Day 50
Today I'm in: Fernando de Noronha, Brazil
That's the assessment after spending the day exploring Noronha today. This is one of the most out-of-the-way spots in the world to visit, but it's worth it and then some. I've been fortunate to travel to a lot of pretty gorgeous places in my life but this just about takes the cake. If it weren't for the lobster sunburn I managed to get (*despite* applying sunscreen rigorously; it's just that hot here) today would have been just about perfect.
I picked up my electric-bike contraption from Augusto's shop at about 9:30 in the morning. It was really simple to operate and very reliable, despite many of the larger body parts being sealed in plastic wrap to keep them from getting wet and malfunctioning. It even had pedals so that on hills or any other time I felt so inclined, I could put a little of my own energy in and make the bike go faster. I wouldn't want to ride this thing through a city (I don't think it went more than about 30 kph on its own, although it picked up speed naturally going down hills) but for a small place like Noronha it worked great.
I was under strict orders from Augusto - in addition to not riding the bike through any puddles and pulling over any time it started to rain - to keep the bike on the island's sole paved road. As many of the best beaches are not directly on this road, I spent a fair amount of time today walking down dirt paths to get to the water. There are sixteen beaches in all on the island, three of which are consistently ranked as Brazil's top three by most travel publications. The first one, Praia do Leão or Lion Beach (where I'm pictured above, pre-sunburn; my face is roughly the same color as the shirt now) required negotiating a cliffside path. When I got there, however, I had the entire beach to myself - not another visitor in sight apart from dozens and dozens of small resident lizards that all ran up to me when I sat down to drink some water. They must be used to people and/or looking for food. They kept a respectable distance and watched me, but it was a little unnerving at first. This beach faces the Atlantic (called the "Outer Sea" by Noronhans) so the surf is a bit more rough and I opted not to go for a swim here.
To get to the next beach, Praia do Sanchos, I had to climb down a rickety-feeling iron ladder into a chasm in the side of the a cliff, then walk through the chasm to a second set of steps. The beach, however, was as close to perfect as you can get - warm, clear water, white sand and TONS of fish. I rented a snorkel and spent about half an hour checking everything out, but it wasn't even necessary. The water is so crystal clear you can see all the marine life from the surface. Noronha has a fairly large resident shark population, but the marine ecosystem is so rich that they've never had to resort to eating people like they have in Recife.
After a break for lunch and two chilled coconuts worth of rehydration, I hopped on the bike for the 15-minute ride to the north end of the island to visit Praia Cacimbo do Padre. This mean's "Priest's Well Beach" and is named for one of the island's first freshwater wells, which was dug by Franciscan priests in the 1600s. It's a vast swathe of sand with Morro do Pico at one end and was by far the widest beach of any I visited today. It helped that nobody else was there; multiple times today it felt like I was the only person on the island. The visitor caps do their job exceedingly well.
Today's final beach was Baia dos Porcos or Bay of Pigs, just like the ill-fated Cuban invasion site; it's one of the island's smallest but has the best snorkeling and diving due to the rock outcroppings scattered throughout the water. Once again, I was the only person there. I didn't have a snorkel this time (and I wasn't about to hike back to the main road to rent one from a vendor) but I spent some time checking out the fish and coral in the tidal pools above the beach. Four times a day, this beach becomes the worst one on the island - the end of the airport runway is on the cliff just above - but all was quiet when I visited.
The one thing Noronha's beaches don't have much of is shade. It's breezy and comfortable when you're facing the water, but turn away and it feels about 15 degrees hotter. Up on the cliffs above, where the roads are, I felt like I was being slowly cooked alive. SPF 30 wasn't enough today - good thing I brought aloe with me - and I'm rethinking some of my beach plans for tomorrow. There are a few more beaches I want to see, but I may have to be a bit more strategic in when I visit them, or bring an sun umbrella with me like a Japanese tourist.
Today I'm in: Fernando de Noronha, Brazil
That's the assessment after spending the day exploring Noronha today. This is one of the most out-of-the-way spots in the world to visit, but it's worth it and then some. I've been fortunate to travel to a lot of pretty gorgeous places in my life but this just about takes the cake. If it weren't for the lobster sunburn I managed to get (*despite* applying sunscreen rigorously; it's just that hot here) today would have been just about perfect.
I picked up my electric-bike contraption from Augusto's shop at about 9:30 in the morning. It was really simple to operate and very reliable, despite many of the larger body parts being sealed in plastic wrap to keep them from getting wet and malfunctioning. It even had pedals so that on hills or any other time I felt so inclined, I could put a little of my own energy in and make the bike go faster. I wouldn't want to ride this thing through a city (I don't think it went more than about 30 kph on its own, although it picked up speed naturally going down hills) but for a small place like Noronha it worked great.
I was under strict orders from Augusto - in addition to not riding the bike through any puddles and pulling over any time it started to rain - to keep the bike on the island's sole paved road. As many of the best beaches are not directly on this road, I spent a fair amount of time today walking down dirt paths to get to the water. There are sixteen beaches in all on the island, three of which are consistently ranked as Brazil's top three by most travel publications. The first one, Praia do Leão or Lion Beach (where I'm pictured above, pre-sunburn; my face is roughly the same color as the shirt now) required negotiating a cliffside path. When I got there, however, I had the entire beach to myself - not another visitor in sight apart from dozens and dozens of small resident lizards that all ran up to me when I sat down to drink some water. They must be used to people and/or looking for food. They kept a respectable distance and watched me, but it was a little unnerving at first. This beach faces the Atlantic (called the "Outer Sea" by Noronhans) so the surf is a bit more rough and I opted not to go for a swim here.
To get to the next beach, Praia do Sanchos, I had to climb down a rickety-feeling iron ladder into a chasm in the side of the a cliff, then walk through the chasm to a second set of steps. The beach, however, was as close to perfect as you can get - warm, clear water, white sand and TONS of fish. I rented a snorkel and spent about half an hour checking everything out, but it wasn't even necessary. The water is so crystal clear you can see all the marine life from the surface. Noronha has a fairly large resident shark population, but the marine ecosystem is so rich that they've never had to resort to eating people like they have in Recife. 
After a break for lunch and two chilled coconuts worth of rehydration, I hopped on the bike for the 15-minute ride to the north end of the island to visit Praia Cacimbo do Padre. This mean's "Priest's Well Beach" and is named for one of the island's first freshwater wells, which was dug by Franciscan priests in the 1600s. It's a vast swathe of sand with Morro do Pico at one end and was by far the widest beach of any I visited today. It helped that nobody else was there; multiple times today it felt like I was the only person on the island. The visitor caps do their job exceedingly well. 
Today's final beach was Baia dos Porcos or Bay of Pigs, just like the ill-fated Cuban invasion site; it's one of the island's smallest but has the best snorkeling and diving due to the rock outcroppings scattered throughout the water. Once again, I was the only person there. I didn't have a snorkel this time (and I wasn't about to hike back to the main road to rent one from a vendor) but I spent some time checking out the fish and coral in the tidal pools above the beach. Four times a day, this beach becomes the worst one on the island - the end of the airport runway is on the cliff just above - but all was quiet when I visited.The one thing Noronha's beaches don't have much of is shade. It's breezy and comfortable when you're facing the water, but turn away and it feels about 15 degrees hotter. Up on the cliffs above, where the roads are, I felt like I was being slowly cooked alive. SPF 30 wasn't enough today - good thing I brought aloe with me - and I'm rethinking some of my beach plans for tomorrow. There are a few more beaches I want to see, but I may have to be a bit more strategic in when I visit them, or bring an sun umbrella with me like a Japanese tourist.
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