Fernando de Noronha - The Best Day of My Life?

Our first full day in Fernando de Noronha was, quite simply, perfect from start to finish.  So much happened and all of it was so amazing I have started calling it the best day of my life. 

We had hoped to take a boat tour in the morning to see the dolphins and do some snorkling and to get a better idea of the terrain of the island.  The tours were full so instead of taking a boat to to the bay, we rented a dune buggy, and hiked our way in.  There is a 2 mile trail from one of the entrances to the national park here and we hiked down it, through the tropical forest, and to the overlook down to the Baia do Golfinhos (Bay of Dolphins).  

Baia do Golfinhos

 Each morning a pod of spinner dolphins visits this bay.  The biologists who are stationed at the overlook to observe the dolphins on a daily basis said that it had been a light morning, and only 450 had come.  But the pod has about 1000 members.  The overlook was peaceful and beautiful.  The ocean breeze blew onto the water and you could see the patterns of the wind and the current mix together.  The 150ft cliffs there are home to a colony of various sea birds.  We took in the scenery and then continue to hike along the edge of the cliffs, rewarded with gorgeous views and crystalline waters at every vantage point.  After a short while we got to Baia do Sancho, the beach we were going to swim and snorkle in.  But we were on top of a cliff... how would we get down to the soft powdery sand and inviting water? Answer: A series of ladders and steep stairways carved into the rock leading straight down to the beach.  No wonder it was mostly deserted and people prefer to take the boat tour there.

Ladders to get down the cliff to the beach, carved into rock.  

Baia do Sancho

We got down the side of the cliff and to one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever been to in my life.  And I have been to some beaches, let me tell you.  I basically threw my stuff to the ground and flat out ran to the water. I dove in and reveled in the perfect temperature and my incredibly buoyancy thanks to the high salt content.  I went back to my stuff, got my mask and snorkle and spent the next hour diving into rock formations and paddling around the bay, marveling at the colorful tropical fish that would swim right up to me, totally nonplussed.  I could have stayed there forever.  

I did get out of the water to hand off the mask and snorkle to Benji, but shortly after I did, he yelled, "KARLA, TURTLE!" and I sprinted down the beach towards the water once again.  I had made it very clear that one of my wildlife goals for this trip was to see a turtle.  The turtle was just minding his business, swimming around the bay.  I must have chased him around for at least 20 minutes.

Me with my new turtle friend!  

It was so fun swimming next to him and following him, watching him surface and dive, and how he could ride the current with his fins.  It was incredible.  He came right up to us.  The turtle, being amphibious, has me beat on swimming endurance so I had to stop chasing him after a while and just enjoy the ocean again.  The visibility in the water was incredible.  You could see forever.  And we took a lot of silly underwater pictures.

Baia dos Porcos 

Not wanting to miss the Brazil match (especially while in Brazil!) we made our way back from Baia do Sancho.  The trail we were hiking did take us to another overlook of Baia do Porcos which was absolutely gorgeous. There were natural tidepools and beautiful black volcanic rock everywhere.  I was on such a beach high.  I had never seen water this clear naturally or had such a good turtle sighting.  I did get very close to giant sea turtles in Barbados but this one seemed better because we got to swim together and he wasn't lured there as a tourist attraction.  Our crossing paths was much more organic.  

So my friends dropped me off at our pousada so I could try and find my dive card and logbook for the dives the next morning.  I had a crew of people looking for them for me at my apartment in VA and they were going to scan and send them if they ever found them.  They didn't but I called another dive shop I had been on a dive with and had them fax the dive shop here that I had been on a dive and done a course with them.  I left the apartment to get down to the game in time for the second half and just prayed that it would work out.  

Bar do Meio

I walk down the hill towards the shore and finally arrive at this awesome beach shack where no one even noticed that I walked in because they were all glued to the TV.  As I walked down there was no one on the streets, no one on the road, all I could hear in every house I passed was the game being broadcast and the cries of joy or pain in unison all through the 1.5 mile walk to the beach from my pousada.  Nate did look up just long enough see me coming down the hill to the bar, waved me over and told me what the situation was.  In the time since I left the pousada and the TV in my room, the second half had ended and it went into overtime.  Many of the fans at the bar were Brasilieros and so came with all the passion they could muster.

I can't adequately convey what it was like to watch the Brazil match, that came down to PKs, with Brazilians, in Brazil, on a gorgeous beach as the sun set.  After Brazil took home the W, the bar went berserk.  I must have high-fived every person in there.  And within about 5 minutes of the win, the DJ had set up his turntables and speakers and started spinning Samba and other dance hits.  Everyone started dancing.  

I truly understood dancing for the first time there on that beach.  Everyone was joyful, a win for the country, united in celebratory purpose, there were no divisions between us. It didn't matter that I wasn't Brasiliera by birth, I was for that evening.  As the beautiful rhythms of samba and calypso mixed with top-40 hits from the US, I couldn't stop myself from moving.  I felt so much a part of what was going on and so much in community with those around me.  I discovered something surprising: Shakira was right! My hips don't lie!  Dancing was born out of this kind of joy.  Someone somewhere, in an ancient time and place, felt so peaceful and joyful and safe and exuberant that they just had to move.  They celebrated with their bodies and it was a natural response to joy.  Friends, it was absolute magic.

Sunset at Baia do Meio - the view behind me when I turned around from watching the Brazil game

Post-win celebratory dancing at Bar do Meio

After dancing until it was dark out, I walked up to the dive shop to find out if my sort-of verification from a dive shop in Key West would allow me to dive in Brazil the next morning.  Turns out, it WOULD! Praise the Lord.  My friends picked me up in the buggy on the way back up to the Pousada and we all got ready for dinner that night.  Now, if my day had ended here, it probably would have been up there among the best days of my life I can remember.  

But it didn't.  

So we all got cleaned up and ready for dinner at Ze Maria where I had heard we would have live music and the best food the island has to offer. We get there and it's a lovely place, also a Pousada but definitely on the high-end side with little bungalows and a private pool and beach.  The restaurant was gorgeous.  The spread was unparalleled.  I ate some of the best tuna sashimi I ever had, save for the ahi tuna poke Brian and Gill Burgess made for me when I visited them in Hawaii.  Clearly the tuna had been caught and cut up that day and it was delicious and flavorful and everything else on the table was great as well.  It was a feast for the ages. To be able to share it with such good friends and to have so much fun doing it was truly special.  Benji, Nate and RJ would probably say that the part they didn't like about the meal was that there was a very lengthy explanation in portuguese about each dish at the beginning and there was an MC of the evening who sort of introduced everyone involved in the meal and himself and his family's restaurant.  Even though I couldn't understand very much, I thought it was a nice chance for the chefs to be able to explain their hard work and be publicly lauded for it. And then something amazing happened.  

Our waiter, who spoke English, came back to our table and asked us if anyone wanted to sing karaoke. And if they did, we had a chance to win a free night in the hotel.  Since I was having the best day of my life, I immediately volunteered because I knew it would only get better if I sang poorly in front of strangers.  After I put my name in for karaoke, I was called up almost immediately afterwards and the MC couldn't pronounce my name.  After going back and forth with the guy who was playing the guitar and singing along with everyone a few times, we finally found one we both knew, The Beatles (of course) "I Wanna Hold Your Hand".  I curtsied to begin my ballad and then let fly with every hambone performing move I could think of.  Thank goodness the mic was cordless.  I walked through the entire restaurant holding it out to different people, pointing at them, putting my arm around them, getting people to finish the lines for me.  They didn't know what hit them.  Oh, you don't believe me?  Good thing Nate had his phone:

After that, I tried to sit down, and was refused.  The guy on the guitar asked if I knew any Red Hot Chili Peppers, I asked if he knew Bon Jovi, he asked if I knew Bruce Springsteen, YES. But that's not what we landed on.  Benji, masterful as he is with winning a crowd, came up with "You've Lost that Lovin' Feeling" by the Righteous Brothers.  If there was anyone in that room who didn't love us before, we got them with that.  Benji and RJ sang back up and the low"do, do-doo, do-doo, do-doo-doo" part and everyone in the place went nuts.  We were cheered as we closed our (terrible) rendition and enjoyed the rest of our meal being minor celebrities in a restaurant on a tiny island off the coast of Brazil.  World Cup travel find finds fame for me.  I was interviewed on South African radio in Kruger National Park 4 years ago. 

After Karaoke was over, it went to all Brazil pop classics in Portuguese, I think.  But that didn't stop them from inviting us to come and dance with them.  It also didn't stop them from coming and strapping a huge drum on Benji without asking him if he wanted it, or giving me a marimba to play.  We closed the bar and were the last people to leave.  As we did leave, all the waiters in the restaurant were talking to Benji in broken English "Hey nice-a drum!" "Hey, face, ZZ TOP!" "Hey, sing no good, fun!" 

Benji killin' it on the drum at Ze Maria. 

Yes, fun.  That is what we had.  That is what we were.  I couldn't bear for the best day of my life to be over yet so we sat on the terrace of the restaurant where they had hammocks and a swing for a while and I stared up at the bajillions of stars you can see in a place so remote as this.  

All I could think was: God, you are so so good. I know you love me even more than this but you chose to bless me with today in all these and other ways that I don't even know about, because you are who you say you are.  Thank you for my life. Thank you thank you thank you.

Baia do Sancho from the trail