Location: Fernando de Noronha
Today, we had an early wake-up at 6:00, ready for the busy day ahead of usan island tour of Fernando de Noronha. We gathered in the cockpit for a blueberry muffin breakfast by Hannah Y, packed our day bags, and boarded our two dinghies, Tia and Ankharn. After a short trip to shore, we stepped on land for the first time since St. Helena, 12 days ago.
We gathered at our meeting place, where we boarded the backs of 2 safari-style tour trucks, and drove to our first of many destinations: Sancho Beach. The hike down to the beach consisted of two ladders down a stone-wall crevice, totaling 108 steps, followed by a steep stair path down to the sand. The path to the beach was covered with native birds, lizards, and little capybaras. The water was warm and clear, and the waves were perfect for body surfing.
The second stop on our tour was a second, longer beach. At this point, we were starting to realize that our island tour was more of a beach tour, but we werent complaining. During our time in the water, we tried to stack three people on each others shoulders, played chicken fights, and Grant and I acted as a springboard for Nashota, so she could get some real air and do a backflip. We also saw another baby lemon sharkthey were all over the island.
After playing around in the water and a quick stop at a cool Turtle Foundation charity museum, we were off to a restaurant to have lunch. This was a real treat for all of us, because we havent really had real shore food in the last 38 days. Food was delicious, and many ordered the French toast with ice cream for dessert, which was also amazing.
We had one more beach on the itinerary for the day, where we swam around in the water, and then promptly got yelled at for going to far because the waves had become dangerously big, and some people spotted some big lemon sharks. Then, some of us decided to take a walk along the beach and sculpt an Octopus into the sand.
We were all feeling pretty exhausted after being in and out of the sun and salt water for the majority of the day, and we all headed back to Vela. We had one more shore food treat for the day: Pizza for dinner while we all watched Hot Rod in the Salon.
I think were all feeling really happy to be back on shore. We just finished our longest passage, and while its such a cool, unique experience, it can be hard at times, and it makes us all grateful for seemingly simple things we would otherwise take for granted, like fresh fruit and vegetables, cold, mineral-filled water, and a stationary ground below our feet.