I rolled into Fortaleza on Saturday morning and checked into an online booked beachfront hotel for the weekend. When I hit the beach I was bummed to see they were nearly vacant. It turns out there's a north-south oriented beach crosstown everybody uses in the mornings and afternoons (better waves and beach services) - but in the late afternoon and into the evening the beach in front of my hotel is the place to be. Snack vendors, guys with ice chests strapped to bikes selling single beers, families, teenagers, everyone comes out and weaves around one another on bikes, blades, skateboards and rented station wagon bikes, all at speed among the pedestrians on about a mile and a half of boardwalk - and it works marvelously..
This morning I was at the happening day beach, nice but way too many people missed the memo about old people wearing speedos and thongs - Brazilian beaches have always been home to curvaceous women who push boundaries and today was no different, except more than a few don't seem to realize that when your percent body fay exceeds your age, and you're wearing a thong, civilizations begin to break down. I'll include a foto of a minor violation - there were several that would likely violate Google's terms of use agreement.
This evening they were playing beach futbol under the lights and setting up beach volleyball (it's just too hot during the day).
Brazil has traffic cams EVERYWHERE - I've seen at least 25 a day and probably set off 20 or so. Some creative use of nail polish remover and strategically sprayed WD-40 will hopefully alleviate any potential problems. Send me a note if you can read the plate.
I'm continuing South tomorrow, no definitive destination.
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| Beach futbol. |
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| Fortaleza at dusk. |
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| Tasty Street food. Right out of boiling water, just add cheap salty margarine. |
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| Wide sand beaches. |
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| Wide beachgoer. |
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| Plate number, please. |
