The Fortaleza to Recife vantage, from our airplane windows showed a completely different terrain to the rest of the journey. The land was wide and flat, and although parts of the panorama of a were coloured a deep, lush, green, some of it was also extremely brown, rustic and dry, like an out west landscape of the USA. Fields we viewed had crops of trees which neither of us could make out what fruit they had, but they were placed in many regimented lines like vineyards or orchards so we gathered they must have been planted for some marketable purpose .
The route we flew was not totally uninteresting and it had some swirly hills and pretty towns but it did not give me such the same thrill of swooping over the rainforest or flying over Jericoacoara. In fact the whole day flying was pretty uneventful and when we landed in Recife we amazed at how easy it had been with no rainstorm, obstructing clouds, or diverting from our planned route.
When we landed we were met once again by some friendly Lider/Signature representatives; Daniel, Fabio, Marcele greeted us and told us that they had organized a great local hotel in the center of Recife. It was a small boutique hotel that was filled with local people and Brazilian tourists. In fact Chris pointed out at one point that we were the only non-Brazilian guests sitting in the hotel’s restaurant/bar.
On arrival at our hotel we decided we needed to go for a walk to get some fresh air and gain our bearings of the city. Just two minutes into our walk, about one block away from where were staying was Recife’s beachfront. Here, all kinds of people watching was to be had; couples, families, individuals and all types of Brazilians, with a huge variation of colours, shapes and sizes were enjoying the beach. As it was the weekend it was filled with young adults and teens playing either beach volley ball or football (soccer to my American friends). The Brazilians are such an interesting people, with the most beautiful expressive faces and attractive bodies. I was both, stunned and impressed that ALL Brazilian women DO wear the legendary dental floss bikinis no matter what age, size, or shape. They walk around with all kinds of scars, wrinkles, lumps and bumps, and just appear to have such an uninhibited, carefree attitude about their bodies, when they swagger along the beach, I was mesmerized by the lack of self-consciousness that they appear to have. What a great attitude!!
As Chris and I strolled ago the beach, he was desperate to swim, and although the water was warm and enticing as it lapped around our ankles, I was a little afraid as we had been warned about the several shark sightings and even the shark warnings along the beach seemed pretty serious(see Chris photos). But people, especially locals were splashing about and although it was very tempting to float around for a while, I chickened out and stayed in the sea up to my knees, while of course Chris dived head first and after a short dip declared that it was just what he needed to refresh him!!
Back at our hotel we enjoyed dinner and was surrounded by a rowdy group of locals, the atmosphere was that of a laidback, relaxed, jovial one. The bar played lively and chilled out Brazilian tunes, Chris even picked out a Hendrix cover version song sang in Brazilian. We finally slipped off to our room after checking our emails, and exhausted as usual we both slipped into deep sleep almost immediately. After a short while I could hear the same boisterous crowd in the bar raise the volume of their voices (we are on the same floor as the bar). Although it was slightly annoying at first to overhear the raucous laughing, shouting and glasses clicking it was almost heartening to listen to the happy tones of their voices and know that they were having fun. But I knew that when the alarm blares to wake us up in a few more hours my attitude may not be so quite the same!!!
The route we flew was not totally uninteresting and it had some swirly hills and pretty towns but it did not give me such the same thrill of swooping over the rainforest or flying over Jericoacoara. In fact the whole day flying was pretty uneventful and when we landed in Recife we amazed at how easy it had been with no rainstorm, obstructing clouds, or diverting from our planned route.
When we landed we were met once again by some friendly Lider/Signature representatives; Daniel, Fabio, Marcele greeted us and told us that they had organized a great local hotel in the center of Recife. It was a small boutique hotel that was filled with local people and Brazilian tourists. In fact Chris pointed out at one point that we were the only non-Brazilian guests sitting in the hotel’s restaurant/bar.
On arrival at our hotel we decided we needed to go for a walk to get some fresh air and gain our bearings of the city. Just two minutes into our walk, about one block away from where were staying was Recife’s beachfront. Here, all kinds of people watching was to be had; couples, families, individuals and all types of Brazilians, with a huge variation of colours, shapes and sizes were enjoying the beach. As it was the weekend it was filled with young adults and teens playing either beach volley ball or football (soccer to my American friends). The Brazilians are such an interesting people, with the most beautiful expressive faces and attractive bodies. I was both, stunned and impressed that ALL Brazilian women DO wear the legendary dental floss bikinis no matter what age, size, or shape. They walk around with all kinds of scars, wrinkles, lumps and bumps, and just appear to have such an uninhibited, carefree attitude about their bodies, when they swagger along the beach, I was mesmerized by the lack of self-consciousness that they appear to have. What a great attitude!!
As Chris and I strolled ago the beach, he was desperate to swim, and although the water was warm and enticing as it lapped around our ankles, I was a little afraid as we had been warned about the several shark sightings and even the shark warnings along the beach seemed pretty serious(see Chris photos). But people, especially locals were splashing about and although it was very tempting to float around for a while, I chickened out and stayed in the sea up to my knees, while of course Chris dived head first and after a short dip declared that it was just what he needed to refresh him!!
Back at our hotel we enjoyed dinner and was surrounded by a rowdy group of locals, the atmosphere was that of a laidback, relaxed, jovial one. The bar played lively and chilled out Brazilian tunes, Chris even picked out a Hendrix cover version song sang in Brazilian. We finally slipped off to our room after checking our emails, and exhausted as usual we both slipped into deep sleep almost immediately. After a short while I could hear the same boisterous crowd in the bar raise the volume of their voices (we are on the same floor as the bar). Although it was slightly annoying at first to overhear the raucous laughing, shouting and glasses clicking it was almost heartening to listen to the happy tones of their voices and know that they were having fun. But I knew that when the alarm blares to wake us up in a few more hours my attitude may not be so quite the same!!!
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