Fernando de Noronha, another old travel dream that came true. Although I expected a lot - and I wasn't disappointed - from its natural beauty, I had no idea that its waters were so clear.Day 1 - Fernando de Noronha! I'm here!!In October 1998, I spent almost one week on the island, long enough to get to know it and enjoy some of its grace. But I am sure that, when coming back to this gift of Nature, I will find more enchantments in this paradise so appropriately nicknamed the Emerald of the Atlantic.
But let's stop with idle chat. Come experience with me the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha.
The arrival was beautiful, flying over the island before landing. I was lucky that my seat was on the left side of the plane, as this allows a better view. Although the sky was a bit foggy, it was possible to see the island well.
In an improvised area, because the airport is under repair, I went through the control to pay the sojourn tax, collected by the government from all tourists. André, the owner of Pousada da Morena, picked me up. It was just past noon when we arrived at the inn, with a view to the Morro do Pico (Peak Hill), the highest point in the island.
My first contact with the island was a boat trip, leaving the harbour at about 2pm aboard Alquimista II. There were more than 20 tourists in it, that started going towards the so called secondary islands, a group of islands at the north end of the archipelago, among them Ilha do Meio, where the sea digs the rock and with many booby nests, and Ilha Rata, the second largest in the archipelago.
We went back to the main island, along the beaches of the so called "mar de dentro", (or inner sea, the side of the island towards the continent). Graceful views, but the greatest moment was the encounter with the dolphins that swim there every afternoon. For three times the boat stopped so we could take a plunge and watch them underwater. I think we were too many and, with the fuss of so many people striking the water with their legs, the dolphins kept a distance and did not remain near us. Nevertheless, it was possible to see them well, always in groups, their bodies in two shades of grey.
The boat stopped at the beautiful Baía do Sancho (Sancho Bay), surrounded by cliffs. We were allowed to snorkel there. Noronha's waters are very transparent, full of colorful fish. I even saw a moray. Soon other boats arrived, some smaller than ours going closer to the beach.
We continued towards Ponta da Sapata, the sourthern tip of the island. There, depending on the angle of view, a hole in the rock may look like the map of Brazil. On our way back, we stopped in front of a rock nicknamed Lion's Roar, where the collision of the waves with the cracked rock make a noise that is amplified inside these fissures. The sunset on the sea was beautiful, although there were clouds in the horizon. The trip lasted about four hours.
At night, I went to the IBAMA center - a 15min walk from the inn. IBAMA is the national environmental institute, which is responsible for the administration of national parks. I had dinner at a per weight restaurant on the way, trying "carne de sol", a sun-dried meat that is a typical northeastern dish. It was good and cheap. Presentations are held everynight at IBAMA, with a different theme each day of the week. There is also a snack bar and a souvenir shop of the TAMAR Project (a foundation for the preservation of sea turtles). With the absence of that night's lecturer, they showed us videos.
When I was back to the inn, I was feeling dead tired.
Day 2 - With the sun, the color of the sea was simply dazzling.
I woke up early, but I only had breakfast at eight, although it had been ready before the "official" starting time. When André showed up, I asked him about the buggy tour that I had planned to do. He had forgotten about this, but he arranged to have me included in it. Called Ilhatur (Island tour), it is a full day excursion visiting the main beaches of Noronha.
A driver took me to Atalaia Beach, where the rest of the people taking the tour already were. At low tide, the reefs form a natural pool about 40cm deep, a marvel to see colorful fish up close, many of which hide under corals and rocks. In the background, Frade Island, that resembles a hand with one finger pointing upwards.
Next we went to the beaches of Bode and Cacimba do Padre - I can't tell where one ends and the other starts. By that time there was a lot of sun and these beaches looked gorgeous, with the islands called Dois Irmãos (Two Brothers) at one end. The sand was very soft and the feet sank in it. We walked over rocks to
Baía dos Porcos (Bay of Pigs), small but beautiful, where we had time for swimming and snorkeling. In one end there is a small natural pool, but we cannot enter this one. On the rocks by the sea, many dark crabs were walking. A tourist left an empty beer car by his bag and two geckos alternately entered it to get drunk on the residue. These geckos, called mabuias, are very common on the island. On our way back, the extension of the sand at Cacimba do Padre, as well as the color of the sea, were impressive.
Our last stop in the morning was Boldró Beach, where we did not have a long time, but it was enough to walk along the whole beach, which has some coconut trees. This is one of the most visited beaches in the island. We left it almost half past noon.
I had lunch, together with other tourists that were in the tour, at Nascimento. Seafood is the specialty at this a la carte restaurant, but I had chicken instead and it was a well served portion. For dessert, I had cajá icecream. Cajá is a typical fruit that I had not tried before, and I liked it.
The tour resumed at 2:30pm, first at Baía do Sueste (Sueste Bay). This is one of the feeding areas of sea turtles, but only later I was told that it is common to find them there, in a part of the bay far from the beach. The beach is nice, but the water is very turbid, apparently due to algae. My feet sank deeply in the sand, I have never seen something like that. There is also a mangrove that is unique to oceanic islands.
During the rest of the afternoon, our visits were only to look. First, Praia do Leão (Lion Beach), the main site where green turtles lay eggs between the months of December and June, whose name is due to an island with the shape of a sea lion (but that looked more like a sitting dog for me). From a viewpoint, the lowering sun left the beach silvery.
After that we saw Buraco da Raquel (Raquel's Hole), a rock with a hole cut out by the sea, on a beach where many birds nest, thus being prohibited to descend to it. Near it, Caieiras Inlet, which looked to me to have reefs like the ones in Atalaia, although it's much larger. As in every excursion, we had a shopping stop, in this case at Tubalhau, that, besides t-shirts and jewelry, also sells fried shark meatballs.
At Air France Beach, on the island's northern tip, we can see the convergence of the "inner sea" with the "outer sea". The beach got this name from the time Air France hydroplanes coming from Europe landed there, making a stopover in Noronha.
For the sunset, we went to the ruins of the Fort of São Pedro do Boldró, located on the hill that separates Boldró Beach from the isolated Americano Beach. Though once again there were clouds on the horizon, the sun was beautiful when descending between the Two Brothers.
I was not hungry so I had cookies for lunch, before going to IBAMA. The lecture was about sharks, presented by one of the owners of Tubalhau. He said that only seven among the circa 300 existing species of sharks are potentially dangerous for humans. In general,attacks occur in areas where their habitat has been damaged and they don't find enough food. Their length varies from 80cm to 18m, like the whale shark, found in the Northeast and that, despite its size, only feeds on fish.
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