Grand South America & Antarctica Voyage, Santos, Brazil... Part 1 of 2

Our plans to call at Punta del Este, Uruguay were changed due to the weather and the crew worked miracles to divert the ship to Santos, Brazil. Also, we were fortunate to get a tour on such short notice with Denis, a guide we used in 2020. I was out at the front of the ship this morning and it was raining and windy…the visibility of the skyline was nearly zero. I decided to move to the aft of the ship where there was a marked improvement allowing me to photograph the stilt houses. Our Brazilian adventure begins…Santos is in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. It is partially located on the mainland and partly on the island of Sao Vicente about 45 miles from the city of Sao Paulo. Santos, the longest beach in the world and largest harbor in Latin America. We met our guide Denis at the cruise terminal and started our day in Santos visiting the old city area. The architecture of the buildings in the old city is stunning…highlights were the Train Station, City Hall, Cathedral Church of Our Lady of the Rosary and the Coffee Exchange. The buildings are complemented by some fantastic street art. Our next stop was Monte Serrat. We took the funicular to the top of the hill to former casino that operated from 1927 until 1946. The elevated position provided a spectacular 360° view of Santos, the harbor and adjacent cities…an added bonus, we visited the historic Our Lady of Monte Serrat chapel built in 1599 also overlooking the city. After descending Monte Serrat, we visited the Coffee Museum…built in 1922 to house the world’s main Coffee and Commodities Exchange is considered one of the most beautiful and was once one of the most important in the city. Leaving the old city, we headed to newer section of Santos. This area of the city lines the southern coastline of Santos defined by sand beach and a very long row of high-rise apartments, condos and hotels …all facing the Bay of Santos. We drove along the beach and stopped at the Pier. We walked out to the end of the Pier flanked by huge red sculpture by Tomie Ohtake dedicated to the 100-year anniversary of Japanese immigration to Brazil. From here we drove to Sao Vicente for a great bird’s-eye-view of this expansive seascape is from the top of Porchat Island. The spade-shaped canopy is the known as the Oscar Niemeyer Lookout, named for the Brazilian architect who designed it. On our return to Santos, we stopped at the Botanical Gardens. The garden had some lovely orchids, rain forest vegetation, some native birds, and animals…it was a nice stop. Our last stop was the beautiful San Antonio do Embare Basilica. It was closed for the holiday but a beautiful structure.  We had a super day, seeing something different thanks to our guide Denis. Luck was with us weather wise, the rain stopped as we got off the ship in the morning and started just when we returned to the ship.  On to Rio!