Fernando de Noronha, Brazil
It was all about the snorkeling today!
Since we had spent the past few days exploring every nook and cranny on the island, today we decided to hit the hot spots for snorkeling. After breakfast, we drove the buggy straight for Praia do Sancha. The trail to the beach was a bit harder this time because we were carrying all the snorkel gear – especially down the ladders through the crack in the cliff face. No mishaps, thankfully, and soon we were back on one of the most spectacular beaches on the island (and all of Brazil).
This was the beach we went snorkelling at when we went on the dolphin watching tour. The only problem with those kinds of tours is that there are about a half dozen companies doing the exact same tour with the exact same stops at the exact same time. This made the snorkeling experience a bit crowded last time. But today we came at 9:30 am on our own, at least an hour before the tour boats would arrive!
The snorkeling was incredible, and we had the entire bay to ourselves – not another snorkeler in sight! We really noticed that there were a lot more fish this time out – our theory is that when the tours come in, some of the fish find a nice rock to hide under. We shot underwater video the entire time we were out there. The Sargent fish were amazing, as was the eel. We also saw a green sea turtle sleeping on the rocks. Then, just beside the coral/rock formation, a sting-ray was hovering in the sand – very cool!
Just as we were getting ready to exit the water, the first couple of tour boats pulled in – perfect timing!. Just before we got out of the water, in the surf break area, we spotted a couple more green sea turtles swimming around! There were also some enormous schools of small fish in the same area as the sea turtles.
While packing up our stuff on the beach against the rocky cliffs, the resident lizards came to check us out. There were probably a dozen of them surrounding us after 15 minutes – they are quite small and harmless, but packs of lizards? Who knows what they could do – something out of a horror movie perhaps!
We escaped the man-eating lizards and scrambled up the cliffs back to the safety of the buggy. We popped back into our pousada to change rooms – something that we knew we had to do for our last night when we booked our accommodations on the island. We were kind of annoyed at having to make the move, even though it was to a slightly better room, but in the end it was fairly painless. Our new room was ready for us so it only took us about 20 minutes to move our stuff.
It was time for lunch so we drove into the village to have lunch at a place we had driven by a few times during the past few days. It was a buffet style ‘self-serve’ restaurant where you essentially pay for what you eat by weight. Why don’t they do this back home? It makes more sense really – eat a lot, pay more… eat a little, pay less. The food was really good and when it came time for dessert, Marcy made a trip to get Ray a piece of flan. They had just brought out a brand new dish of it which was awesome, but the deserts were on an upper shelf above the main course items below. Marcy, not being as tall as she would like, coupled with the fact that the flan was extremely soft, led to a minor faux-pa at the buffet. The flan slid off the spatula as it was being carried over the main course items below… oops! The penne pasta and grilled chicken got some new flavouring!
We hurried away from the scene of the crime and got on with our day. We took our snorkel gear to Praia Conceicao. This was the beach we had seen the Atlantis dive boat at the previous day. Wow – what another great snorkel area! This spot was way better than we expected. There were a ton of fish, a HUGE sting-ray, and a beautiful green sea turtle gliding around. We managed to keep up with the turtle for quite some time – hopefully the video turned out well (we haven’t had a chance to preview it yet).
Satisfied with another great snorkel outing, we made our way back to shore and then back to the pousada to get cleaned up. It’s amazing how hard the sea water is on your skin, hair, etc.
As it always seems to happen on this island, before you know it, it’s time for sunset. We dashed to Bar do Meio just in time for sunset (where we watched our second sunset on the island), along with a caipirinha and the mandatory fried cheese appetizer (see photo). This was our last sunset on the island so we wanted it to last as long as possible. We were ready to pay for the drinks and appetizer – whoops – forgot the wallet in the pousada! Ray raced back in the buggy while Marcy hung out at the ocean side bar taking a few mosquito bites for the team (she was not impressed)!
Our travel agent in Brazil, who lived on Fernando de Noronha for a few years, highly recommended that we have dinner at Palhoca da Colina. We had reservations for 8:30 pm and some basic directions on how to find it. We ended up on a dirt road that we were SURE was the wrong road, when suddenly we rounded a corner and there it was! Our luck on finding hard to find places continued!
When we walked in, immediately the mood was set – low lighting, open air, bamboo, very low Indonesian style tables with copious quantities of cushions, etc. Here’s a video of the ambience:
Only one other group of three were at the table (a long communal type table), so it was very quiet. The food was abundant and delicious. The grilled fish was gigantic – it could have fed 10 people easily. The other three guests were from Sao Paulo – Regina, Suzanna, and Marco. They were very friendly, spoke fantastic English, and invited us to call on them if we go to Sao Paulo one day – hopefully we will!
