Rio Grande do Norte

Natal, meaning Nativity, was founded on December 25, 1599 and is known as the city of sun and the city of dunes.

Because of its proximity (the most northeastern part of Brazil) to Africa the US Air Force base was built during World War II. We drove through an area with a large Brazilian military presence and stopped at the museum that had various rockets and fighter planes outside which were an unexpected site in the middle of what seemed like nowhere.

We continue to ask our guides about the cost of living and prices for rentals and home ownership. Their rents are generally $40-$100 per month and prices to purchase run from $100,000 - $2,000,000. $100,000 will get you a small place away from the water and $2,000,000 will get you a very large and spacious place (an entire floor of a building) on the water. Keep in mind that the average wage is $100 per month. I’m sure $2,000,000 must seem like a billion or more dollars to us.

Brazilians move here from the “south” as they prefer the temperate climate. It’s known as the sun city as it is 6 degrees south of the equator. Natal has approximately 1.5 million people in the city and surrounding area.

Natal was a host city of the 2014 World Cup with 8 matches being played here including the US Soccer team (we passed the stadium).

The sand dunes were impressive and are part of a state park making it the second largest state parks in Brazil. There are dune buggy tours that are offered. Something to consider if we should return.

Ponta Negra was a lovely beach and very picturesque with the sand dunes nearby. There are lots of lovely condos on the beach, modern restaurants and bars, a modern lighthouse at the end of the beach and a beach called “Miami Beach” which was a favorite of US Servicemen.

Of course we saw churches, a theater, beautiful beaches, and lots of impressive murals along the city sightseeing.

But MY favorite highlight (and I could have made an entire Footprint on it) was the WORLD’S LARGEST CASHEW TREE! Guinness Book of Records certified this now ~130 year old tree in 1994 and one of the many striking things is that it grows “out” versus “up”. There are raised wooden walkways that lead you through a “forest” to the center trunk which is actually very simple. We also climbed a staircase to an overlook high above the tree to get a birds eye view. It’s hard to believe that you are looking at s SINGLE tree! This tree is 70 times the size of an average tree. I was amazed and couldn’t get enough of this interesting phenomena. And while a fan of nuts, cashews are my least favorite (Bruce’s fav). I might just have to rethink them now! BTW, cashew nuts are hard to “make”, with each fruit producing ONE nut that subsequently has to go thru many processes to make it edible …one nut.

We also heard about the Graviola fruit, also known as soursop or Brazilian paw paw, a small evergreen tree. It contains compounds with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that seem to help manage blood sugar, blood pressure, and has even been used in cancer treatments.

We concluded the tour by nearing the Newton Navarro bridge (over 10 years to build) which is one of the highest bridges in Brazil. The ship passed under it in the morning to dock but we didn’t see it. We didn’t cross over the bridge, but it towers over the city. We ended up doing a quick stop at the beach and could see the fort, Forte dos Reis Magos, just beyond it. We would later have a much closer view when we left Natal as we sailed onto Fortaleza. There is a separate post on our memorable sail away and all the above can be seen from the ship as we left.Read more