Olodum Drummers

I have to admit I'd never heard of Olodum until I arrived in Salvador.

Many of the shops in the historic centre sell Olodum clothes and merchandise and you can't really avoid seeing the distinctive logo of the group when you're in the old town.

The group was set up in 1979 by the musician Neguinho do Samba with the aim of providing cultural activities for young people centered around music.

The group looks to celebrate Afro Brazilian culture, fight racism, and raise self esteem within the Afro Brazilian community.

It turns out that I had heard of Olodum as they were featured in the video of Micheal Jackson's They Don't Care about us.

If you want to see Olodum in action, check out this video below.


You can also have a look at the collaboration with Michael Jackson.

Hello from Salvador, Bahia

After a week in Rio I've headed north to the city of Salvador.

I've been here a few days and feels like I'm in a completely different country. I'm in the Bahia region of North Eastern Brazil, this is where Brazil connects with its African roots.

Nowhere is this more evident then with the population. The majority of people here are black or brown.

Walking around the historic old town of Pelourinho, I feel as if I'm in some alternative version of Africa. But I know this isn't Africa, it doesn't feel like Africa.


The streets of Pelourinho

I then asked myself if this was like the Caribbean, but it didn't look or feel like the Caribbean.

This is Brazil it's not like anywhere else. Even the people look Brazilian in the sense that through centuries of mixing between black, white, and indigenous Indian it's created a black and brown population unique to Brazil.

You feel this African identity everywhere you go in the city and I discovered more about Salvador's African links by visiting the the Afro Brazilian museum.



What I love about being here in Salvador is that it's such a cultural and artistic place.

If Sao Paulo is where you go for business, Rio to party and play - then Salvador is where you go for culture. Whether it's music, art, theatre or dance, you'll find it all in Salvador.

Many of Brazil's most famous musicians come from the city and the surrounding Bahia region. I've been discovering more about the city's famous Afro Brazilian cultural group Olodum, known for its Samba Reggae and percussive drumming.


The city is also home to the Brazilian martial art of Capoeira. I've been enjoying watching some displays of Capoeira in the city's main square.


A tourist giving the old Capoeira a go!

I'm glad I'm spending time here in Salvador. If you're going to visit Brazil, you have to visit Rio, but in visiting Salvador I feel I'm discovering and seeing another side to the country; one the rest of the world doesn't know much about.


Barra Lighthouse, Salvador

It feels like I've gone deep inside the heart and soul of Brazil. I'm feeling that African side of country's culture which is so different to what I experienced down in Rio.

I've never visited anywhere in the world that feels quite like Salvador.

Brazil: It´s all about the music

I´ve always had a great love for Brazilian music.

Latin Jazz, Bossa Nova, Samba, Rio Funk, Brazilian Drum and bass; Brazilians know how to make music.

One of the great things about being here in Brazil is being able to hear some of this music in its original setting. I haven´t been disappointed.

In Rio there´s an area called Lapa. This is somewhere you have to visit if you want to hear great live music in the city. During the day it´s a pretty rough and seedy looking area - but at night it comes a live with lots of live bars and clubs full of live singers and bands.

I spent a couple of evenings in Lapa just hanging out and listening to some of the live performers. There was a lot of traditional afro brazilian bands playing which I loved, it´s not music you hear everyday but adds to the experience of being in Brazil.

Some brazilian beats

Last Sunday I headed back deep into the favela for a night of Rio Funk.

The hostel where I was staying organizes Favela Funk nights, where they take you to a club in Rochina favela, the biggest favela in the country.

If the Samba styles of Lapa represent the folk music of Brazil and Bossa Nova the stylish sophisticated tastes of the middle classes; then Rio funk is definitely the sound of the street, the ghetto, the favelas!


As tourists, when we arrived we were given our own sort of VIP area upstairs on a balcony overlooking the rest of the club. It was fine being up there for a while, but you couldn´t really get into music and vibe as you were cut off from everyone else down below.




I think everyone from the hostel felt the same and eventually we all made our way down below to start raving with the rest of the locals.

It was brilliant night out, the music was superb and you were never made to feel like outsiders. What I realised is that it doesn´t matter where you go in the world, people are people and they all act the same.

There were moments were I felt I was at a old skool Jungle/Drum&Bass rave from the mid 90s it didn´t really feel that foreign or different.

Outside the club
If you´ve seen the film City of God, the club featured in the film is the one we went to. I loved that film and after being introduced to favela life it felt amazing to be sort of living it!

I loved the way that you get groups of guys doing their choreographed routines like they´re in a boy band, while the girls dance on the sidelines admiring the moves. Sounds strange, but it´s all very Brazilian.

If you plan on visiting Brazil, you have to emerse yourself in the music. Music is a big part of Brazilian culture and you get a better feel of the country by hearing all the different styles of Brazilian music.

Life in the Favelas

On Saturday I went on an organised tour of one of Rio´s favelas.

Life inside the favela was brought to the world´s attention in the film City of God and Favela tours have become a big attraction for anyone visiting the city.

Once we arrived at the top of the hill to the entrance of the favela we were visiting, I felt as if I was entering a completely different world.

I´d go as far to say it was like I´d travelled to a different country in the space of 20 minutes.

After spending my time mainly in the areas of Leblon and Ipenema, two of the most exclusive and fashionable parts of the city - the contrast with the favela couldn´t have been greater.


Although I was looking forward to exploring the favela, there was part of me that felt a little uneasy as it could been seen as patronising for tourists to wonder around a shanty town as if it´s the urban equivalent of going on safari.

Our guide requested that we didn´t take photos of the locals which I thought was right, and he took us to certain spots around the favela where it was appropriate to take photos.



Without the guide there´s no way you´d be able to find your way around the favela. It´s a maze of winding paths and alleys - but they´re also thriving communities with shops, cafes, bars, and homes all merged together clinging onto the side of a hill.

Even in the favela, location means a lot. The best location is usually at the top of the hill. You have a better view and the air is cleaner.

As we made our way downwards through the favela, at times it felt like you were in an underground cave. There was an unpleasant smell, and when you looked up you could hardly see the sky above

Our guide explained how the favelas started and how the people have survived with little government assistance.

There is of course the problem with drug gangs who control different areas of the favelas, but I came away feeling a sense of admiration at the resourcefulness of the people, and the ability to build an entire community for themselves.


With the World Cup coming to Brazil next year and the Olympics in 2016, this is an exciting time for Brazil. The country is on the up, but will such events make a difference to the people in the favelas?

Probably not immediately. We had this debate in Britain with our own Olympics and having major sporting events isn´t going to change decades of social inequality.

Brazil has a huge population of almost 200 million people. Despite it´s growing wealth and expanding middle class, there are still millions of poor people struggling in the country.

The same thing could be said about other ´BRIC´ countries like China and India, their populations are huge and not everyone can be lifted out of poverty.

Besides, even here in the UK and America there are huge gaps between rich and poor.


So would I recommend a favela tour if you find yourself in Rio? Definitely.

It´s an incredibly interesting and thought provoking experience that gives you another side to the sun, sea and samba image you may have of Brazil.

Margret Thatcher: Politics seems to matter again

Even though I´m enjoying the sun and South American way of life down here in Brazil, I´m still keeping in touch with what´s going on back home following Mrs Thatcher´s death.

I know some of you might be thinking why would you care, you´re in Rio - but it´s still a major story and it feels weird that I´m not at home to fully follow it.

What I can tell, is that the country is split over her legacy. It´s feels like there´s a civil war going on over the rights and wrongs of her policies.

This isn´t good thing and it feels like all the old battles that were fought during the 80s are being replayed again. You get the sense of great bitterness and infighting going on.

One thing you can say is that politics seems to matter again. People are passionate about their feelings towards Margret Thatcher.

In our bland middle of the road world of politics we have today - this might come as a shock to many people under the age of 30.

Yes she was divisive and controversial but Mrs Thatcher made people care about politics and what was happening to the country and the communities which people lived in.

There doesn´t seem to be anyone or anything in politics at the moment that has the same effect.

Right, I´m off down to the beach!