March 11, 2023

I will be doing two posts today since (for now) we have wifi service – it has been really bad for the past several days.

Natal is the closest city to Africa and Europe and has a population of about 900,000 people. The major exports are crustaceans, carnuba wax and fruits. There are some beautiful beaches and large sand dunes here. We went under a large bridge before reaching the port. I can see that the bigger cruise ships would not be able to come here since they would not fit under the bridge.

We didn’t book any tour for Natal, so we decided to take the shuttle bus to the Centro de Turismo which turned out to be another craft market in another repurposed prison. When the shuttle driver parked the bus, we couldn’t imagine we were at the right place as there was absolutely nothing around. Someone asked about what there was in walking distance, and the guide on the bus told her not to walk around but to go back to the terminal and take a taxi to wherever she wanted to go! So all we did was visit the shops. There was a nice view of part of the city and the beach.

In one shop, there were two men holding a blue sundress that caught my eye. They looked like they were trying to determine if it would fit someone who wasn’t with them. I sort of stayed in the area in case they didn’t buy it, but unfortunately they did. So we walked all around the market to see if there was another one like it, but no. So I went back to the shop and bought the red and blue one!

After the trip to the market, we returned to the ship just as the crew drill was going on. This was the life raft drill and I watched from the deck during my walk. Yes, my ankle is healed enough for me to do my walks again. Good news.

After my walk and lunch, I spent the afternoon in the spa area, resting, reading, in the steam room and the mineral hot tub. Here is a view of the fort and the beach area that I took from the spa deck. Then we had dinner with friends Bill and Bob. A good day all around!

The last port in Brazil is Fortaleza which we visited on our Amazon River trip. It will be day 57, almost 1/3 of our around the world trip. Lots of adventures to come!