Thank you, Brigitte — An Elegant Sufficiency

Bardot, that is. (Is there any other?) For it was she who “discovered” Buzios, our destination for today. Buzios is a pretty, well-heeled kind of place, known (according to our guidebooks) as the “St Tropez of Brazil”, thanks to the Brigitte Bardot connection, I guess. Though to be honest, that's all a rather long time ago, isn't it?

Anyway, we woke this morning to our 0600 alarm, for we had an 0730 meeting time for our tour today. Nothing like kicking things off with a bang, is there?

Well, first of all, a reminder of how long it is since I last took photographs in a hot, humid place! Yes, my camera needed to acclimatise and stop steaming up when I left an air conditioned environment and immediately tried to take a photo outdoors.

It was a short tender ride over to the town, a pretty seaside location on the peninsula just north of Rio.

Each of those small horseshoe bays has a beach and it was those beaches we were going to explore today, first from the roadside and later this afternoon, from a schooner. Voyager was at anchor in the large bay above the word Armação on the map and the small town here was to be our starting point.

We stopped for a moment outside the police station, where a couple of chaps were doing a little gardening. Very sensible to get on with such things in the cool of the morning, we thought…until we got a little closer and realised these were sculpted figures and not real people at all. Neither were they doing any gardening…but apart from that, we'd been quite observant!

Off we went then, heading north to begin with and quickly realising the small bus we were in was not travelling fast enough to dry off the condensation on the outside of my window. Oh well…forgive the water droplets here and there please, until I get chance to wipe them off at our first stop!

Though there's a beach here in the town, our guide Alejandra didn't recommend it. “We'll see much more beautiful beaches than this”.

Someone had been busy already this morning and was filleting his catch by the water.

Oh, maybe these three fishermen had caught it? Well no. It was easier to recognise these as sculptures in the same style as those outside the Police Station and we were not fooled a second time!

The seated bronze figure a little further along is Juscelino Kubitschek former President of Brazil, portrayed in a more friendly pose than such public figures are usually remembered.

We were soon turning to drive uphill and over the headland to the first beach, Joao de Fernández, a popular place for snorkellers, but unsurprisingly quiet at this hour of the morning. We drove on, through small neighbourhoods, some of which Alejandra said were 95% hotels. We saw more of these pretty beaches, some really small, and marvelled at the inclines of these cobbled roads we were driving along.

I loved the unspoiled nature of these beaches. After the urban, commercialised Copacabana beach, these quiet coves could have been a world away.

At the viewpoint on the headland, we stopped for photographs (and for me to clean the window!). There in the distance was Voyager. All those twists and turns had played havoc with my sense of direction and without a map in hand, I was quite surprised to see her there!

Moving on, we drove over that headland and around to the other side of the peninsula, by Praia Brava and Praia da Tortuga.

Each beach had its own character, outlined by Alejandra; each one was clean and unspoiled, the water clear and inviting. No wonder this was such a popular location for holidays.

Another viewpoint offered another fine view of Voyager and of the beautiful homes that have been built in this part of Buzios. We learned it's a quick and easy journey into Rio from here - especially if one has a helicopter - if not, then it’s a three hour journey by road.

Our last stop was at another beach, this one called Forno. The pink sand is as a result of mineral deposits and for the first time, we stopped at the edge of the beach, primarily for anyone who needed to use the loos here, but with fifteen minutes on offer, you know where I was headed, I'm sure…

The water was fresh and clear, the temperature just right (hello Goldilocks!) Cool enough to revive, without the little shudder an activity like this would provoke in British waters!!

Here were the usual deckchair men with umbrellas and chairs for hire, but at this time of the morning they were sitting around chatting, waiting for their first customers.

We passed by several lovely beaches on the homeward stretch, most of them tucked in beneath wooded hillsides. I was curious how intrepid one might need to be to reach them, until I spotted several water taxis later in the day. For a fixed fee of 20 or 30 Rs, that would surely be the answer!

We made a brief stop for Alejandra to explain the information board by the side of the road. Sadly, my photo is hopeless and I can offer just scant information for the time being, internet connection being what it is on board ship. However, here is the place where the geology of the rocks here matches that of Angola, suggesting that this is where the continents were once joined, millions of years ago. Just the kind of place I find intriguing and I look forward to finding out more when I can.

As we approached the town again, there was one last beach. This one was more accessible and further developed than many of the others.

Here were quite a few quiosques, their bartenders preparing for the day with few customers to serve at this time of the day. It was around 10am by now and everyone else was just getting the day started.