Armacao Dos Buzios, Brazil


The small town of Buzios, with a population a little less than 35,000, is located on a small peninsula jutting out, into the Atlantic Ocean, from the Brazilian mainland. French pirates, in the early 1500s, were the first Europeans to discover this area and established a lucrative, but highly illegal, Brazilian hardwood smuggling route into Europe. In 1575, the Portuguese banished the pirates and established the town of Buzios.
The Centre of the old town reflects centuries of Portuguese rule with picturesque churches, colonial architecture and narrow cobbled streets. It is very easy to imagine this place as a pirate haven, in years gone by.

The tropical climate, with lots of sunshine and high humidity, ensures that lush vegetation is visible everywhere and there are also more than 20 beaches in the area. The close proximity, of this exotic place, to Rio de Janeiro - only three hours driving time - has enabled Buzios to become a very popular tourist destination. The town also hosts, and welcomes, visitors from around the globe.
Buzios was not always as internationally known as it is today. In the 1960s, Brigette Bardot, a then famous movie star, ‘discovered’ the area when she visited with her Brazilian boyfriend and fell in love with this quaint fishing town.

We tendered ashore in the mid morning,c after a lazy breakfast, and proceeded to wander the cobbled streets of this small fishing/tourist town. Our impression - this would be a lovely place to spend a quiet week in the off season, but not a lot of fun to visit right at Carnival time and jostle with crowds of people on the narrow cobbled streets.
A pleasant enough place but it is good to be leaving.
After a couple of hours of wandering, pushing and shoving, hot and sweaty, we tendered back to the ship.
Shortly after boarding, we set sail and headed north towards our next port of call.

          
This is a pretty little town, but somewhat over busy from weekend crowds 
visiting from Rio de Janeiro

    
This bar/restaurant is ready for a Carnival party

  
Young folks planning their Carnival activities

     
So many wires and perhaps an electricians nightmare

   
 Young couple enjoying their view of the bay

  
Taking a peek into someone’s neat little courtyard

 
The three fishermen standing, with their net, in the bay is a
public art work - bronze figures

 
Brigitte Bardo - in memory of a very popular lady, in this area 

A big shovel is required for a big sand sculpture

Still smiling after another day of happy wandering




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