When you look around, you’ll see a fusion of native Indians, Portuguese, and Africans. When you listen to their music, you’ll hear Brazilian beats, African rhythms, and a mad mix of samba and reggae. If you go into Pelourinha, the old part of town, you’ll see plantation-era mansions, gold-studded churches, and colonial-era buildings with façades in bright colors. Stop by one of the restaurants there and you’ll discover seafood-centric Bahian foods, infused with African spices – think shrimp in coconut milk and a chowder-like purée they call bobó de camarão, and spicy, deep-fried balls of peeled black-eye beans known as acarajé. But see if you can catch one of the local festivals here, where you’ll discover cadombié, voodoo and capoeira, and samba, too. Seriously cool stuff! Oh, and you’ll have lots of photo-ops with the Baianas – wearing grins ear to ear!