Porto Belo is located south of Rio de Janeiro on the Atlantic Ocean in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. It is known for its good beaches, emerald green waters, and diving. Argentineans, Brazilians, and Europeans come here during the summer for the beaches. The city of Itapema is on the other side of the bay and is a very "new" city since it was all built since 1984. It is an industrial city with lots of factories and manufacturing but also has a new skyline with some fairly tall buildings. Our tour, "Blumenau Heritage", left the pier in a brand new bus. We followed the coast north on highway BR101 which runs along the full coast line of Brazil. After about 40 minutes we turned west and followed a river for another 40 minutes to our destination, Blumenau. We wound our way through the coastal mountains along the river passing some sugar cane fields and several large pastures with cattle grazing. I saw a few cows lying in the shade along the road and a large bird flew up and landed on one of the cows heads. She did not seem to mind. The sugar cane is used to distill Cachaca, a Brazilian rum (80 proof alcohol). Cachaca is used to make ciapirinhas, the famous Brazilian drink. I love them! Anyway, we went through a couple of towns. One was a Danish community where they made women's lingerie. All the store fronts had only lingerie and many families had their own design and manufacturing there. Some nice looking things for sure!
Our first stop in Blumenau was at a beer museum. Couldn't come to a German community without having a beer museum! Next was a museum of the community's founder's family home. The Blumenau's house was not longer standing so replicas were built but the furniture inside was theirs. It was quite interesting I think you will find in the photos. After that we went to a local hotel for a buffet lunch that was suppose to be German food but ????. By now it was 1:30 and very hot when we finished our lunch. One more stop though at the Octoberfest Garden. Two weeks every year in October they have German bands come in from Germany and they celebrate Octoberfest here. Some nice shops and a few restaurants. After that we headed back to the ship and arrived at port by 4pm. Another long day of touring was complete after our tender ride back out to our ship.
I have the photos uploaded now and this posting is ready to publish. Good thing as it is now 6:25 and I have to shower quickly. Cocktail time at 7pm as usual and dinner to follow. We are sailing now for our next port, Santos, Brazil, and will arrive there at 7am tomorrow. I did not proof read this so hope there is not too many mistakes.
