Fortaleza, with a population of
over 2.5 million, is the 5th largest city in Brazil. It is home to spectacular
white sand beaches, warm waters and tropical climate with 350 days of sunshine
a year along with some rain from January to June with high relative humidity.
Fortaleza is a popular coastal resort city in Brazil, perfect for beach
holidays almost throughout the year. Famous for its beaches, lively nightlife,
carnivals and forró music, Fortaleza offers affordable shopping, historical
sites, vibrant local culture and recreation. The port is more than two miles
from the city center.
A Dutchman is credited with
founding Fortaleza in the 17th century when he built a fortress in
1654. Ultimately the fortress was seized
by the Portuguese, an act that signified the beginning of the colonization of
the area by the Portuguese.
Places of interest include the Centro Market, with over 600 stores, a beautiful neo-Gothic cathedral with superb stained glass windows, and the Jose De Alencar Theatre, a masterpiece of Art Noveau design.
Well, we didn’t really see any of those but we did see Cumbuco Beach, one of the many beautiful beaches lining the northeastern coast of Brazil.
This was another ship’s
tour. We were bussed about an hour out
of town to the beach. Downtown Fortaleza
is filled with high-rise buildings and seems quite nice.
As soon as we left the downtown area, however,
the scenery changed to very run-down buildings.
There wasn’t a wall along our route that was not covered in
graffiti. The Brazilians would really
benefit from a clean up day…..trash of paper, glass, and plastic littered the
roadside the entire way to the beach.
But the beach was beautiful. The waves were quite high so we didn’t
venture into the water except for our feet as we walked along the
shoreline. The water was very warm, about
84 degrees, but then we are not far from the equator.
Our tour included a dune buggy
ride around the sand dunes. This was a
lot of fun! After a few minutes’ ride,
we stopped at a lookout where we could ‘slide’ down the sand dune on a sled—like
a snowboard. Terry gave it a try and
flew down the dune. Then he got to walk
all the way back up! LOL
Back on the dune buggy, our
driver gave us quite a ride up and down some pretty steep hills. Why we didn’t tip over still amazes me. It was really a lot of fun.
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| Enjoying our dune buggy experience |
We left our footprints in the
sand and thought our first day in Brazil was a pretty good one!
Tomorrow is another sea day and
then on Friday we port in Salvador, Brazil, known for attracting millions to
the city for the Carnival celebrations.
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| Sailing away from Fortaleza |
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