Professionally licenced tour-guide service for traveler in Bahia, Cachoeira, Reconcavo Baiano, Brazil. Our independent travel agency applies the lowest price available for walking-tours by locals. Book now directly with Ivan Bahia Guide.We are happy to work together with Tours with Locals collegue Guides from Le Guide du Routard, Tripadvisor, Free Walking Tours, and Rent a Guide. We thank Fernando Bingre, Bahiaflaneur, Bahia Metisse, BahiaMetisse, Dirk Van Kerckhove, André Alves, Frank Faro, Sayuri Cardoso, Clara Manuela Bastos Ramos, Juha Paltila, Jürgen Szillat, Thiago Barra, and others for their collegiality.
Pictures from Colonial Cachoeira
and the rural Recôncavo Baiano in Bahia
@IvanBahiaGuide
+ 15 years of travel expertise &
thousands of satisfied travelers 😎
Alternative entrance Cachoeira
"Off the beaten tracks" traveling really means off the beaten tracks with us, we enter rural historic Cachoeira from an angle no other tourist guide does, which gives these kind of views.
Built in 1865 only for trains
This iconic bridge which links São Felix and Cachoeira since 1865 was originally made for industrial trafic from Minas Gerais to Salvador. It was never intended nor used for passenger traffic.
Cruzeiro of São Felix
Many villages in the rural Recôncavo Baiano area have there own "cruzeiro" (place of the cross) as religion always played (and still does) in the daily life of the baianos
Saveiro sailship restauration
Wherever possible we bring you in contact with locals and their daily activities. Here craftsmen are restauring an antique saveiro sailship. Still 13 of these ships are used for transport on a daily base !
Intense labour in the sun
Making the ship joints watertight again is one of the specific tasks in saveiro restauration.
Local shipyard in Maragojipe
Saveiro's are not built anymore but the ones that are still in the running still keep being restaured.
The remains
Unfortunately one day all hope is gone, mostly because of lack of money by the owner to keep restauring ... then the ship comes to a very unfortunate end.
Saveiro's daily routine
Every day sailships sail out of Coqueiros, on the Paraguaçu river to deliver all imaginable goods along the river, untill the Bay of All Saints and ultimately Salvador.
Coqueiros known for it's pottery
Pottery is (together with fishing) the main "industry" of this tiny little village called Coqueiros. Here the 3 main components of this place : baking pottery, a saveiro sailship and the Paraguaçu river.
Traditional pottery techniques
No turntable to make traditional pottery here, everything is extremely basic, every piece handmade with all the heart of the maker :-)
The Dutch fortress
Several hundreds of years ago this was a small fortification made by the Dutch invadors (who invaded Bahia in 1624) alongside the Paraguaçu river.
Rural meetings
This is our way of going off the beaten tracks and bringing you in contact with these very friendly locals.
The micro-economy
A fruit (jacfruit in this case) is enough to have ones business set up here Brazil. This is one of the many millions examples of how Brazil's micro-economy keeps running.
Along the Paraguaçu river
One of the many tranquil fishermen villages along the Paraguaçu where one sometimes has the impression time stopped several hundreds of years ago.
The stone quarry
Formerly called 'garimpeiros', the surface miners still are active cutting in the rocks with simple handtools, breaking out rocks piece by piece.
Reducing rocks to small stones
While the men cut out the rocks, woman reduces them to small stones used in the building industry ...
Traditional clothing
These ladies, in traditional clothing from Bahia, are on their way to the ceremonies of the "Festa de Iemanja", a yearly event for the most important Candomblé religion here in the Recôncavo
Selling 'beiju'
Every Saturday morning at the market in Maragojipe one can find this little oldie selling here 'beiju', a traditional sweet (of in some cases salty) threat made with tapioca and coconut
Landscapes of Bahia
Driving along the Paraguaçu river this is the typical scenery you are going to discover.
Early evening scenery
This picture remains us of one of the most important means of life here in this area : fishing.
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Alternative entrance Cachoeira
"Off the beaten tracks" traveling really means off the beaten tracks with us, we enter rural historic Cachoeira from an angle no other tourist guide does, which gives these kind of views.
Built in 1865 only for trains
This iconic bridge which links São Felix and Cachoeira since 1865 was originally made for industrial trafic from Minas Gerais to Salvador. It was never intended nor used for passenger traffic.
Cruzeiro of São Felix
Many villages in the rural Recôncavo Baiano area have there own "cruzeiro" (place of the cross) as religion always played (and still does) in the daily life of the baianos
Saveiro sailship restauration
Wherever possible we bring you in contact with locals and their daily activities. Here craftsmen are restauring an antique saveiro sailship. Still 13 of these ships are used for transport on a daily base !
Intense labour in the sun
Making the ship joints watertight again is one of the specific tasks in saveiro restauration.
Local shipyard in Maragojipe
Saveiro's are not built anymore but the ones that are still in the running still keep being restaured.
The remains
Unfortunately one day all hope is gone, mostly because of lack of money by the owner to keep restauring ... then the ship comes to a very unfortunate end.
Saveiro's daily routine
Every day sailships sail out of Coqueiros, on the Paraguaçu river to deliver all imaginable goods along the river, untill the Bay of All Saints and ultimately Salvador.
Coqueiros known for it's pottery
Pottery is (together with fishing) the main "industry" of this tiny little village called Coqueiros. Here the 3 main components of this place : baking pottery, a saveiro sailship and the Paraguaçu river.
Traditional pottery techniques
No turntable to make traditional pottery here, everything is extremely basic, every piece handmade with all the heart of the maker :-)
The Dutch fortress
Several hundreds of years ago this was a small fortification made by the Dutch invadors (who invaded Bahia in 1624) alongside the Paraguaçu river.
Rural meetings
This is our way of going off the beaten tracks and bringing you in contact with these very friendly locals.
The micro-economy
A fruit (jacfruit in this case) is enough to have ones business set up here Brazil. This is one of the many millions examples of how Brazil's micro-economy keeps running.
Along the Paraguaçu river
One of the many tranquil fishermen villages along the Paraguaçu where one sometimes has the impression time stopped several hundreds of years ago.
The stone quarry
Formerly called 'garimpeiros', the surface miners still are active cutting in the rocks with simple handtools, breaking out rocks piece by piece.
Reducing rocks to small stones
While the men cut out the rocks, woman reduces them to small stones used in the building industry ...
Traditional clothing
These ladies, in traditional clothing from Bahia, are on their way to the ceremonies of the "Festa de Iemanja", a yearly event for the most important Candomblé religion here in the Recôncavo
Selling 'beiju'
Every Saturday morning at the market in Maragojipe one can find this little oldie selling here 'beiju', a traditional sweet (of in some cases salty) threat made with tapioca and coconut
Landscapes of Bahia
Driving along the Paraguaçu river this is the typical scenery you are going to discover.
Early evening scenery
This picture remains us of one of the most important means of life here in this area : fishing.