Fernando de Noronha

 View of the Harbor from Cantinho del Porto

08/10/02

    We arrived in Fernando de Noronha yesterday morning.  There were five other sailboats anchored in the wide, open harbor, and one mini-megayacht which seemed completely out of place.  Overlooking the harbor is this gigantic rock formation which closely resembles a pointed head. 

    The harbor in general provides little protection from the wind, and the boat was rocking the whole time we were here, with 15-18 knot winds from the south (the harbor is on the north of the island).  It really is a pretty place, with a multitude of colorfully painted wooden boats moored in the harbor.  Tourism is a large part of the business in Fernando, and a major attraction for the tourism is skindiving.  There were numerous dive boats, all loaded with people.  The vast majority of the tourists are Brazilians, so there is little allowance for English speaking people. 

    We have found one very helpful woman who runs the restaurant at the top of the hill overlooking the harbor, named “Cantinho del Porto”.  Her name is Elda, and she has only had the restaurant open for less than two months.  It used to be owned by her ex-husband, but she took it over as part of the divorce settlement.  It is an unusual restaurant, as you wouldn’t think anything was there to look at it from the outside.  There is no interior, only a concrete patio overlooking the harbor, and a small area that is covered with a roof, has a few native paintings and fish sculptures hanging on the wall, and a hammock, which often had somebody sleeping in it.  The food was quite good, though Eric was disappointed that he couldn’t get fish and chips there, which had been served by the last restaurant (the one that was run by Elda’s ex).  Elda was able to direct us to the internet place, and to exchange money for us.  I found that when I exchanged dollars for reals, I ended up with a number of fifty real notes, and nobody could make change for these, so I would end up paying for stuff in dollars anyway. 

Elda, Proprietress of Cantinho del Porto

    When  we first arrived on shore, we went to the nearest official looking place, which turned out to be an office for charter boats, and told them we had just arrived by yacht from Cabo Verde, and needed to check into customs.  After telling us to wait a few minutes, they had Eric speak to someone on the VHF radio, then they had us climb in their VW bus and took us into town.  One of them took us into the red office building, at the bottom of a steep hill in the town, and we wandered to a couple of offices until Eric spoke to someone who said it is not necessary to have any clearance to visit Fernando.  It is as if we were never here, as far as they’re concerned.  After that, we went to the local dive shop to exchange money.  I got 260 Reals for $100.  We had a beer at a local bar/restaurant, then decided to walk back to the port and eat at the Cantinho.

The Official-Looking Red Building

    After lunch, we went back to the boat, and I wrote 18 postcards while the other two were taking a nap. 

    We had spotted a yacht from South Africa, on our way in, and had stopped by to say hello.  It was a retired doctor, Daren, and his wife, Robin, sailing with their two young children and two hired crew members.  He had only been sailing for five months.  He had taken a sailing course, bought the boat (named “Dream On”) and took off.  Their intention was to go to the Caribbean and work their way to Florida and take the ICW up to Maine.  We invited them to come by the boat later for happy hour.

    It gets dark at 1800 here, so  it was dark when we went for dinner.  We decided to take a taxi into town.  All of the taxis in Fernando are dune buggies, which have a front passenger seat, but the rear seat is not big enough to seat an adult.  Additional passengers are thus accommodated by having a bar on the rear of the roof that they can hold on to, so we are sitting on the trunk with our feet in the back seat and our heads sticking out over the roof.  It is a fun ride, as long as it is not raining.  It has only rained a total of ten minutes, and fortunately that came right after I went swimming, so I got a little fresh water rinse.  It was not enough  rain to make a difference, and I got splashed again with sea water on our next dinghy ride anyway.  There are no shower facilities here, which is bothersome, as it will be at least a month before my next real shower, but I guess I’ll get used to it.  My big problem is an underwear shortage.  It appears I only have one pair of clean underwear to last until Cape Town, and no place to do laundry here.  I guess I will have to make do.

The Taxi Stand