Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
One of the earliest ports in Brazil (1534) Ilheus reached its peak in the early 20th century as the cocoa capital. Many palatial homes were built by the cacao plantation owners. However, disease set in and production fell off considerably. Now the city of 250,000 is rebuilding with a university and tourism. Like many of the places we have visited, it has plenty of beaches. Ilheus is also one of the places where the famous Brazilian author, Jorge Amada lived. We took one of the ship's tours of the city and to a cacao plantation. We had booked this tour in advance because we wanted to see a cacao farm. While the historic centre is being restored, much of Ilheus is still a tired city with more poverty than was evident in some of the other cities we have visited. We wouldn't put it near the top of our stops. The visit to the cacao farm was interesting but the rest of the tour was not much. We will be getting back with our Miami friends for future tours.
- comments