Natal, Brazil

Yesterday we were in Natal. We docked about 8AM and were off the ship by 8:20 to meet up for our excursion.  We did something a little out of our comfort zone. We headed on a dune buggy tour through the dunes of Natal.  It was a twenty minute ride to where the vehicles were.  We quickly found the light blue buggy that would be ours along with our driver. It was both thrilling to be zooming around the magnificent dunes and then the next minute driving on such beautiful beaches!!  Make sure you're following Angie's FB pages since she'll have some footage of the actual ride using her GoPro. 

We had several stops along the way. One of them was a beach club lagoon where they had some fruit, cold drinks and we were able to swim. The final stop was a beach club where we enjoyed some local beer.  

When we got back to the ship we headed straight to lunch.  It was an Indian themed lunch and they had a decent Tikka Masala.  After our quick lunch, we headed straight to the pool.  It was a popular spot and we chatted with lots of our fellow guests.  Lots of friendly people on this sailing.   With only 170 total passengers it's easy to know everyone. 

At 4:45 they had one of their Seabourn signature events on the aft pool deck.  They brought out caviar, toasts and creme fraiche and the head chef, hotel director and food and beverage manager were serving it to guests.  We decided we were enjoying the pool too much and stayed there past sunset.  As we sailed under and past the bridge, we could see the dunes we had been on just hours before.  When you come to Natal, I highly recommend taking a dune buggy tour.  

Today is our first of three sea days before we arrive in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday which is where we'll have our debarkation. Many passengers are staying on as the ship heads into Antarctica. That's another 21 days of sailing. We met a guest who has been on the ship since he boarded in Bridgetown Barbados and is headed to Antarctica.  He originally was going to get off in Manaus but decided to extend his trip.  Antarctica will have to wait - for now.