Come Home to Bahia: A Black Friendsgiving in Brazil 2027

MOOD TRAVEL CLUB GROUP TRIP · NOVEMBER 22–28, 2027

Come Home to Bahia: A Black Friendsgiving in Salvador, Brazil

Spend Thanksgiving week in the most African city in the Americas, with people who understand exactly why that matters.

Reserve Your Spot

Put down $200 and you are going to Brazil. Add it to your cart and check out — we will confirm your spot by email and WhatsApp within 24 hours.

DatesNov 22–28, 2027

WhereSalvador, Bahia + Cachoeira

StayWish Hotel da Bahia, 6 nights

GroupSmall group, hosted by MTC

Price From$2,995 per person

Deposit$200 per person

Occupancy

Clear

Friendsgiving in Bahia is a seven-day group trip to Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, hosted by MOOD Travel Club over Thanksgiving week 2027. You will spend six nights in central Salvador, the capital of Bahia and the cultural heart of the African diaspora in the Americas. The trip includes your hotel, private airport transfers, a welcome dinner, and ten hosted cultural experiences spanning Afro-Brazilian history, food, faith, drumming and dance. It is built for Black travelers who want more than a beach and a buffet, and who would rather spend the holiday somewhere that feels like a homecoming.

Why Salvador Is the Heart of the African Diaspora in the Americas

Salvador is where more enslaved Africans arrived than almost anywhere else in the hemisphere, and where that heritage was never erased. It survived in the food, the drums, the faith and the language, and today it shapes everything about how the city lives.

Salvador was Brazil’s first capital and its main colonial port. What grew from that history is a city where African culture is not a museum exhibit, it is the mainstream: Candômblé terreiros still practicing traditions carried across the ocean, capoeira in the squares, acarajé sold on the corner by baianas in white lace, and Carnival rhythms that changed global music.

Walking Pelourinho, the UNESCO listed historic center, you see the whole story at once. The beauty and the brutality. The church built by Black hands over nearly a century. The square named for the whipping post. And the descendants of the people who survived it, still here, still creating.

That is why we chose Salvador for Friendsgiving. Not as a vacation stop. As a reconnection.

What Makes This Trip Different From a Regular Tour

Most tours take you past this history. We take you into it, with access most visitors never get.

You Are Not Doing It Alone

You will land with a group of Black travelers and leave with people you will be texting for years. That is the whole MOOD Travel Club model.

Access, Not Sightseeing

A traditional Cand\xC3\xB4mbl\xC3\xA9 terreiro. The Sisterhood of the Boa Morte in Cachoeira. The leaders of Banda Did\xC3\xA1, the pioneering all-women percussion group.

The Food Is the Lesson

A market visit and cooking class in a chef's home. A street food crawl through Rio Vermelho. A welcome dinner at Casa de Tereza.

Everything Is Handled

Private transfers, hotel, guides and experiences are booked. You show up.

Plus space to breathe: a full day at leisure in the middle, because a good trip is not a forced march.

Your Seven Days in Bahia, Day by Day

Day 1 · Monday, November 22 — Arrival and Welcome Dinner

Private transfer from Salvador airport to the Wish Hotel da Bahia, a modernist landmark holding more than 350 works of art. That evening the group gathers at Casa de Tereza in the bohemian Rio Vermelho neighborhood, where Chef Tereza Paim serves Bahian cooking in rooms built around Afro-Brazilian heritage.

Day 2 · Tuesday, November 23 — African Heritage and Candômblé

A half-day African Heritage City Tour through the bayside neighborhoods and into Pelourinho, with the Afro-Brazilian Museum and its carved orixá panels by Carybé, the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, and the Bahian Gastronomy Museum. In the afternoon, a visit to a traditional Candômblé terreiro founded over a century ago. An optional lunch at Madiba is available as an add-on.

Day 3 · Wednesday, November 24 — Cachoeira and Samba de Roda

A full day inland through rolling countryside to Cachoeira, a UNESCO World Heritage town on the Paraguaçu River, stopping first at the country market in Santo Amaro. We meet the Sisterhood of the Boa Morte, walk the town, have lunch at Fazenda Santa Cruz, and close the day with Samba de Roda at a local farm.

Day 4 · Thursday, November 25 — Thanksgiving, Bahia Style

A morning market run and a cooking demonstration at a chef’s home, where you will make moqueca, the coconut milk and dendê seafood stew that defines Bahian cooking. That night, Rio Vermelho by Night: acarajé from the neighborhood’s famous baianas, tapioca, and a spread at Boteco da Têté. Our Friendsgiving table, thousands of miles from home.

Day 5 · Friday, November 26 — Day at Leisure

Beach, shopping, spa, a long nap, or Pelourinho at your own pace. We will share our list of what to do and where to eat, and plenty of the group will move together.

Day 6 · Saturday, November 27 — Drums and Dance

A percussion workshop with Banda Didá, the all-women group that grew out of the samba-reggae movement Salvador gave the world. That evening, Balé Folclórico da Bahia at the intimate Teatro Miguel Santana in Pelourinho: sacred Candômblé dances, maculeê, capoeira and samba de roda.

Day 7 · Sunday, November 28 — Departure

Breakfast, then a private transfer to Salvador airport. You will already be planning the next one.

Included

6 nights at the Wish Hotel da Bahia by GJP in central Salvador
Private airport transfers on arrival and departure
Arrival meet-and-greet and departure assistance
Welcome dinner at Casa de Tereza
Half-day African Heritage City Tour
Half-day Candômblé Insight visit to a traditional terreiro
Full-day Cachoeira tour with lunch and the Sisterhood of the Boa Morte
Samba de Roda at a farm
Rio Vermelho by Night street food tasting
Half-day cooking demonstration, including the market visit
Percussion workshop with Banda Didá
Balé Folclórico da Bahia performance
Local taxes on accommodation and included services

Not Included

International and domestic airfare, taxes and fees
Travel insurance, visas and passport fees
Personal expenses and optional tours or activities
Meals not listed in the itinerary
Beverages with meals unless noted
Tips and gratuities
Porterage unless noted
Early check-in and late check-out charges
Any future increases in taxes or fuel surcharges

This trip is priced land only, so airfare is separate. Once land only bookings and the Miami pre-trip meetup close, we coordinate group flight options into Salvador (SSA) and send them to everyone who is booked. Hold off on buying your own ticket until you hear from us.

Pricing and Deposit

Pricing is per person, land only, and the first 15 travelers to pay their deposit lock in the early bird rate. After that, pricing moves to standard for everyone who books later.

Early Bird (First 15 Paid)

Standard

Double occupancy

$2,995 per person

$3,100 per person

Single occupancy

$3,760 per person

$3,875 per person

Deposit: $200 per person holds your spot, and the balance follows the payment schedule we send with your confirmation. Only 15 travelers get the early bird rate — when those are claimed, the price goes up. No exceptions, no backdating.

Add the Miami Pre-Trip Stay

A lot of our travelers fly through Miami anyway, so we built a night around it. The pre-trip stay lets you meet the group before you ever land in Brazil.

Details and pricing are coordinated closer to the date. Let us know you’re interested when you reserve your spot.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where does this trip take place?

This trip is based in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, on the country’s northeastern coast, with a full-day excursion inland to the UNESCO World Heritage town of Cachoeira. You stay all six nights at the Wish Hotel da Bahia by GJP in central Salvador.

What are the exact dates?

Monday, November 22 through Sunday, November 28, 2027, which covers American Thanksgiving week. Arrive on the 22nd and depart on the 28th.

Who is this trip for?

This trip is built for Black travelers and anyone drawn to African diaspora culture who wants a group experience instead of figuring it out alone. Solo travelers, couples, friend groups and first-time international travelers all fit here. The group moves together, and nobody eats alone.

Do US citizens need a visa for Brazil?

Yes. Since April 10, 2025, US passport holders need an approved eVisa to enter Brazil, applied for online before travel. Once issued it is multiple entry and valid for up to ten years or until your passport expires. Visas are not included in your trip price.

Is Salvador safe for tourists?

Salvador is a large city and asks for the same awareness you would use in any large city. On this trip you have private airport transfers, licensed local guides and a group that moves together, which removes most of what travelers worry about.

Is airfare included?

No, this trip is priced land only, so airfare is separate. Once land only bookings and the Miami pre-trip meetup close, we coordinate group flight options into Salvador (SSA) and send them to everyone who is booked.

Can I come by myself?

Yes, and many people do. Choose single occupancy for a room to yourself, or choose double occupancy and tell us to match you with a roommate. Either way you land into a group, not an empty hotel lobby.

What is Candômblé, and what will we actually see?

Candômblé is an Afro-Brazilian religion built from West African belief systems carried to Bahia by enslaved people, centered on the orixás. We visit a traditional terreiro, founded over a century ago. This is a respectful visit and insight session, not a ceremony.