colonial square (the Quadrado), represents Brazilian beach culture at its most aspirational.
Porto Seguro is served by direct flights from São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and other Brazilian cities. The city is also a cruise port, with ships anchoring offshore and tendering passengers to the harbour. The best time to visit is September through March, when temperatures are warm and rainfall is lowest. Carnival (February or March) transforms the city into one of Brazil's largest street parties, with axé music, blocos (parade groups), and an intensity of celebration that is characteristically Bahian.