Bahia, on Brazil’s northeastern coast, is where the country’s African roots beat loudest. Salvador, Brazil’s first capital, dazzles with the pastel colonial facades of Pelourinho, capoeira circles and the drums of Olodum, while the coastline unrolls into some of Brazil’s most coveted beaches, from bohemian Trancoso and car-free Morro de São Paulo to the coconut-fringed shores of Praia do Forte. Inland, Chapada Diamantina trades sand for waterfalls, caves and canyon hikes. Taste it all in acarajé fried in dendê oil and a bubbling moqueca baiana. For Americans looking for Brazil at its most soulful, Bahia is where music, faith and the sea come together.