3 days in Fernando de Noronha: 10/29 to 11/1

The past 3 days have been an incredible experience. Fernando de Noronha is an island about an hours flight east of Recife in the Atlantic. A few people asked if I was going and I hadn´t committed until last Thursday when I was talking with a co-worker who lives in São Paulo. I told her I was in Recife and enjoying the country immensly. When she asked if I was going to the island and said I didn´t know, she insisted I go and said it would be the best experience. She sent me information on the internet so I made reservations. I was going to wait a few days, but this coming weekend is --another-- holiday in Brazil and the prices doubled to fly there over the holiday weekend, so it was a bit of an impromptu trip, but booked it. What an experice!! Here´s a chronology of the past few days:
Monday
Departed Recife in the early afternoon and arrived in Fernando de Noronha around 4:30. Most of the lodging in FdN (I´m abbreviating now) are Pousada´s which essentially people´s homes where they rent rooms to tourists. There are a couple hotels, but not the preferred lodging. Met the lady (Nêga) --had called before flying to find a place-- at the airport who happens to also have a taxi service, and went to her house. Essentially you are invited into their home and become part of the family for the time you´re here. They serve breakfast and your eating while the kids are getting ready for school and family preparing for the day. I´ll write a little more about the life style the people have there a little later. It was getting late, so took off on a walk to try and see the sunset, but got there to late. So had dinner, walked around a bit and went back to the pousada. Francisco (Nêga´s husband) set me up with a buggy (pronounced "boogy") for the next day to tour the island.
Tuesday
Woke up early (3:30am recife time as FdN is another hour east) to get the the Bahia dos Golfinos to watch the dolfins. The tour lady said the day before there were over 1500 dolfins in the bay. The morning we were there, there were about 500, but still cool to see. Pictures didn´t turn out so good because of light and distance. We stayed there until 7:30 and headed back the pousada to get breakfast. The rest of the day was exploring the island. The highlight was a swim in a natural aquarium. Francisco told us we had to get to this beach access point before 12 noon because they limit access to 100 people per day. Also, no sunscreen allowed and you only get 25 mins to snorkle, and no fins. When we arrived at the top of the hill and looked in the the little bay / aquarium, we thought, "what´s this?" and began to wonder what all the hype was about. Well, the best surprises are in the smallest packages. Essentially, in the lava rock a natual aquarim has been formed. The water is indescribably clear and warm. When looking in from the shore you can´t see much. But when you get in the water and start exploring under the coral it comes alive! The sheer number of exotic fish of all colors, coral color, anenmies, and life is beyond words. Again, not having the water proof camera was the biggest mistake I made. Words cannot describe the beauty and pristine conditions!! Now I know why they control the access and what they allow people do with such enforcement. They are working hard to keep it accesible for people to expreince, at the same time not destrying this incredible habitat. After wards we were beat and headed back to town. I made reservation to dive the next and and take a boat tour Thursday morning before our flight. The rest of the day was relaxing and hanging out in town.
Wednesday
Francisco woke me up early to catch the dive bus. This was going to be my first dive in "warm" waters and not the freezing Montery Bay. I was a little worried when I got on the dive boat and the guy asked if everyone spoke Portuguese; to my surprise 60% of the divers all spoke english and turned out our specific guide spoke english, thus things were a little easier. The dives were incredible. We did two dives. The first, we went into an underwater cave where the entrace was blocked with a huge school of fish. You swim through the school of fish to get into the cave, when you turn around to look out and see all the fish against the incoming light was amazing. ((Again, kicking myself for not buying the underwater case for the camera))..BUT of course, like any good operation they had an underwater photographer along who took some amazing photos. The second dive was just as amazing as the first. Beautiful coral and amazing life. I have picture with a sea turtle, a manta rae and a large sun fish. The picture were quite expensive, but since this was a once in a lifetime dive, I invested in the photos. They are digital and high quality. When I get a chance I will reduce the file size and get them ´posted.
After a morning of diving, the rest of the day was spent exploring the island and beaches. In the late afternoon a rain squal hit the island and it down pured for an hour. What an experience. I had no idea though the repurcussions it would have on the next day.
Thursday
Up early again to catch a boat tour of the west side of the island before the flights. The boat ride was nice. We stopped in one of the bays and went snorkling. The boat returned, rushed back to the pousada, packed, said good-bye to the host (Fracisco and family) and took a taxi to the airport to find it packed with people. Come to find out, the day before in the rain squal, the inbound flight from Recife could not land and had to return to Recife. Thus people were standed for an extra day, putting a strain on reservations. The flight was delayed, the tiny airport was crowded and tempers short. But the plane finally arrived and got back to Recife where I had a one night reservation in a hotel.

The last weekend in Recife -- off to Fernando de Noronha

A link to my next destination: http://www.noronha.com.br/english/index.html

Current photos are posted here: http://www.flickr.com/gp/14172071@N02/60aRYN

Time seems to go so fast and I will need to come back in fill in details of the weekend. In summary, Paulo showed up Friday and suggested we go downtown to a festival where we saw native dances. On Saturday we took a long bus ride to Porto de Galinhas --one of the most famous beaches in Brazil-- (port of the chickens) and spend the day at the beach. My niece Katie could spend a month crawling around on the reefs at low tide; all the "life" that could be seen was incredible.

Sunday had us off to see Olinda, which is the first town in the state of Pernambuco. We walked through town and did the typical tourist thing. We did hire a local guide to tell us the history...actually he told Paulo, Paulo translated. One of the things I found most impressive though was not history of the the town, but a program the city enacted. Olinda is one of the major tourist areas in this region. They had a severe pan handling situation where people posing as guides would lead people off and assault them. To get a grip on the problem, they created an organization to offer to the pan handlers etc, a program (free of charge) to learn the history of Olinda and get a "guide card" stating they are approved by the city to give tours. In parallel they made panhandling illegal and tour guides without cards are not approved. Thus it made the day nice not being hustled. I also thought is was a great idea to offer children / young people the opportunity to do legitimate work.

After a morning in Olinda, we took a taxi across town to a museum, de Ricardo Brennand. The Brennand family is very wealthy "old money". There are two cousins, Ricardo and Francisco. Ricardo built the museum we visited and Francisco is a very famous "potter" who's done may famous public pottery sculptures around the world. The museum was very interesting and full of local art and culture. But, the highlight of the day was the "Amory". At a young age, Ricardo began collecting "Arms" and built the armory to store is collection. It was simply amazing.

Now off to Fernando de Noronha a place where everyone has said I must visit. I have no idea if there will be computer access while there. So the may be a gap for a few days.

LASTLY, looks can be deceiving!

For the past two weeks I've walked past this old VW bus. It's the only old delapited vechile on the street. I kept thinking to myself, gosh this seems out of place here. Day after day I looked at it. The other morning when I went to the beach early to see the morning sun and I was amazed at what I saw. It was about 7:30 am and as I reached the block where this bus was, I saw an inordinate amount of traffic and people. When I got past the cars and people, to my surprise the doors were open and two ladies had the van full of produce; fruits, vegitables, greens etc. It was full of produce, and stuff stacked on the side walk behind the van. People were driving by and getting their produce, and people walking up the side walk on the back. One lady selling to cars, the other selling to the people. Obvously this is the neighborhood produce stand. By 9am it was closed and the people gone. I wish I had the camera when it was open. Quite amazing. So the van is the local "lojas" (store). Anyway, just had to share.

OK, will update as I can on my travels.

A cultural evening: sites and sounds of the brazilian people

It's very late, but I wanted to post tonight. Hopefully you can play the movie clip. This is from a event in Old Recife tonight. The music, the dances, the costumes all amazing; I feel I've truly begun to experience Brazilian culture!!

Agh, can't put the video up tonight, so just the pics for now.

A perfect evening

Got out last night to enjoy the full moon on the beach. Heres a few photos of the city under full moon and on the beach. Simply, perfect.

Finally, on the beach in Recife

This morning I had a small break in the work schedule and took the opportunity to run to the beach to see with the tide was out in morning light. Hence a few photos of the Recifian beach front.
These are the reefs all along Boa Viagem. When the tide is out, the reefs create pools people swim in. This is the only -recommended- time to swim on the beach. When the tide is in, the reefs are covered and the sharks attack. (It really not as bad as it sounds though)

One of my favorite buildings!! for about the same price as a Bay area townhouse $650-$800K, you can have the penthouse suite in the building at over 4000 sq feet and stunning views.

And below, just a reminder!! what not to do in Recife.

Thursday 10/25 General observations and comments

The week has flown by. Work has been keeping me extremely busy and putting in 12-13 hr days this week. The good thing about working in the Brazilian time zone is it allows me to interact with Europe easier as 6 to 7am Brazilian time is still morning in Europe, hence I've been more productive for the European projects. The downside is we're 4 hours ahead of pacific time which means the Colorado and California projects are keeping me busy until 6 to 8pm. All this only gives me a couple hours in the evening to get dinner and take a walk along the Boa Viagem avenue (the beach)
General Observations
I've been meaning to share general observations since being here. Follows are thoughts and comments:
City and people cleanliness
The air quality is amazingly clear here! Thank goodness I'm not in the more popular cities of Sao Paulo and Rio De Janiero. When I flew though there, the smog was overwhelming. See more about Sao Paulo and Rio below.
I'm amazed how clean the city, surrounding areas and the people are. While this is a modern city by 3rd world standards, its definitely not the US. When riding around on the bus I'm constantly amazed at how the "people" of Recife make an effort to keep things clean and organized. Like any city there is some clutter and trash. But what stands out is in the poorest neighborhoods to the most upscale, all the streets are swept clean (by hand, no street sweepers here) and ALL trash, refuse, garbage is always stacked neatly in a place where the garbage trucks --essentially dump trucks-- come around to pick things up. When paying attention, its obvious the majority of the people take responsibility for keeping their city clean; quite impressive when thinking about it.
Also, the people are all clean, well groomed and well kept. Even in the poorest areas, people are always well groomed, bathed and have clean clothes. When riding crowded buses on hot days, you kind of expect the worst, but I was amazed how clean people are here.
Observing the people
One thing that quickly becomes evident is the Brazilian people are happy people. I've yet to see any anger, impatience or unhappy people. There is a certain peace, yet confidence in their demeanor. Watching Paulo (my trusty tour guide) he has a placid almost sleepy demeanor about him. But his mind is always going a 100 miles an hour and never misses a thing. As a side note, it took me a while to figure out his body language, hence almost missing a bus with him and getting stuck crossing a busy intersection. We were waiting for the bus and he appeared to relax, crossed his arms and looked like he was going to stay put for a few mins. I turned around to look at something, turned back and he was gone...YIKE, catch up Dale. On the other hand, when nothing is happening and we're waiting for something he fidgets and paces. So the body language is misleading i.e., when things are moving he's calm and calculated. When waiting, he paces and fidgets; this seem to be the norm of the people.
Another thing is people do not like pictures taken, even at the beaches. A camera at the beach is openly frowned upon. So carrying the camera and taking pictures is all done quickly and must be done with clear intention you're focusing on building etc.
Still 3rd world
Despite this being a modern city, there are many things that remind you you're still in a developing country. For example, the main sewer systems are not underground. They are open canals that run along major thoroughfares to the central city to a catch basin, where some basic filtering is done before it empties into the ocean. They control the flow based on tides and current to assure it flows out and away, but it is a far cry from anything we have in the US. As a result, whenever you're near one of these canals, the smell clearly reminds you what you're around. Interestingly the odor stays very close the the waterway and does not permeate beyond and into the neighborhood.
Also power, gas and water infrastructure is sub par. All the modern building have back-up generators. Only the newest have gas plumbed in and water is not reliable. All new building have underground reservoirs where big (water) tanker truck deliver water. While the streets are in fairly good repair, side walks are all rough and mismatched where you must always watch where you're walking.
No potties
Oh my gosh, there are minimal facilities available!! When you go out for the day, you must be prepared there will be no restrooms are available until you get back, or near modern public places. The beaches and most public areas do not have facilities near by.
Stealth camera
As mentioned, in general, Recife is not a place to openly carry a camera for multiple reasons. First is it tags you immediately as a tourist. Despite the feeling of relative safety, all the areas still have potential of troubles. In fact, even in my district which is upscale and safe, after 10pm it legal to run stop signs to prevent car jackings. As a result, I only take the camera when out in safe public and wearing pants that allow me to keep it in my pocket hidden. Back-packs mean you're carrying things, so not a good idea either. All in all its not severe, but you have to take certain caution.
SCORE, FOOD!
WOW---did I find the food score of the century!! I think I now have a new favorite food. Lebanese food (until now) has been my favorite. Seems "rice and beans" is the typical food of this region. Any bland concepts I may have had regarding rice and beans has been completely debunked. Being desperate for something beyond my ability --face it, my cooking gets old in 36 hours and I'm on my second week, thus desperate for something more-- I went down to the building guard and asked "ondge pode eu (find) lanche?" where can I find lunch? He pointed to a guard at a building across the street. Then net of the story is there's a lady who prepares lunch in her kitchen each day. From what I can tell her lunches are word of mouth only. Basically you walk up to the guard and say "lanche". He hands you the phone to her apartment --ok, you have to imagine what an adventure this is with my minimalist portuguese-- and ask for "arroz y fisgando com galinhas" (rice and beans with chicken). Then she delivers as its not cool for people to wait around on the street for the food. Anyway, the food is simply divine. Rice and beans includes salad, vegetables and baked chicken with flavor beyond description. OMG, its heavily. I'm going to miss this ladies cooking immensely.
Thank Goodness I'm NOT in Sao Paulo or Rio De Janiero
Watching TV, both Sao Paulo and Rio are experiencing torrential rains. Things are flooded, the cities are jammed and just a mess. The other thing is (especially Rio) there's weekly shootouts between drug runners and the police. These are highly televised and every week there's another occurrence. Its obvious the government is trying very hard to get the drug and violence problem under control. The police are highly armed, armed helicopters, armored cars all equipped with cameras recording everything in addition to "media" following. On TV there's no hesitation to clearly show people being chased out, gunned down, showing the dead bodies etc. Its all an attempt to let the drug lords know there's no hesitation to shoot on sight to kill. Quite violet and real. As a side note, coincidental a friend of mine happened to be in Rio de Janiero the same time I arrived in Recife. As he left he commented the constant worry for security, hearing gun fights in the slums, and the dirty air (smog) were wearing on him --just before the rain.

Voce fala ingles?

It's Monday and my head is still bursting from an adventure packed weekend. It would take me a week to write all the thoughts, sites and experiences from this weekend. I guess that's the purpose of blogging is to allow you to jot things down as they occur. As a result, I'll take the time to detail the weekend today, then blog daily with shorter entries...we all know what our attentions spans are like in this day and age :-)
Oh, and I'm speaking phrases in Portugues now, like: "Voce fala Ingles? (Do you speak english), or "onde esta' e pointe o onibus" (where is the bus stop?); ondge esta o sanitorios? (where are the bathrooms).
Current pictures can be found here:
http://www.flickr.com/gp/14172071@N02/6i9XCD
Saturday (A trip to Gaibu)
A phrase I've gotten very accostomed to saying: "Voce fala ingles?" = do you speak english? Almost every answer is "nao" (no) With a tad bit dissapointment I've not run into anyone who speaks more than two words of english. Europe and tourist destinations in Mexico make it easy to find people who can get you though most things. But, this time I really wanted an adventure, so lets go to a place where no one speaks english and I know about 5 word in Portuguese --Note to self: next time, lets check the sanity meter, ok?
Enter Paulo. An ex-mormon missionary from here who speaks understandable english and to top it off a great guy willing to take me under his wing and show me around.
We met up early Saturday with a trip to one of the beaches south of Recife where you can swim without fear of shark attacks. The shark problem is very real on the Recifian beaches. When the tide is out, the reefs create a natural pool and you can swim --well, more like wade. As the tide comes in and covers the reefs, you need to get out of the water. They've had people attacked standing in knee deep water.

The signs every 100 yards are not to be ignored. So we headed to a beach town called Gaibu which is about 40km south of Recife. Paulo doesn't drive, so guess what? Yes, another day of bus rides! The journey took about 2 hours after a number of bus changes and bouncy wild rides we arrive in the little town in a flurry of dust. The pictures speak for themselves; beautiful and relaxing. We went to two beaches, the main one, then hiked over to another. We ate shrimp, had bbq'd fish and just a nice day. Went swimming a couple times and the water was P E R F E C T! Journed back to Recife in the evening. By the time I got to the apartment, I was asleep in 10 minutes after the long day.

Sunday (Old Recife, the "subway", and more wild bus rides)
Found us off adventuring the city again. I wanted to see the downtown, know as the "Venice of Brazil" We packed light as traveling downtown is slightly more risky as no one is there on weekends. So no back packs and things secure and hidden in pockets. The good, was there were no crowds and weather was perfect. The bad, pay attention. Old Recife at one time was a stunning city. But it has fallen to disrepair and is a shell of its once grandeur. Seems the state government is starting a redevelopment effort as we could see a couple buildings beginning to be renovated. In addition they've put a high end shopping mall and building upscale high rise apt buildings. Give it 10-15 years and it will be a nice city again. I'd love to come back after redevelopment to see what they've done. It is truly a "Venice". Someone with vision and leadership built a master plan of waterway, bridges and city planning. The bridges crisscrossing the water, the grand old architecture is all truly beautiful, even in the state it is today.
The rest of the day Paulo had us on and off busses and the subway. I got to see about 60% of Recife. All the good and bad so to speak. Riding transport really gave me the chance to look and take in all the sites. I'm so glad we did that instead of driving. It also gave me the chance to really see the people, the neighborhoods and interact with day to day life here.

After a full day of riding transport, we got back to the Boa Viagem district, had Tapioca's at my favorite steet vendor (the lady with the hair net). She recognizes us now and knows exactly what we want.