Amazon River and Macapá, Brazil, 10/4/2023, National Geographic Explorer
Aboard the
National Geographic Explorer
South American East Coast
After a wonderful journey through four countries – Trinidad, English Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana – we have arrived at Brazil, our fifth and by far the largest country of our travels. We’ve gone from English to French and now to Portuguese, and we’ll be spending the rest of our adventure exploring the coast of this diverse mega-country. We started our day by visiting the magnificent Amazon River, the biggest in the world. Indeed, this is an area of superlatives!
This afternoon, we had great fun exploring Rio Prieto, one of many tributaries of the Amazon River, on our Zodiacs.
Nicknamed “Indio” (Indian) because of his powers of observation and quiet nature, José has almost two decades of experience working as a naturalist and photography guide; as well as being recognized as an expert birder and nature photographer in Cost...
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Another sunrise greeted National Geographic Explorer on our final day at sea. Our day started with a presentation by National Geographic photographer Kiké Calvo. He painted the picture of his life as a photographer and how he created a career for himself by telling people’s stories through photography. Meanwhile, the dive team frantically edited their dive video for a showing of their Recifé dive adventure. They showed footage of beautiful tropical reef dives and described the rough seas they battled to get there. Emmett Clarkin discussed his amazing career as a diver for Lindblad Expeditions. We spent the afternoon assessing and editing photos with our on-board photographers, packing our bags, and enjoyed the annular sunset solar eclipse, complete with beers, a barbecue, and amazing vibes. We enjoyed our last moments by watching the sunset as we cruised closer and closer to Salvador. We then were joined by the captain for the farewell party and slideshow of all the best photos of the trip. We finished off the evening with a final dinner with the expedition team.
Recife is the capital city of the Brazilian state of Pernambuco and is the fourth largest city in the country. While Rio, Salvador, and São Paulo are well-visited, travelers lucky enough to spend time in Recife and the nearby city of Olinda agree that the area is brimming with vibrant culture, historical architecture, picturesque beaches, and unique music and dance expressions. Our visit began in Olinda, one of the best-preserved colonial cities in Brazil and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. With its hilly cobblestone streets, colorful Portuguese-style buildings, majestic churches and convents, and striking views, Olinda is a bucket list destination for any traveler. After exploring the beautifully preserved San Francisco Convent, we visited Palácio dos Bonecos, a workshop and museum dedicated to the giant puppets that are a fixture in Olinda’s annual carnival parades. Colorfully dressed dancers holding small parasols demonstrated the acrobatic steps that accompany the frenetic frevo brass bands that play for hours on end during the festivities while a giant Bob Marley puppet twirled along. After a refreshing coconut water, we visited several impressive churches and had an opportunity to do a little shopping at Olinda’s many arts and crafts stands. From there, we drove to the Ricardo Brennan Institute, a museum and park that are home to a mind-boggling range of items, ranging from one of the world’s largest collections of swords, knives, and other armaments, to sculptures, paintings, and books, not to mention teacups, watches, and furniture. Once one of Brazil’s richest businessmen (he passed away in 2020 at the age of 92), Brennan was a consummate collector, and this sprawling labor of love is widely considered one of the best museums in South America. The collection can be a bit quirky, and it is certainly intriguing and unquestionably worth the visit.
The staff anticipated cetacean sightings during our navigation today. In preparation, naturalist Alice gave a lecture on spotting cetaceans. Sure enough, as soon as she finished, we had some sightings. In the distance, it was possible to see a couple spouts. The real show started when Atlantic spotted dolphins started bow-riding, followed by a bottlenose dolphin that stopped to say hello to us. We enjoyed a series of lectures about cetaceans, endemic fruit, and foods from the Amazon. Our very own captain lectured us about National Geographic Explorer and many of its secrets. As always, dinner with our happy and smiling crew was a delightful experience.
