Fortaleza and Natal

We didn't pick Fortaleza and Natal because they were UNESCO world heritage sites. In fact, I bet most Brazil visitors come and go without giving them a second thought. I can't say I blame them. There really is not a whole lot of there, there.  That's not to say that they are not nice places to visit, especially if you like the beach and beach type activities. They have those in spades. Only I don't really like the beach. Thank God there was soccer!

Fortaleza is the larger of the two cities and no doubt gets more traffic. We heard it was a pretty short flight from Europe and that in the winter (Brazil's summer) Europeans flock down and fill the hotels. They must come in droves, as there are lots of big hotels. 

It is hard to imagine summer in Fortaleza, however. We were there in the dead of winter (mid-June), the shortest days of the year. 

The daytime temperature was 30° to 32°C (90°F+)  The humidity was 90% + and then the sun went down and the temperature rose! No idea how that happens, though I suspect the wind shifts, blowing a cool (ish?) breeze onshore during the day and inland heat offshore at night. For me it was brutal. Fortunately, the hotel was air-conditioned.

One afternoon we did make an obligatory hike from the hotel zone into the center. It was a quaint, small,  colonial outpost. A couple nice old buildings, a small commercial zone and that’s about it. 
Great. 

Back to the soccer.

Natal honestly had even less going for it. To be fair, I’m sure most people who go to Brazil like the beach and Natal has a very nice beach (Ponta Negra) they also have kite surfing and dune buggy riding and snorkeling and a bunch of other stuff I did not do.

We were there for the big game US Ghana, and the game, the stadium and Natal did not disappoint. 

We were very glad we chose Natal.  Christopher and I are now members of a very small, elite group of Americans – those who have been there to see their team win a World Cup match.  It is sadly a very small group that will not soon get any bigger. Natal would be the US team’s only win.