Fernando de Noronha, Brazil

December 16, 2012 – December 20, 2012

We anchored in Fernando on the morning of December 16^th. The water was bright blue, the sun shone in the sky and the island was beautiful. Unfortunately, all we could do was look at it for two days as we had classes. We had a swim call our first night there; that’s a great thing about being at anchor rather than being docked in port! We watched the sun set from the water; it was amazing!

The next two mornings began with a 7am swim call! Every day, hundreds, even thousands of spinner dolphins circle the island so we could see them, as well as some sea turtles, from the deck, and when you swim with your head under water you can hear them, not too far away, squeaking to each other!

On the 18^th we had a full day of shore leave, but since we were at anchor we had to take the tenders, the small boats we have on board, into port. My group managed to sign up for the first tender so we were the first to leave. We had to climb down a ladder over the side of the ship and into the little boat. After our first Atlantic crossing we were finally heading towards land! The little boat motored through the waves, saltwater spraying in our faces. We could see dolphins jumping and spinning in the air ahead of us, and behind us, the Sørlandet rocking gently, standing proud and majestic.

We reached shore and hitchhiked into town; the island is very small and safe, with really only one main road. My group went for lunch – Brazilian barbeque and fresh kiwi juice – at a restaurant with an amazing view looking out over a beach.

After lunch we went scuba diving! We did two dives and saw an octopus, lobster, an eel, rays, and an absolutely massive grouper; the fish was the size of a small person! It was really cool and we all had a lot of fun! After a couple great dives we got ice cream before hitchhiking back to the marina on the back of a dune buggy!

Once we got back to the ship on the last tender, my friend and I got permission from the Captain to go aloft. The highest I had ever gone was the t’gallant, the second yard from the top, and though I wanted to go to the royal, which is the highest yard, I’m a little scared of heights so I didn’t want to go up when the ship was rocking. I decided that since we were at anchor, it was the perfect time to make my long anticipated climb to the top. We went up together to the royal yard on the fore mast where we watched the sun set. It was amazing! The ladder gets a little narrow and shaky when you get up that high, but finally reaching the yard was an incredible feeling! It was a fantastic to end to what was possible the best shore leave day I have had!

The Sorlandet

The view where we ate lunch

Scuba Diving!

Dune Buggy!

The next day was another wonderful shore leave day. The morning started off with a swim call once again. Less and less people have been showing up for the swim calls, choosing to sleep instead, and there were hardly any people at this one; it’s fun being in a big group, but this swim was really nice and quiet, and possibly the best one we had in Fernando! After breakfast, followed by colours and cleaning stations we loaded up the tenders and left on shore leave. My group took a taxi (almost all the taxis in Fernando are dune buggies!) to an info centre, riding on the back of the buggy with the blowing our hair; it was so much fun! Once at the centre we walked along a boardwalk through the trees until we reached Baia dos Golfinos , also known as dolphin bay. It is from there that you can see lots of dolphins in the morning, but since we were there later in the day it was just a nice lookout point. We had a picnic lunch there, then followed a trail along the top of the cliffs to Baia do Sancho . Fernando is known for having some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and Baia do Sancho is apparently one of the best. When we got there a tunnel led down through the cliff with a ladder reaching into the shadows. We had to climb down the ladder to reach the beach, and emerged at the top of steep stairs carved into the rock. We hurried down the steps towards the beach and ran out onto the sand. The cliff reached above us covered in vines and greenery that made it look like a scene from Jurassic Park! The waves crashed onto the beach and the rocks that bordered the cove, and we went swimming, getting thrown around a bit by the water. The beach was fantastic! Hours later we climbed back up the ladder and followed the trail to the information centre where we caught a dune buggy taxi back to the marina. We boarded the tenders for the last time in Fernando, motoring away from shore and towards the ship, our home. Once on the ship I made my second trip up to the royal, this time on the main mast, which is slightly higher than the fore royal. I was up on the highest yard of the ship, watching the sun set for the last time over the beautiful, amazing island of Fernando. 

Baia do Sancho

Our home :)