The Archipelago of Fernando de Noronha.
Brazil. Between 9th and 13th January 2002.
We, Rachel and I (Henrik), leave Natal in a small airplane and fly towards the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha at 3° 54' 00" South Latitude, 32° 25' 00" West Longitude. It is about 360 km from Natal (north-east Brazil). It is a small group of islands, only 21 islands and islets with an area of 26 km². Home to about 2,300 inhabitants, plus a few tourists and other visitors. The number of visitors is controlled since the islands and its nature and wildlife are protected. Most of the islands are part of a bigger national park "Parque Nacional Marinho de Fernando de Noronha" that is about 113 km². The islands was first sighted at 10th August in year 1503 by Américo Vespúcio during the second expedition from Portugal.
The Archipelago of Fernando de Noronha.
The temperature is about 27°C in the air and about 24°C in the sea. Wonderful! We cannot complain at all! We arrive at about noon and immediately head for a walk and the beach as soon as we are settled in the Poulsada that we are given.
[2002-01-10]
Praia da Biboca and baia de Santo Antônio.
Since the island have really only one hotel open for the public the most common way is to live in a house with a family. Very chic! Not the highest standards but comfortable and we have everything we need, including airconditioner and break-fast.
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The church in Vila dos Remédios. |
Vila dos Remédios. |
[2002-01-11]
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The next day we are going to dive for the first time ever. But first we head for the beach. We walk to Praia da Conceição near the rock formation Morro do Pico, The formation looks like a head rising up from the island. At least with some imagination! It is a very nice beach with big (and dangerous) waves. Very popular for surfer dudes... |
Morro do Pico at praia da Conceicão. |
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[2002-01-12]
It is Friday and we wake up early (everything is relative), as every day, at 7 o'clock. This because of a full day sight-seeing tour around the island with a guide and a driver. The island has mainly only one real road with asfalt, all the others are either made of stone or nothing at all. This makes the journey quite shaky, but still it is nice.
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The first visit is the dolphin bay, Baia dos Golfinhos, that we saw from the boat a couple of days earlier. Dolphins come to this place every morning to rest, mate and socialize. Up to a couple of hundreds of dolphins can be seen in the bay at the same time. |
Baia dos Golfinhos. The Dolphin Bay. |
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Me and Rachel in front of Baia dos Golfinhos. |
Caju fruits. From the darker part of the fruit the more known "cashewnuts" are made. The fruit tastes good also! |
It is a very nice and beautiful day and we have time to visit almost all the beaches on the island. The only beach we do not visit of see is Praia do Atalaia, but that beach is also highly protected and only a few visitors are allowed at the same time.
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Some reefs between Baia dos Golfinhos and Baia do Sancho. |
Baia do Sancho. A fantastic beach! |
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In front of the Ilha Dois Irmãos. Marvelous! |
At the end of the day we visit the beach Praia do Leão on the east coast and then we stop by for a view at the Cacimba do Padre, praia do Bode and praia do Americo on the west coast.
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Praia do Leão |
Cacimba do padre, Praia do Bode, Praia do Americo. Ilha Dois Irmãos is seen in the backgorund. |
[2002-01-13]
We have to leave. Unfortunatly. It has been a really nice visit. After some delay at the air-port we fly back
to Natal and later we continue back to Brasília. What a nice visit it has been!
Second
day we start with a boat trip, "O Passeio de Barco em Fernando de Noronha" along the coast of the main
island. We travel along the whole NE-W-SW part of the island. The trip starts at the harbour, Porto Santo Antônio
and then we pass by the Ilhas Secundárias, Baía dos Golfinhos, Ponta da Sapata, Baía do Sancho,
Morro do Forte. The funniest part is to see the spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) that swim right
next to the boat and jump out from the water! Very nice!
We also make stop to let
those who want go snorkling. Rachel tries for the first time ever. She likes it, but there is not as much things
to see as expected. But more will come later...
In
the afternoon we join a "historical walk" where we visit the old fortification, Forte dos Remédios
and the nearby village Vila dos Remedios. There has been a fortification here since 1629 when the Dutch arrived
and invaded the island.
Then it
is time for the dive! Since neither Rachel nor I have any certificate to perform diving with oxygen we have a guide
each to help us under the water. They are very professional. In the beginning of the dive I started to believe
that my guide had left me for a while. Just to findout that he was there all along, just above me, but out of sight.
Very good! Rachel and I even rent a camera to take some underwater photos. I got a lot of marvelous photos, even
on Rachel and me together under the water. Unfortunatly the blameworthy blasted incompentent person who rented
it to us forgot to put any film in the camera!!! But part from that the dive was excellent! We both saw a lot of
fishes and a sea-turtle. That was very nice! It was a really nice experience to try diving. At most we were down
to 10 meters bellow the surface. It was very clear sight, it is said to be one of the best places in the world
for diving!
