We have traveled to Brazil several times, but this is a MUST DO!
Our travel agent found a true hidden treasure for us called Uxua (U-shoo-a) in Trancoso, Bahia, Brazil. We were traveling with a son and daughter-in-law and their five children, so we were hoping for something MORE than just a hotel on the beach. And something more was exactly what we got! Uxua had been an old fishing village, more recently turned artist community/hotel.
The rear of our hotel opened up to a huge grassy square or quadrado, surrounded by cute little shops and restaurants all painted different colors and with a beautiful old Catholic church at one end and a jungle path down to the beach at the other.
Being an artist community there were several activities available, organized and orchestrated through the hotel, and we took advantage of several of them.
We took a Capoiera class (pronounced Capoweta) with Maestro Diney (pronounced Jinney) which was a cross between dancing and kick boxing. The kids loved it…Phipps and I were in way over our heads and my calves still ached days later, but it was a fun experience!
The next day we went deep sea fishing. We were transported by van to the dock in nearby Porto Seguro and had a great time. The weather was beautiful and the crew were wonderful with the kids.
We rented four wheelers one day. It was great fun, but had rained steadily the week before so it was a muddy mess and the roads had massive ruts!
That night we stopped in for mass at the little church on the quadrado, and following the service we listened to a wizened old man sitting outside the church playing the violin in the moonlight. It was lovely!
Next, we signed up for a “Foraging and Distillation” class with Dr. Julian. They took us to see their “garden.” We assumed the garden was just a part of the hotel grounds with rows of veggies and flowers, but no – they drove us to a piece of land they had purchased to help preserve the native plants from the rapid building and growth going on around them. The land provided several different biospheres from beach front to jungle and several in-between. Julian collected plant specimens as he gave us the tour describing the different plants as we went.
Later that night he met in Julian’s lab on the hotel grounds while he taught us to distill the essential oils from the plants. It was fascinating!
We also took a weaving class on a large loom from a visiting gentleman who provides all the scarves and blankets for sale in the small gift shop. Each of us got to use the loom and then they sent us home with the weaving we had done.
The beach was a short walk along a jungle path with small cabanas available and a small beachside bar providing lovely fruit drinks, etc. There were several strolling artists on the beach including a tattooist who was doing henna tattoos for all the children.
If you are looking for something more in your travels, Uxua was a magical find!
This trip was a turning point for us, however. We paid CASH for this trip and we realized in a hurry that traveling like this we would definitely have limitations! Which resulted in us exploring ways to Travel in Style Without Breaking the Bank. Check out our “TIPS” on how to make that happen! Now we sometimes find that we can travel and our expenses are less than when we stay home! We are learning as we go, and hope you will join us in the journey.
