November 9 - Recife and Olinda

This morning we were awakened at 6:30 AM by what sounded like a parade.  We went out on the balcony to see we were nearly docked in Recife and there was a small but enthusiastic band playing as three dancers performed.  The dancers were incredibly energetic; they danced for a good 30 minutes and after just a 5 minute break they started up again.

Welcoming dancers on the dock

Recife is the 5^th largest metropolitan area in Brazil with more than 3.7 million inhabitants.  It’s the capital of the northern state of Pernambuco. It’s located where two rivers flow into the Atlantic Ocean.  The name is a reference to the coral reefs which lie just offshore.  The city is built on a number of islands and with over 50 bridges in the city center people refer to it as the Brazilian Venice.  Recife was one of the first cities in Brazil to be settled by the Portuguese in 1537.  Land grants were given to noblemen who sought to make a fortune planting sugar cane.  Many of the settlements failed but Recife didn’t.  The Portuguese found the natives to be uncooperative (why would they be when they were being basically enslaved?) about working on the plantations so slaves from Africa were imported.  Today the economy in this part of Brazil is still primarily agricultural as opposed to industrial like the southern part of the country.

We took a tour that drove us first to the premier beach in Recife.  It is a gorgeous beach protected by a coral reef.  Along the shoreline there is a really eclectic mixture of buildings and neighborhoods.  There are beautiful high-rise apartment buildings. Just back from them are some  really awful looking favelas, or slums.  Our guide Gina told us that the government is trying to clean up the favelas and build new housing for the lower classes.  She told us that what we were seeing was greatly improved over just a few years ago.

Modern Recife along the beach

Next we drove to the town of Olinda, a UNESCO world heritage site.  Olinda is the best preserved colonial city in northern Brazil.  It was built on seven hills just like Lisbon.  The founder decided to build there in 1535 to afford some protection from attacking pirates, corsairs or marauding fleets from other countries.  During a period of Portuguese weakness in the first part of the 17^th century, Olinda was occupied by the Dutch. After Portugal regained its power in the second half of the century, the colony returned to Portuguese control. 

The town has undergone some fires, but restorations have been done to many buildings and the area is full of cobblestone streets lined with  colonial style buildings with lots of wrought iron balconies, brightly colored paint jobs and intricate tile work.  We visited a monastery, another church and a convent dedicated to Saint Anne.  The views from each of those places was breathtaking.  Since Olinda is perched on hills , from the terraces of the churches we could see the beautiful beach of Recife in the distance and the marvelous colors of the ocean.  It’s springtime here and there were lots of things blooming.  I have to say too that since we’re very close to the Equator, it is also incredibly hot and humid!  I suppose you get used to it, but I was drained when we got back to the ship. The humidity also causes a lot of mildew. Many of the buildings, even new ones are stained with it.

Monastery of Sao Bento

Us on the balcony of one of the churches 

Some of the colorful colonial buildings. You can see streaks of mildew down the sides of a few.

A baobob tree estimated to be more than 250 years old in one of the main squares

Our final stop of the day was the old prison in Recife.  It has been turned into a cultural center for handcrafts of local products.  Each of the former cells now holds a little shop selling various things made around here.

We were back to the ship in time for lunch.  This afternoon we just lazed around until 4:30.  At that time the ship had arranged for a local group of dancers to come aboard and perform around the pool.  We weren’t going to go at first, but I’m very glad we did.  They were absolutely fantastic!  The musicians were a father (80 years old) and his two sons.  The troupe of dancers were ten young people who were some of the most athletic and flexible men and women I’ve ever seen.  While I haven’t been to Carnivale, the costumes reminded me of ones I’ve seen in photos.  They performed for more than an hour and even got a few of our shipmates involved.  It was good fun.

The local dance troupe.  They were great!

Some of our new found friends dancing with the troupe.  The lady in the white shirt is our lovely teammate Anne.

We were due to sail from Recife around 5:30, but the show lasted longer than expected. From our balcony we watched them disembark.  We thought we’d pull up the gangway then and we’d be off.  Instead the Captain made an announcement that “our papers were not in order” and we’d be delayed.  Funny, our papers were in order to arrive.  Anyway, after half an hour or so there was a flurry of activity at the gangway and two young women came off with their luggage.  Several staff members in uniform came off as well.  There were hugs and kisses.  After they departed, about 15 Brazilians got off, some carrying shopping bags.  Then finally, the gangway was lifted and the ship left.  We heard later that two South African female crew members had something not in order with their documents, so they had to leave the ship.  They will fly to Miami and then to Montevideo to reboard there.  The Brazilians apparently have rules different from everybody else.

After dinner we went to one of Seabourn’s signature events, Rock the Boat.  They have the band and singers at the main pool and have a dance party.  It was  absolutely so much fun!  We don’t dance much (Al less than me), but we danced most of the time.  We got up and rocked to everything from Elvis and the Rolling Stones to Lady Gaga.  We were part of a Conga Line and ended the dancing with “We are family.”  We loved it and wished they had done this on an earlier sea day.  People seemed to lighten up a lot and have a really good time.

Well, then it was time to go to bed and rest up for tomorrow.  This cruising is really hard work!