THE TOWN OF CANAVIERIAS
Canavierias is found on the
“strada del cacao” (the Cocoa Road), on the Atlantic coast in the
state of Bahia, on the estuary of the Rio Pardo river about 600km
south of Salvador. It’s a small town of
about 40,000 inhabitants which underwent a period
of relative prosperity between the 1940s and the 1950s when it was a
main centre for the export of cocoa.
The strong Portuguese influence remains to the day and can be seen
in the layout of the town in its colonial style buildings.
Today, the town is suffering
from a general decline and its inhabitants survive by catering for
tourists, catching the local “caranguejo” (a fresh water crab), small scale fishing
enterprises, agriculture and craftwork.
It is immediately apparent
to the visitor of Canavierias that it suffers from the fate of many
urban centres: the buildings once grand, are now dilapidated and
there is no structural or social support whatsoever.
Moving out of the town, the visitor comes to the “bairros”, the
outskirts where people live in wooden huts with corrugated roofs
made of asbestos. This area is densely populated, with a vast number
of children living in poverty, groups of lost souls with hope in
their eyes.
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Some images of Canavieiras:
The sea-front
The museum to restore
The favela
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