Across the All Saints' Bay from Brazil's huge city of Salvador in Bahia state, the region known as the Reconcavo supports a distinct culture and heritage. Over the centuries slaves escaped their owners and founded their own towns. They, along with other colonists, shaped the local society and exploited its tropical riches, its dende palms, its mangrove swamps, its rivers, and its once-lush forests. Tropical islands along the coast became homes to the very affluent and to humble fishing families.