Brasil: Day 1

My trip had really begun the day before, thus I should say this is “Day 2″, but nothing too exciting had happened as I had been traveling for almost 24 hours to arrive at my ultimate destination of Porto de Galinhas.  Porto, as it is affectionately called by the locals, is a sea-side village about a 1 hour car-ride away from Recife.  Recife is a much larger city and it definitely deserves to be visited, however my time was limited and I opted to skip it and spend my time in Porto, which is known for its awesome scuba diving sites.  I had to wake up quite early on this morning, since my 1st dive was scheduled for 7AM.  Normally, I am not a morning person, but the excitement from traveling erases all sense of time for me.  Plus, I had this view to greet me as I walked to breakfast…

As I ate my 1st delicious breakfast in Brasil, which consisted of tropical fruit and Brasilian coffee, I wondered why more people do not travel?  I understand that there are things that get in the way at times, ie. finances, work, and family to name a few, but I firmly believe that if you make it a necessity, rather than view it as a luxury, then it becomes possible.  Life is magical when you travel.  Every day you wake up not knowing what adventure you will face or what person will cross your path.  The possibilities are endless!  Why people would not want to experience this from time to time, to break from their daily routines and live a life less ordinary, is something I will never understand.  Nonetheless, I feel blessed to have discovered traveling and I will definitely continue to make it an integral part of my life, a necessity, as previously stated.

Porto de Galinhas means “Chicken Port” in Portuguese.  According to my Lonely Planet guide it received this name because, “The original name was Porto Rico, but after the slave market was prohibited, slaves had to be brought secretly to Brazil.  In this port the buyers and sellers started a code; when there were ships with slaves in the docks they would say “There is new chicken in the port”, and that is why it was renamed to Porto de Galinhas.  I hate that the name is based in racism, but I cannot change history.

The dive center that I used was called Porto Point and was located in the center of town, directly across from the beach.  None of the people in the center spoke 1 word of English, despite me being told otherwise.  At 1st I was a little alarmed and then I decided to just go with it.  I have dived about 30+ times and figured by now I know what I am doing.  I followed my dive guide to the beach and then proceeded to get on the most interesting “boat” I have ever ridden on before!

Once we began the dive I found it quite humorous that while my guide and I did not speak the same language and could not communicate on land, under the water we did speak the same language of scuba dive hand signals and had no problem communicating now!  I descended about 20 meters on my 1st dive and 15 meters on my 2nd dive.  The most exciting spotting was of some sea horses (a 1st for me).  Having dived in the South Pacific, Caribbean, and the Australian and Belizian Great Barrier Reefs I consider myself a bit of dive snob now.  So, it takes a lot for me to be impressed.  At least, I get to say that I dived in Brasil now though!  In addition, it was nice to have my guide to myself (also a 1st).

After my dives, I returned to my hotel for some much needed sunbathing and caipirinhas.  If you have never had a caipirinha, then get yourself to your local watering-hole pronto!  This drink is simply mouthwatering, though I am certain it would not be as tasty if you were drinking it in Brasil.

After I hydrated myself sufficiently I took a walk along the beach and thought about what New Year’s resolutions I would make for myself this coming year.

I could have stayed at the beach all day, but I was eager to go back into town to do some shopping.  Heads up ladies, Porto has some adorable boutiques!  I bought some sundresses and a beach cover-up that I fell hard for.  I was quite excited to wear it the next day!

I wish that I could say that I celebrated my 1st night in Brasil in style, however I was exhausted and retired to bed early.  What a 1st day though in a country I was already enamored with!