SouthAmerica/AntarcticaCruise: The Coast of Brazil

We continued our trip in the South Atlantic Ocean along the northeast coast of Brazil. We spent three days at sea, one of which we crossed the Equator and celebrated with a pool party. So far, the weather has been perfect and the beautiful blue water of the South Atlantic has been calm.

After traveling over 1,000 miles, we arrived at the city of Fortaleza located in the northeast corner of Brazil. During this time, our internet service was down most of the time, but that's okay because it gave us more time to enjoy our life aboard this beautiful ship and hang out with the crew and fellow passengers.

Fortaleza is the largest fishing port in Brazil with a population of 2,600,000. The name means "fort" in Portuguese. As the ship approached the city, we saw a wall of skyscrapers lining the oceanfront somewhat like Miami Beach.

Unfortunately for us this was not a great cruise stop as our time in port was only just over a half day. We decided not to do a tour and just explore on our own after taking the shuttle bus into the town. We walked around a market that was set up in an historic former jail and visited some city parks. We were frustrated that we could not walk to one of the beaches, but there were parts of the city that are dangerous to walk alone so we played it safe and stayed in the central city area.

Fortaleza skyline

City park in Fortaleza

Enjoying art in the park

Market inside a former historic city jail built in 1866

Brazilian public phone booths

Chillin' out at the ship's Sky Bar as we leave Fortaleza

Our next stop was in Natal where we took a highlights tour. We really liked this area. Frankly, I (Linda) had never heard of Natal, but was pleasantly surprised at how nice it was. Natal means "Christmas" in Portuguese, thus it is appropriate to say "Merry Christmas" everyday here.

We started our Natal day with a sail-in party at 9:00 a.m. on the front deck and enjoyed mimosas and champagne with fellow passengers and crew as we took in the impressive views of the surrounding landscape and blue waters under clear blue skies. We sailed under a bridge that looked much like the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Tampa Bay passing by a formidable fort that was built by the Portuguese in 1598 and still stands at the entrance to the harbor.

Natal Bridge at entry to harbor

Mimosas on deck at sail-in party

Brian partying with the chef and hotel
manager as mimosas kick in

Our great day continued with a tour of Natal and the surrounding beaches on a modern comfortable (and air conditioned) tour bus. We toured the city, then went to a tourist area and walked through a park built around the world's largest cashew tree that covers over 8,000 square meters and produces 80,000 cashew nuts per year (yummy!). We continued on to a beautiful beach area called Ponta Negra. We stopped at a beachside restaurant and enjoyed a fresh coconut water as we sat overlooking the beach. It felt like an exotic Brazilian version of Frenchy's at Clearwater Beach back home. We continued along the coastal highway passing impressive high sand dunes on one side and the beautiful beaches and ocean on the other side. We ended the visit by touring the Fort of Three Wise Men that we saw when we sailed into the harbor.