Boyzz in Brazil . . autumn 2022

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NATAL

After several days at sea , the Silver Cloud docked here early and we went on the Second World War tour to the museum at Parnamirim of the U S  airbase  there from 1943;to 1945; it was housed in what had been Natal's civil airport from 2000 to 2014 / The padres had not known anything about this role of Brazil in WW2

. Then we examined the world's largest Cashew tree, planted~1888. It is now difficult to distinguish the initial trunk from the rest of the tree. The tree produces over 60,000 fruits each year. .

 

SALVADOR DE BAHIA

Here we elected for the cultiral tour ( thought that might impress the padres) of the city of three million people.  33 of us in the bus, plus six expedition staff. Wasted a couple of hours seemingly driving around in circles, stopping at a lighthouse, the 'Cathedral for good health ' ( with its coloured paper bangles for wishes) . We went into a church covered in gold, a bit over the top!.-, saw a display of traditional women's dresses and just wandered the colourful streets of the town.

After this we found the oldest ice cream parlour,1931, in town, where we sampled their nut and their coconut flavours: difficult to prevent the drips onto our fur!!
We were dropped off by the top of the elevator and had a two hour walking tour of the UNESCO city centre.
Then to lunch at the bistro, Cuco,one of the best in town. Quite hilarious - as we had to keep putting our paws up for what we wanted. But our shrimp risotto with mango chutney and cheese was delicious and we enjoyed the conversation with Sherry and Jack.

 

PORTO SEGURO

We nervously visited the native Pataxo indigenous Jaqueira reserve ( would they be cannibals??!) . This had been set up a few years ago to sustain the local tribes in their reserve. Now a tourist attraction but it did serve the purpose of enabling them to preserve their language and traditions..

We watched their welcome dances and then had a guided tour of their complex. The padre had a go at archery and we sampled their cooking and admired a pair of Love Birds- just like the padres!

 

ABROLHOS ARCHIPELAGO

Just 70 km east of Nova Viçosa, Bahia are the five islands forming the Abrolhos Archipelago. These islands are part of two reef systems which run parallel to the coast and cover an area of some 6,000 km² -Brazil’s most extensive reef system. Two parts of the reef system including the archipelago have been declared a marine park (Parque Nacional Marinho dos Abrolhos) covering 913 km².

A lighthouse and small Brazilian Naval station are on Santa Barbara, but of the five islands only Siriba, one of the two westernmost islands, can be visited. A track runs for some 1,600 meters around the island, permitting to see the fauna, flora and geology. The Abrolhos Archipelago is the Southwest Atlantic’s largest reproduction area for humpback whales which tend to be there between July and November. Loggerhead and green sea turtles will start to come in November to lay their eggs on the few sandy beaches, and hawksbill turtles have also been seen. Masked and Brown Boobies, Magnificent Frigatebirds, Red-billed Tropicbirds, Sooty Terns and Brown Noddies have all been recorded as nesting on the islands.

We walked along the edge of this paradise island with Dayo for a short distance where there were hundreds of masked boobies
Then we transferred to a nearby catamaran, where the padre actually went for a snorkel, whilst the madre tried swimming - current being stronger than she! . Looked down on turtles

 

RIO DE JANEIRO

The end of the second leg of our journey - so said sad good byes to Lynne, Utta, Claudia and Suzanne. Had a six hour transit tour of the city called Art Deco and Coffee tour. About 30 of us- just one of us plus Silversea Ted- walked from the terminal with our Italian guide looking at street art and graffiti. We learnt about the rise of the Bosa Nova- below Silversea Ted by the bottle store in its famous alley .

Somehow we never emerged from our bag to be photogaraphed until lunch time!, at the Giuseppe Grill

The highlight of the day- for us, and the padre!- was the art nouveau Cafeteria Colombo where we had fantastic gateaux amidst wondrous surrounds
The madre spoke of the deafening noise!: easily overlooked with those cakes! When can we go back?

 

PARATY

This UNESCO town was beautifully preserved. It had been abandoned at one stage for a hundred years, having been a safe place to export the vast amount of gold mined inland. It was said to be a pirate friendly place. The waters around it are very shallow and large ships cannot get near. Our guide was from Barcelona and much of his talk was in Spanish as we were a multilingual group. At high tide, once a month, water is admitted to clean the, carless, streets. One of the churches had been reserved for Ladies Only, so that they had a meeting place to chat!

We stopped to sample the local Chacaca ( a popular Brazilian beverage made from fermented sugar cane juice; purported to be spicy, sweet and fruity).
. in a booze shop. Today Paraty is no longer a fishing village but a tourist town

 

ILHABUENA

What an exciting day, witnessing the poor padre toppling backwards off a plank!

This was billed the Ilhabela Waterfalls tour and a water fall the padre definitely had .We paddled through the puddles of the town of Ihlabela. In fact there was not a lot of the old town left, though the metal statue of Christ in front of the church was dramatic. Then we got into six people jeeps, being careful with whom we travelled! Thus us, Sylvain and Anike and a couple from Luxembourg climbed into one- away from complaining Americans! . We were first driven for 30 minutes, along a surburban shore side, to a beach where we were told we would have just a 30 minute stay. It had stopped raining by this stage, but no one ventured in for a swim. We enjoyed a walk along the beach and then the padre ordered a pina colada, but, as they had run out of pineapples, we eventually had a Caipirinha, very strong, but then it was only one drink between two! .

Our customary absorption of gunpwder before relaxing on the beach, where at least the padre was dressed for what was about to pass! After a long stay here, and that fatal drink, we eventually arrived at the wterfalls.
A couple of snaps for the album, and then the PLOP occured. Disappointingly? the foliage obscured the true indignity of it being recorded by the madre's mobile!. Pembroke, in the drenched backpack, came off worse

 

The ensuing delicious lunch in an unassuming beachside cafe where Pembroke was hung out to dry! -

BALNEARIO

What a sight! Hey, never mind but off we go on the Moro de Careca to Praia do Buraco easy hike. A coach ride to high up at the far lefthand end of this metropolis.Tthere were then some 100 eroded steps, very uneven and difficult for the madre, down to the beach. Here it was high tide, waves crashing periodically against the rocks, but the madre reckoned she could get along the beach without getting drenched , as many others were doing. BUT, the padre over ruled her and insisted on going up and over the rocks. Difficult for her to go up and practically impossible for her to get down the other side even with 3 protectors clinging on to her for dear life! There was a round of applause when she finally made it! The padre did realise afterwards that he had nade the wrong call!! From there on it was easy going along a board walk to the Ferris wheel, passing some 50 lifeguards on a training run. Then back to the ship by an inland road

Our photojournal of the day we got diverted to Balneario due to the close result of the brazilian election. Our scheduled stop was cancelled due to Bolsonara( narrowly defeated) supporters blocking the roads there!

 

Onto Uruguay

Boyzz Life in 2022