FORTALEZA, BRAZIL

We woke to light showers as we left the ship for our shuttle ride to the market, but no sooner had we left the port when the sky opened up and it poured!! The rain was so heavy that we were hardly able to see out the windows -- but one thing that I found unbelievable was the fact that they hadn’t planned ahead and built adequate drainage. The roads were almost instantly flooded, with cars creating rooster tails as they made their way through the foot deep ‘rivers’ stretching from the gutters to the middle of the street!

As luck would have it, the handicraft market we were headed for was a multi level, covered structure, filled to overflowing with all kinds of laces, tablecloths, leather shoes and hats, clothing, jewelry and pottery. Once our bus finally maneuvered through the traffic that was at a dead stop, we waded through the ankle deep water, stripped off our soaking jackets, shook off our umbrellas and started browsing through the various stalls.

Because of the rain, we couldn’t wander through the town to visit the church or museums, and the ride back to the ship didn’t do justice to this tropical paradise and its many spectacular beaches. Life is simple in this growing city of nearly 3.5 million inhabitants with its modern high rise hotels and condos. The old 17^th century Dutch-built fortress -- for which the town is named -- no longer stands.