Fortaleza Brazil
,Backpacking Eight Months On the Road
By Bus Through South America
By David Rice  
Fortaleza Brazil
Page Sixteen
Fortaleza, Backpacking by Bus In
South America
Eight Months On the Road
By David Rice  
Fortaleza, Beaches
Page 10

I love beaches.
Between Fortaleza and Rio there are many great beaches,
several of which I had in my sights.  I would pause were I could on
my way south along the coast, planning a few extended stops at
the more remarkable beaches.
It took some doing to get to Fortaleza but the beaches made the
trip worthwhile. Warm Atlantic waters and sand beaches with
hotels, bars, and palm beach huts along the shore make this a
good beach town. Nightlife, especially on Monday and a
European atmosphere made Fortaleza fun.

From Fortaleza my next major beach stop would be Recife,
where I stayed for three days enjoying the great beaches and
warm waters of the Atlantic.  

Recife is a big crumbling old city with a wide river that barely
moves and with that lack of movement comes a strong odor.
Nevertheless tour ships dock in Recife and tourists visit this one
time center of Brazilian culture, usually staying in nearby Olinda, a
town billed as the prettiest town in Brazil.      
Preserved colonial buildings and cobble streets, grand old
churches and a nice hill with a view of the city made Olinda a
pleasant but expensive visit. A few items in the laundry cost me
$14.; an unexpected luxury scrubbing or was it a luxury drubbing.

Seeds

In a nice park I picked up seeds, a hobby with me, an old
Missouri farmer at heart. I like to work with them in my
greenhouse back home or I will put the particularly attractive ones
in a jar for a decoration in the kitchen. I check with a botanist
friend first and make sure there is no harm in planting them. Most
every plant from other climes that will grow in the US is already
there he tells me.  Cruise ships, cargo ships, and airplane
freighters have spread the world's flora and fauna to all continents
far more rapidly than I ever could.

I love a good beach as a place to rest. I get off the bus when I am
tired and I like to rest at the beach where there is always music,
ballgames, stick ball, frizbee, surfing, and of course great food.
Brazil is a lively place with parties on the street and bands playing
Samba and the Latin beats that I have heard in Mexico but they
play them with far more subtlety.
The people on these beaches were black and dark skinned
people, a mix of Portuguese and black African slaves with some
indigenous native mixed in. Brown-skinned people for the most
part, they were a fun-loving, music-loving group.

At my next stop I would find lots of African style dress hinting at
the strong African influence and, in fact I would find the African
soul of Brazil in  Salvador, Bahia. There I would spend a week.
Zipolite Beach, Oaxaca
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