If your next vacation destination is Morro de São Paulo, here's some advice: pack light or make sure that your suitcase has wheels. That is, of course, if the plan is to carry your luggage to the hotel on your own.
Right after arriving by boat at Morro, 37 miles away from the capital Salvador, the tourist faces a literally breathtaking uphill walk. Afterward, there are more walks up and down the village's steep slopes.
In case packing light wasn't possible, it's better to hail a cab. But in Morro, this means contracting one of the carriers that await the tourists at the pier with their wheelbarrows.
Around 200 villagers work as carriers, and they organized themselves in four associations: one responsible for transporting Morro's residents' belongings and three others that work for tourists. The fees vary according to the luggage size: R$ 10, R$ 15 or R$ 20 (US$ 2.8, US$ 4 and S$ 5.5)
Cars are forbidden on the island. Only people can walk in the village's narrow streets. There is a dirt road where service and hotel vehicles are allowed.
Visitors have to pay a fee of R$ 15 (US$ 4), regardless of the length of their stay. The charge was an attempt to restrict visitors to the village, which has a permanent population of 8,000 but receives 400,000 tourists every year, with a high season from October to March.
Translated by NATASHA MADOV
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