Wayne worked at the Drew Quality Group table at Worcester Pride in the morning then rushed to help Keith lock up the house and grab our ride to Logan International. We started our trip from Boston to Atlanta then to São Paulo arriving in Brazil on 13.09.2015 in the morning. Our ride to Santos was waiting for us as we had a 2 hour drive south to the Mercure Santos Hotel, home base for 2 weeks.
Our first day in Brazil, it poured rain but did not soak our spirits of looking forward to seeing this massive country. Keith worked daily, catching a bus with his team to Cubatão. Cubatão is a city in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, 12 kilometers away from Santos seaport, the largest in Latin America. Wayne walked the beaches starting at Canal 3, location of the hotel and investigating the beaches and garden park.
Spring rain heading to Santos from the São Paulo airport, it poured in sheets
Our first view of the beaches from our room on the 18th floor
Walking the beach was relaxing and fun, there were always people walking, running, playing in the waves, surfing or just enjoying their families in the mornings and afternoons. Exploring the area was fun. You cannot mention the beach without the Guinness World record for the longest beach garden in the World. The garden is 5.3 km (3.3 miles) long with a total area of 218,800 m2 (2,355,143 ft2) making it the largest beach garden in the world. Walking from Santos, Gonzaga beach to São Vicente and back is fantastic, water is clean, the beaches are large compared to any we have seen any where in the world.
São Vicente and Santos share the island of São Vicente the location of the first permanent Portuguese settlement in 1532.
Canal 3 runs parallel to our hotel and empties onto the beach
A view of the Santos skyline from the Mercure
Beach garden
Mercure Santos Hotel from the beach, gives you an idea how wide the beach is from high tide line on the beach
View of Canal 3 from beach garden to beach
Monument to Japanese Immigrants
Tomie Ohtake Sculpture Park celebrates 100 years of Japanese immigrants on a peninsula that juts out to Baia de Santos
Statue of a surfer at the beach front garden
Wayne's view many days while in Santos, walking from Canal 3 to São Vicente then to Canal 7 and back to Canal 3
São Vicente looking back towards Santos
Praça 21 Irmãos Amigos Plaza, Sao Vicente
Walking in the opposite direction of the beach past Canal 3 toward the Port of Santos has a different feel to it but the beach is just as nice and garden extends to a rocky wall.
People playing paddle ball on the beach in the morning. The beach dominates this vibrant coastal city and features 12 kms of a wide sandy strip that houses many cafes and all sorts of organised activities such as beach volleyball , beach soccer and even beach tennis. Apart from that you can also walk or jog along the beach
Looking from Gonzaga beach towards the opening to the Port
Fishing boats off the pier
Museu de Pesca (Fish Museum)
Fish market
Fish market is large and very clean
Fortaleza De Santo Amaro Da Barra Grande
Walking back to Gonzaga, Santos Beach looking back to where we were
Symbol of Santos found all over the City painted by different artists, this one is in the garden beach park
Wayne and Keith met a couchsurfer from Guarujá, Camilla Correia and a colleague of hers for dinner and tour of São Vicente. We had a really nice time with them at a Japanese sushi restaurant. She then took us up Ilha Porchat to Monumento Niemeyer overlooking the island.
São Vicente
Santos
Camilla's colleague, Camilla, Wayne and Keith
On Wednesday, 16 September, Wayne decided to walk to the historic district of Santos, know as Valongo from the Hotel. Map had it as a 4.6km walk up Canal 3. No problem with all the walking we do, except the temperature kept rising. Finally arrived near the area but the temperature was 40C (104F).
Parque Patriarca Jose Bonifacio
Catedral de Santos built 1907, Church of Our Lady of the Rosary
interior of this beautiful cathedral
Old trolley car still running in this area, part of UNESCO area
Walking back to Mercure along Canal 3 to beach
We went to Van Gogh for dinner with Keith's colleagues, Scott and Bill and then went to the weekly Couchsurfing event in Santos. Van Gogh has the most amazing pizza anywhere (sorry to say that considering we love Tony's Pizza in Sutton).
Wayne, Keith, Scott, Philippe, João, Monica and Bill
CS da Baixada Santista at Conversa Fiada Bar at R.Ceará, 68. Pompéia - canal 2
To end the week, Wayne continued daily routine of walking every morning while Keith was at work and coming back to the hotel to work in the afternoon. Each day the weather improved and more and more people were on the beach.
Clear view from the balcony of the room towards São Vicente
Looking at the Garden Park and Beach in Santos
Beautiful day for beach
Perfect waves and sun is shining on Gonzaga Beach
Parque Santo Antonio Do, St. Anthony Embare Basilica
Parque Santo Antonio Do, Basílica Menor de Santo Antônio do Embaré. In imposing neo-Gothic style, the church was inaugurated in 1945, was elevated by Pope Pius XII in 1952, the basilica category. It dates back to a small chapel built in 1875 by Antonio Ferreira da Silva Jr., the Viscount of Embaré, and wife, and was delivered in 1913 to the Franciscan friars, who initiated the new building in 1930.
Saints Peter and Paul are on either side of the entrance
Igreja de Santo Antônio
Incredible baroque style ceiling
Basílica Menor de Santo Antônio do Embaré
On Saturday, 19 September we walked to Mar Sub to book our scuba diving trip with them and verify the equipment. We would get two at Laje do Santos, a National Park area to preserve the sea life. We then went to lunch at Van Gogh with Scott Schultz.
To end our first full week in Brazil, we went left early for the boat in São Vicente. Marina Capri The boat, Cachalote was already being loaded when we got there. Our dive master, Celso came over and gave us our information in English and once everyone else was on board gave it in Portuguese. We had a good 21m dive that ended over the shipwreck and the second dive went in the opposite direction.
Dive boat, Cachalote
Laje do Santos
Laje do Santos
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