Contra Mestre Pedro “Cachorro” Cruz hails from Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, where he was born and raised. As a young child he used to hang out at Mercado Modelo and Rampa do Mercado in Salvador, Bahia, where he took weekly trips to the island of Vera Cruz-Mar Grande across the bay. Salvador and Vera Cruz are special places in Brazilian history: the Bay of All Saints was the major slave port for most of the Africans who came to work on the sugar and coffee plantations. The bay held the first port of Brazil which received the majority of trade ships from Europe and Africa. It was also the birthplace of Capoeira. It was in this magic place where CMestre Pedro Cruz was exposed to Capoeira as he waited for the boats to leave for Vera Cruz.