Itajai, Brazil

Hello, 

We got under weigh from Santos at about 6 p.m. and cruised out the harbor past Saõ Vicente. It is a stunningly beautiful setting, with high rise apartments strung all along the sunlit beach. 

Next stop Itajai!

We were looking forward to this stop. Not because of Itajai itself, but because it is the gateway to the city of Blumenau. 

The port of Itajai is pretty much just an industrial area. Not beautiful, not ugly. Just kind of blah. Maybe you could equate it to an industrial area along the Florida inland waterways. 

From Itajai you can either take a tour bus or a taxi up to Blumenau. It is about an hour's drive to get there. 

As we were trying to finish up some laundry, we missed the tour buses and had to settle for a taxi. 

Just to give you an idea of costs, the taxi ride up, plus waiting an hour for us while we explored Blumenau, was 410.00 Brazilian reals. That is roughly 100 US dollars. We thought that was quite reasonable compared to a taxi in the states. 

You of course take your life in your hands when driving in Brazil. They have one of the highest traffic fatality rates in the world. You see why when you ride with them. Traffic signs and road markings are really nothing more than a suggestion, and no one takes them seriously!

The drive to Blumenau was along  the scenic Itajai-Acu (I think) River. 

Along the way you pass farms and ranches. We couldn't help but notice how skinny the cows were, which seemed strange with the abundant and lush vegetation. It wasn't an isolated occasion. Is the vegetation lush but not nutritious? We didn't know. 

Well, Blumenau was a major disappointment. It was billed as being like a Bavarian village in Brazil. It wasn't. Yes, there were a few German style half timber buildings. These were apparently left over from the original settlers in the late 1800's. But now it is pretty much your typical South American town. Lots of car dealers. Lots of open front stores downtown. Lots of people out shopping. We did have a nice lunch at a local buffet (not German food, as we had hoped) that served a large variety of local beers. 

They say that Blumenau had one of, if not the best, Octoberfests in Brazil!

Another by the way - there are many Germans (and Italians). Not because of Nazis hiding there after World War II. No, these are people who began settling there in the early 1800's. 

Other than the minor disappointment of Blumenau not living up to the hype, it was a very pleasant trip. 

On a side note. We have never seen so many billboards advertising ladies lingerie as we did on the trip from Itajai to Blumenau.  Not kidding, there must have been at least 30 billboards. Not only that, there seemed to be about the same number of stores selling only ladies lingerie (and swim suits) along the way. Do women in South America change their undies a lot more than we do?  Now keep in mind, this was a somewhat rural drive between these two places, not in the downtown shopping district of a major city. Oh well. We just found it interesting. And no, we did not buy any!

Back on board, we waved goodbye to Itajai about 6PM and set sail (or at least advanced the throttles) for Uruguay!

We realize we took no pictures today!  Really, there wasn't anything to photograph. 

Good night everyone!  More tomorrow,

David and Karen