ur trip to Brazil starts in Rio, where we spend ten amazing sunny days on the beach. But never mind Rio. This is about Bahia - our destination for an unforgettable New Year's Eve. It is summertime in Brazil, and we are in Bahia, on the Southeast coast of the country. We make a stopover in Trancoso, a small town one hour's drive south of Porto Seguro.
After its lazy hippie years, Trancoso has evolved as one of Brazil's trendiest towns and is now doing very well.
The whole story of Trancoso started in the early 1970s when a group of young men from São Paulo stumbled upon the place, looking to settle away from the long arm of the military government. By then, it was just a fishing village, and a bit more than ten years ago, the town was finally connected to the national grid.
This colonial town on the North-east coast of Brazil has recently joined the ranks of those legendary and beautiful places that everyone is talking about. After its lazy hippie years, Trancoso has evolved as one of Brazil’s trendiest towns and is now doing very well. It doesn’t do proper posh hotels but a new line in gorgeous pousadas in the shape of converted village houses and “tropical minimalist” interiors. Changing times have turned villagers’ shacks into luxury pousadas. Nevertheless, Club Med has a property here, but I would never recommend it unless you have a pressing need for big international resorts.
I first came to Trancoso about ten years ago and, to be frank, it didn’t change much compared to what I see now. A few years back, Giselle Bundchen had come down to Trancoso with her English friend Naomi. In 2014, Solange – Beyonce’s sister – picked the charming Brazilian village as her honeymoon paradise, and Kate Moss chose the same place to spend NYE the next year. More names? Matt Dillon, Calvin Klein, Leonardo DiCaprio, Valentino, Al, and Tipper Gore have all dropped by in recent years. Max and I were shocked by the number of private helicopters flying over this tiny beach town. Part of the attraction of Trancoso is how far it is from almost anywhere. To get there from London, for example, you first need to fly to São Paulo, take a connecting flight to Salvador, and another short hop to Porto Seguro. From there, it’s a 90-minute taxi ride, including a ferry across the river Buranhém. Despite hosting so many celebrities over the years, this beach village has managed to retain the ingenious charm that brought it fame and fortune in the first place.
We go for a walk in the “Quadrado,” which is the Trancoso social and ceremonial center. A large, rectangular “village green” with the all-white São João Batista Church at one end overlooking the beach. Almost all the huts around it have been converted into funky little boutiques, pousadas, and restaurants with outside tables, making the Quadrado full of style.
We stay at the Cafe Cultura pousada – the only one available at the time we book our tickets to Bahia. Uxua, however, is probably the best accommodation in Trancoso. It’s a former fisher man’s house that has been turned into a luxury pousada. It belongs to Wilbert Das, creative director of the Diesel fashion label and is where Solange stayed when she was in Trancoso. The food at Uxua restaurant, just like the pousada’s design, has the sophistication in the right measure.
In every corner of Trancoso, there is always something going on. We bump into a live samba concert right in our pousada. We have no choice but to enjoy the music and a few more caipirinhas.
The program in Trancoso, such as it is, consists of spending the day on the beach, fortifying oneself with caipirinhas, before returning to the pousada for a late dinner or to one of the restaurants of the moment, followed by drinks and maybe some live music in the Quadrado
We drive one hour south on a dirt track from Trancoso and take a little boat to the rustic village of Caraiva. There aren’t any cabs or any roads there, and the streets are all made of sand. Caraiva was connected to the electricity network in 2007 and is, by all accounts, what Trancoso was 20 years ago. The point where the river meets the sea is gorgeous. It is Bahia’s most remote coastal stretches. We love it. The native Pataxo – one of seven tribes in Bahia – still live here untroubled. There are over 54,000 Indians who live in a reserve right next to the village, created by the Indian Protection Service in 1926.
There’s a touch of the throwback tie-dye to this town. If Trancoso was Bahia’s 1970s drop-out idyll, then this is where the hippy B&B owners who didn’t want to invest in fancy chefs came when the fashion crowd invaded. It attracts travelers and people from the Brazilian bigger cities, mainly Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Brasilia. I haven’t seen any other international tourists here. There’s a level of sophistication that belies the remoteness. The pousadas in Caraiva are all simply furnished and functional, although prices are a bit spicy during this time of the year. You’ll certainly eat very well, though. Lunching at Casa da Praia, Cachacaria, or Boteco do Para is excellent. We have a dinner to remember at Mangue Sereno.
If Trancoso was Bahia's 1970s drop-out idyll, then this is where the hippy B&B owners who didn't want to invest in fancy chefs came when the fashion crowd invaded.
4 Comments
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Glad you liked this story, Bruno! Caraiva is a very special place :)
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Lara
Hi! I know this is an older post, so you may not remember fully the details about Caraíva, but I'd really like to know about its security. I know it is a calm and quiet place, but my friends and I couldn't get a reservation in time for a house near the center, so we booked one in Aldeia dos Pataxós (where the native tribe lives, right next to caraíva). How did it seem like when you went there? Thank you!
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Nanda
Hi Lara, Thanks for reaching out! To be honest, I have no idea whether it's safe staying next to the aldeia, but for sure it's not so convenient as you will need to drive every day to the beach... I recommend you keep trying to find a hotel as there are often some last minute cancelations... Hope that helps! Enjoy xxx
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Bruno
Fantastic discription.It made me want to be there