Returning to my Bahia, especially Guarajuba, is always a delight, because it allows you to recharge your batteries with lots of palm oil, sun, a family accent, hammocks and warm sea water. Now being able to return with our son and see that he is a Bahian at heart gave this trip an even more special flavor. <3

Our itinerary was designed to be relaxing and uncomplicated, so we ended up spending 1 day in Salvador, 5 days in a all inclusive resort in Guarajuba – the Vila Gale – and 3 days in Praia do Forte to end the trip with some new turtles for Paddy. It was amazing!

Day 1 – 11/04/2018 (Sunday)

We wanted to take advantage of the 2/11 holiday (Friday), but the prices of hotels and tickets were absurd when we closed the trip in October, so we had to go at the end of the holiday and use the 7 working days of vacation to enjoy Bahia. The good side is that the airport, plane and rental company were empty. (I try to look on the bright side of things ALWAYS!)

We arrived in Salvador early in the afternoon and Celo went to pick up the car at the rental agency while I took the opportunity to give lunch to baby (a little Nestlé jar to make life easier). From the airport we went straight to the Yemanja – the best restaurant in Bahia in my humble opinion – and Paddy slept with the shaking of the car and then in the stroller, leaving us to enjoy our crab shells and delicious shrimp moqueca in peace.

Buying baby food

When we left the restaurant, we went to Shopping Salvador to buy organic baby food at the store. Baby Food Emporium and diapers and wet wipes at the pharmacy. I thought about taking frozen baby food from Rio in a cooler bag or buying Nestlé jars for the 9 days we would be there, but since Nestlé is not very healthy, I found this store that has organic baby food like the ones from Little gourmet (we used it in Rio and he loves it), I thought it would be better to buy it in Salvador. Patrick didn't fall in love with the baby food, but he ate it after some of our entertainment, so it was worth it.

Our hotel in Salvador

We went to our hotel nearby, the Intercity Salvador, which despite having an excellent rating and beautiful photos on Booking, was a nightmare. To sum up our night: we changed rooms twice while we were putting Patrick to sleep. The first room had no hot water and the second had a broken air conditioning, but the worst thing for me was the service. The staff were completely unprepared for this type of situation. To make up for the stress After changing rooms, we all slept really well, luckily!

Day 2 – 11/05/2018 (Monday)

We had a very complete breakfast and then stayed on the hotel's rooftop, with a beautiful view of the city and a very attractive pool, catching up on two of my loved ones, my sister and my mother.

Our hotel in Guarajuba

We did the checkout at noon and we left for Guarajuba, 1 hour from Salvador, for our long-awaited all inclusive resort, Vila Galé Tides. At the time of check-in, we received a upgrade from our regular apartment to a seafront chalet and we were super excited! It was wonderful to hear the sound of the sea and enjoy that view every day, but unfortunately we had problems with the air conditioning every day and we were wondering if this “upgrade“It was worth it, right…

We left our things in the room and went to have lunch at the hotel's main restaurant, Tent of Miracles, with food from buffet, nothing spectacular, but it was enough to feed the worms. We left there and went to book dinners in the more upscale restaurants of the hotel, Clove and Cinnamon (Bahian and Portuguese), Inevitable (Mediterranean) and Thin Crust (Italian).

You go into a little room with a girl with a notebook and have to choose the days and times for dinner at these restaurants, with Inevitável being the most popular. It's such an inefficient process, with so many check marks on the paper, that I almost didn't believe it at the time... lol

Enjoying the hotel

With the reservations made, we finally went to the pool to enjoy the beautiful day! Life is tough, you know? 🙂 We stayed on the lounge chairs near the Cravo e Canela restaurant, which is where they serve snacks all day long, so we basically went back and forth with beer, coconut water (I'm breastfeeding) and unhealthy snacks to fill our bellies (croquettes, acarajé, French fries, barbecues, etc.).

Paddy took his afternoon nap in the stroller under the umbrella and we were able to really relax in the pool, finally. When it started to get dark, we went back to the room to start his “sleep routine” and took advantage of the fact that the hotel offered frozen baby food (as well as a baby cup and children's restaurant) and we gave him dinner. It was a success! We gave him a bath, put him to bed and as soon as he fell asleep, we went to get ready for dinner.

We put him in the stroller and went to Cravo e Canela and ate a delicious shrimp moqueca. Luckily he didn't wake up while we were eating, but I won't lie and say it was a relaxing dinner... we were worried the whole time about the noises in the kitchen, the people laughing, the clueless waiter who spoke loudly to us, the chairs being dragged, etc. In the end, what matters is that our boy shined and that we are learning A LOT from all these experiences! <3

Days 3, 4, 5, 6 – 11/06/2018 to 11/09/2018 

I won't describe every day in detail because I think it will be quite boring (lol), but here is a summary of our days:

• We woke up early with the handsome guy super excited and we prayed for him to sleep a little longer.
• Defeated by him, we would get out of bed and go enjoy the balcony with a view of the sea while he played on the floor.
• We got ready for breakfast
• We took turns having breakfast in the main restaurant and we gave him breakfast too (closed fruits that I opened and mashed on the spot)
• We went to the pool with the little one and it was fun the whole time.
• When he started showing signs of sleepiness, we put him to sleep in the stroller under the umbrella, after nursing a little, of course.
• We rested in the pool until he woke up (maximum 1h30 nap)
• When he woke up, we played with him in the pool for very little time because the sun was already blazing.
• We gave him lunch at the children's restaurant, which theoretically has food without salt.
• We took turns having lunch at the Tenda dos Milagres or Cravo e Canela restaurants.
• We enjoyed the pool and the sun loungers facing the sea.
• We played with him in the pool until it got dark.
• We went to the room to give them dinner, bathe them, put them to bed and get ready for dinner.
• We had dinner at one of the hotel's a la carte restaurants with him sleeping in the stroller and we prayed he wouldn't wake up.
• We passed out on the bed

The pure truth

This routine above may seem relaxing, but it is not. If you want to go to a resort To rest with a baby, take someone you trust so you and your husband can rest. We were constantly worried about his nap time, meal time, the sun, the pool water he swallowed (he hadn't had the Hepatitis A vaccine yet) and how well he would sleep at night when we were going to have dinner.

We took turns eating, resting, diving, etc., but it was wonderful to see him happy with us. It was worth every bit of trouble and we would definitely do it again, but of course, we would complain later that we didn't relax as much (lol). Thank you for listening to our complaints without judgment, friends and family! 🙂

There was one day when the hotel was very busy because there was a Sodexo end-of-year event and that made our lives more hectic, but apart from that, the hotel was quite empty and there were no lines to get food or drinks. We used the spa service one day (I had a delicious 1-hour massage) and we also asked the photographer to take some photos by the pool, but those were the only additional costs we had. I thought it was fantastic to do that. checkout at the hotel without receiving that classic bill for consumption, you know?

More photos in Guarajuba

Day 7- 10/11/2018 (Saturday)

9 months of our little bundle of love <3

Mayor's Bar

We had a hearty breakfast, had a last splash in the pool before we do the checkout and we set off to eat the best food in the area at Mayor's Bar. It was a delight to go back there with Paddy and be so warmly welcomed by the waiters and owner of the restaurant who have known me since I was little. I really missed the days when we used to go there with our family…

Forte Beach

At the end of the afternoon, we headed to Forte Beach, which is super close by, and we did it check-in at our inn, Fort Paradise. Small but cozy hotel, with attentive staff and, to my surprise, an afternoon snack in addition to breakfast. We had a snack and didn't even have the strength to leave the room...

Day 8 – 11/11/2018 (Sunday)

We woke up early with our diaper alarm clock, had breakfast and went for a walk through the cute little streets of Forte Beach.

Lorde Beach

Then we walked with the cart to the natural pools of Lorde Beach and because the tide was low and starting to rise, we were able to enjoy the pools a little.

Lunch at Praia do Forte

When the tide was completely high, we left there and went to have lunch at the restaurant recommended by the hotel, the Taste of the Village. Excellent food and service! We walked a little more through the streets and then returned to our guesthouse, where we never left.

Day 9 – 11/12/2018 (Monday)

Tamar Project

We left this day very relaxed, only including a visit to the Tamar Project. We woke up calmly, packed our bags, had a leisurely breakfast, walked around the city, had lunch at the restaurant. Donana – very tasty too – and only then did we go to Projeto Tamar.

It was really cool to see the little guy's reaction to the turtles and fish! He was super excited, squealing and wanting to grab everything, and he was a huge hit there. We had to pause the tour to give him lunch and he got sleepy right after, so we ended up watching the sharks being fed by ourselves. We went back to the inn, had a snack, and went to bed early to face the next day of travel.

11/13/2018 (Tuesday)

We left the hotel at 8am to catch our flight to Salvador at 1pm. Yes, we left many hours in advance because we had to drive for 1h30, return the rental car, check in our bags + baby seat + stroller, give our little one breakfast, put him to bed and still get some air before boarding. Traveling with kids is a pain, but we're getting the hang of it and loving it! <3