Praia dos Alemães

Inspired by yesterday's morning light and the sight of the four mile long beach yesterday on our boat tour, we decided to see how long our beach was. Up until today we had not ventured past the pier, a popular lookout and fishing spot. From that vantage point one might assume that the beach extended an equal distance to the east. It turns out to be about twice the length and likely about 2-3 km long in all.

The setting is quite wonderful; a wide, beautiful sandy beach bracketed by large outcrops of very ragged rocks to form a point. The one on the west is large enough to support some building on it, while the one on the east is less substantial in its natural state, supplemented by a two metre thick wall and large boulders encasing it on both sides. The wall connects two large natural rocky structures and is further extended by more boulders to shape the point. The pictures likely show it better than I can explain it.

The natural rock is a curious combination of, what seems to my untrained eye, part lava, limestone and sandstone with embedded shells (see photos). It is very rough and coarse but erodes about the rate of limestone, I would estimate. Of course here rocks are not subject to the freeze/thaw cycles we "enjoy" in Manitoba.

Signs are posted warning of the danger of falling rocks. A few of the outcrops are netted, but at the western end of the beach the rock has been plastered with, what seems to be a concrete mortar or parging mix to contain any loose material and to protect the natural rock from erosion.Read more