Discovering Natal, Brazil: The City of Sun and Sand Dunes

We were at sea for part of the day arriving in Natal around 1:00 pm.  The sail-in was beautiful with a magnificent bridge, beautiful skyline, and simply incredible sand dunes.
 

Magnificent bridge at the entrance to the port in Natal.

The Natal Skyline

Natal is known for its Sand Dunes and created a sport called sandboarding

 
Natal is a city of about 800,000 people and its name means Christmas in Portuguese. The city was founded on December 25, 1599. And, of course, it has the requisite fort to guard the entrance from pirate ships.
 

 
It is also known as the City of the Sun and the City of the Dunes. The people of Natal created a sport called sandboarding on their abundant dunes that line the Atlantic coast.
 

 
Before we arrived, we walked on Deck 12 and then had another Pilate’s session. We watched the sail into the city over lunch at the pool deck grill.
It was a very hot and humid afternoon, so we decided to stay on board and spent the rest of the afternoon working on projects and hitting some golf balls in the simulator. Our pro stepped in and offered a few pointers as we were practicing. So far so good.
In the evening we headed out to dinner to a restaurant called Camaroes Potiguar with a Resident couple. The restaurant specializes in shrimp and lobster dishes. It was a huge open restaurant which was empty when we arrived at 7 pm and packed and lively when we left at 9 pm – the Brazilians were just getting started! It seems they wait for the evening to cool off before venturing out for dinner.
We ordered a dish of lobster and shrimp over risotto. It was a dish for two and each couple ordered their own. Unfortunately, we found one helping was easily enough for the 4 of us. It was delicious and we did pretty well on consuming the seafood and not too well on the very filling but tasty risotto. Delicious and fun.
 

Back to the Ship to enjoy another sunset.