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Well after our emotional fairwells to Marystell we boarded our flight from Brasilia to Fortaleza. On the plane we read up about getting around and it was made pretty clear that the bus shuttle service from the airport to the town centre and the beaches was cheap and easy, so with it still being light outside we decided to use the busses!! We were told at the airport we would need to take two busses to get to the part of town our hostel was in, the first bus would take us to the main depo (this bus was okay not too busy, cheap, but we still had the issue of passing all our luggage over the turnstyles they have on these busses).
The next bus however was packed, i mean i would rather be a sardine than experiance that again, we both had our backpacks on weighing in at about 24kg and our daypacks attached to our front, with no where to sit it was a case of try and grab hold of something solid and constantly appologise to everyone for knocking them over with the bags! After standing squashed for near on 45 mins, in 32 degree heat, we finaly saw the beach and our stop, we squeezed past everyone and pretty much fell out of the bus and on to the sidewalk.
After a short walk we arrived at our prebooked hostel only to be greeted by receptionist stating that we had not booked anythingthing and there wasnt any room!! Well after about 15 minutes of us going through his diary we found our names and suggested very politely that he get our sheets and show us to our rooms!! The hostel itself was stunning with a lovely pool and hammocks to chill out in in the evening.
We took a walk down the beaches that evening which were stunning, gold coloured sand and what seemed to be turqouise waters, however you couldnt swim in the sea because it is pollute too much by the neighbouring harbour, there is also a pier called the Englishmans bridge with a dolphin viewing point on the end however this was under construction so we couldnt go on it. But Fortaleza as a whole was lovely with some stunning colonial buildings and the markets.
The next day we decided to go sightseeing, armed with the dodgeist map on the planet we set off, first stop was the indoor market which was crazy, selling anything you could think of, and whilst Dani shopped for yet another top lol, i helped myself to a seat on the bench watching the grand prix qualifier with several other bored men! On the way out of the market we stopped briefly at the tourism stands and found a bargain deal to take us to Jericoaracoa (however to fit it in we would have to cancel our last two nights stay in the hostel, so we went back and blagged a refund on the terms that they only had feathered pillows and Danis asthma was bad) so with the refund sorted we went and booked our trip.
Before we left we had some time to visit more sights so with the main sight supposedly the fort (hense the name) we made our way there. On arrival we were greeted by an armed soldier and after telling him we wanted to have a look around and take some pictures he went and spoke with an officer, who then in turn spoke with a squaddie who directed us round the side of the fort, he then showed us a bunker and a few old cannons and when Dani went to take a picture with him he very quickly refused and told us to point the camera in another direction!! After this we were very quickly escorted of the premises and only later discovered its in fact a private military barracks of the Brazilian elite!!!
We then made our way through the hustle and bustle of the outdoor market to the Theartre, where we were hoping for a tour, unfortunately noone there wanted to give us a tour, or let us in so we took a few pictures and made our way back out.
With enough sights seen (well sort of) we headed back to the hostel to collect our stuff ready to head of to Jericoaracoa.
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