Tour 4:

Travel to Brazil / Tours – Porto Seguro - Salvador is a medium level mountain bike tour through the Atlantic rainforest reserves of the Discovery Coast World Heritage Site in southern Bahia (see tour itinerary and map).

The tour passes the northern part of the Araçuai belt and the northeastern border of the São Francisco Craton, where some of the oldest (> 3,4 Ga) South American rocks have been reported, where 90 million years ago the last cratonic bridge between the South American Platform and Africa is said to have existed and where 500 years ago Brazil was (officially) discovered.

Geomorphologically, the area is divided into inland round shaped, Precambrian metamorphic and magma gneis outcrops, the most famous one Monte Pascoal, tertiary sedimentary limestone plateaus with tabular hills intersected by river and stream valleys and quarternary mobile sediments and sands including paleodunes separated from the limestone plateaus by white or reddish cliffs.

The region exposes a variety of different ecosystems and conservation units of the Mata Atlântica biome such as lowland, alluvial and submontane tropical rainforest at Monte Pascoal, the Discovery Coast in general, Ecoparque de Una or the coastal strip of Itacaré - Serra Grande. Mangrove forests can be found on the peninsula of Maraú or the Bay of Camamu and beautiful restinga vegetation on the islands of Tinharé & Boipeba. The site belongs to the world's richest in terms of biodiversity. According to a study realized by the Botanical Garden of New York at Serra do Conduru State Park in 1993, more than 450 tree species per hecatare have been recorded.

In addition to its biological richness, the region comprises a series of cultural features, which represent outstanding examples of first European occupation of the New World and a unique testimony of this period in modern history. Some of the most outstanding features are the historic centers of Salvador, Porto Seguro, Trancoso, Ilhéus, Itacaré, Camamu, Cairu and Morro de São Paulo. The ruins of Brazil's first church lay at the top of a cliff to the north of Porto Seguro. An old t civilisation town has recently been unearthed. A population of Pataxó people, who are survivors from the different indigenous cultures that lived in the region can be found in settlements such as Barra Velha or Coroa Vermelha.

For dates, prices and booking of this tour, please click here.