Now THAT’S more like it! The beaches of Buzios…

 When we cancelled most all of Alicia’s excursions due to physical restraints (no, she wasn’t in handcuffs, but was having trouble handling stairs) we left two (the final two) on the docket. Tomorrow morning we will be at the pier in Rio and taking an early tour of a town of over 7 million people. The other excursion, was today’s, “The Beaches of Buzios,” a 2-hour trolley tour of the numerous beaches (there are 26 of them in this area) and sights of this town of about 35,000 people situated on a hilly peninsula about 100 miles east of Rio de Janeiro.

Although the town was first inhabited by accident (a ship wrecked on the rocks near the shore) it became a “Thing” when Bridget Bardot vacationed here back in the 1960s. She caused quite a stir locally when she was photographed while sunbathing topless at one of the beaches. There is a street named Bardot, and a few businesses bare her name also (spelling intended, Susan), and a statue sits next to the road above one beach. The statue depicts her wearing a bikini top so as not to be controversial at a beach where women of all sizes, shapes, and ages wear their thong with pride.

The first item on the agenda today (after a latish breakfast) was to get Alicia down the gangway and onto the tender. I took her to the top of the stairs to see for herself what was needed to navigate the stairs and the moving step from ship’s platform to moving-target step as the boat would rise and fall in a somewhat irregular manner with the waves in the bay. Once she knew first hand the task she faced, we returned to the stateroom to prepare for her first journey onto dry land in over a week.

When we returned an hour or so later, my dear wife took the big step onto a moving target (with the aide of two young men that were there to assist her.) She then turned right, grabbed the hand-railing and descended two more, much steeper, steps into the seating area. Yeah Alicia! I’m proud of you!

Reversing course after a brief ride to the pier, she once again was standing on terra firma. We walked to the beginning of the pier and found no one from Oceania to tell us where to muster in. Oh well, it was still an hour before we were to meet them.

We walked along Main St, past shops and bars. Eventually we crossed the street and sauntered back to where we had started. I found a seat in the shade for Alicia who, by this time, had discovered that her knee was not going to be able to do any climbing, and was therefore not sure how much walking would be possible.

I left her sitting on Main Street., at the corner of Main and Pier, and walked the length of the pier to see if details could be found regarding the level of physical exertion that would be required on this jaunt. If it was to be even one iota above the “minimum” mark on the exertion scale then Alicia would bail out and return to the ship. What I was told was that walking would be limited to two blocks from pier to town square to catch the trolley, then, after the tour, two blocks back to the pier. All other walking would be optional as the few stops that we were to make were photo ops. After revealing the details to my wife she agreed that she could do that.

The tour itself was perhaps, with the one exception of our private tour in Montevideo, the best excursion of the entire trip. 

The “Trolley” ended up being every bit as much a trolley as the schooners were a schooner, but let’s not get hung up on details. The tour guide was very knowledgeable (being a local), and personable. She stated several times that we were not going to be seeing churches and museums, but would instead stick to nature.

This is actually three statues depicting fisherman pulling their nets in.

Although there are some private estates, most structures are small hotels or other types of rentals.

One of many trails that lead from houses at the top of the hills down, down, down to a beach.

Each beach was beautiful in its own way and carried a name, known only to locals in most cases.

This island had a great story to go along with it. I will let you know if I ever recall the story.

This is really what I had envisioned most of the excursions would look like.

A wonderful view of the town and its surroundings.

Our ship sitting in the harbor.

We drove from the harbor to the hilltops in a diesel driven trolley that struggled up most of the hills in first gear.

This was one of only a few stops we made. Families gathered under umbrellas on the red sand.

Looking south across the red sand on the beach, we could see groups gathered under the trees along the shore.

Walking out onto the layered rock formation at ocean’s edge.

The rocks were layered along ledges at the waters edge. It was a hot today, with signs indicating the temperature was 35 degrees C (95 F)

These two pictures don’t really show it well, but the rocks had, imbedded in them, many shiny flecks of some sort, giving the appearance of glitter sprinkled across the rocks.

I loved the layers of rock exhibited here. And along the edge where it had been exposed to the sea, the rock was eroded in shallow cavities. Your imagination may reveal portraits of people who had made their living from the sea.

Where rock met the sand the contrasting colors made for a patchwork of designs.

Can anyone tell me what kind of tree this is? The branches were fascinating to observe.

Another bend in the road, another beautiful bay!

Our tour guide said that the area got very little rain each year, making cacti a common plant to find along the edge of the road.

There is, what could only be described as, an amusement park here that is only open on weekends and some holidays, featuring playgrounds, games, and a GoKart track.

Someone had built this sand castle next to the pier, then erected a wooden donation box in front of it.

When we returned to the ship we had about three hours to recover from the heat, bathe, and change to our more formal attire for our last “reservation needed” meal, this one at a “French” restaurant. It was clearly the most forgettable meal of our cruise. But the two couples we met at dinner made it most unforgettable.

Tomorrow morning, very bright and very early, we will tie up to the pier at Rio. We have a lot to do tomorrow in preparation for disembarkment by 8 am on Saturday.