Mercado Modelo and the Marina

The droves awaiting the ferry to a neighboring island. Salvador is the third most populated city in Brasil. We are here during high vacation season for Brasilians--think of it this way, Porto da Barra is to Salvador what Venice Beach is to Los Angeles. This area is also full of history, the colonial slave-trading sort of history. When Portugal came and tried to make slaves of the Brasilian Natives, they were unsuccessful as the Natives did not work hard enough for the likes of the whip-crackers. The solution was to go to Africa and bring over the toughest, strongest men to Brasil as slaves and thus, the African slave trade was born in 1501. The dungeon of the Mercado Modelo.

The dungeon was used as a garbage dump and as sewage . Where you see me standing is part of a series of tunnels and platforms. As a torture device, slave drivers would pack the dungeon with slaves and flood it with water. Those tall enough and who could hold their breath long enough survived to continue as slaves. All others drowned.