Citytour Recife & Olinda
This tour will give you an insight into Recife and Olinda's striking history. We will start our visit at Boa Viagem, Recife's urban beach, protected by natural reefs and lined with coconut trees. Visiting the main turistic places of Recife and Olinda, being one of its highlights the famous Boa Viagem Beach with its reefs and clear and warm waters. We will continue to the Forte das Cinco Pontas, constructed by the Dutch. From there we enter the old part of town, wich is crossed by several rivers and connected by bridges. The street of the "Bom Jesus" has been know during the Dutch as street of the Jews, with many jewesh shops and commerce, as well as the Sinagoge "Kahal Zur Israel", the first in the Americas. At the "Praça da República"we will have a stop to be admire the impressing colonial architecture of the "Palácio do Campo das Princesas", "Teatro Santa Isabel " and the "Palácio da Justiça" with its richly decorated Golden Chapel. The Casa da Cultura (Culture House) is housed in the ancient public jail and today is a handicraft market.
Olinda, declared by UNESCO as a natural and cultural patrimony to humanity, has been the State of Pernambuco's first capital. Walking through he streets of Olinda is like walking back in time. We will have the opportunity to learn a lot of its history present in all the monuments, colonial houses, churches and convents, which have been here for several centuries. These, together with the old cobblestone streets, and the city location on the top of a hill, are live examples of the Baroque Art.
Included: Transport, entrancee and English speaking guide.
Duration: approximately 4 hours.
Remarks: Daily departures.
Igarassu and Itamaracá
This full day tour will bring you to the historical little town of Igarassu and the Island of Itamaracá, with its striking Fort Orange and its privileged beautiful beaches. Igarassu is one of the cradles of Brazilian history, being one of first Latin American Villages. The cobble stoned, historic city posses impressive religious architecture. The Saints Cosme and Damião Church, built in 1535, is the oldest in Brazil. Igarassu, only 36 km away from Recife, is a place where fierce liberation fights took place against the Dutch.
After a stop to visit the amazing church, the tour continues to the Island of Itamaracá, crossing the bridge between the island and the mainland. Itamaracá means "the stone that sings" in the indian language spoken by its original habitants. The Island is covered by coconut trees and is surrounded by deep blue tepid waters inhabited by sea-cows. Numbers of these animals along Brazil's tropical North East coast have been decreasing at alarming rates in the last decades. The Island of Itamaracá houses a nursery and protection centre. Besides its natural attractions as tys beaches and tropical fauna and flora, Itamaracá main attraction is Forte Orange, a magnificent sample of the XVII Century fortresses built by the Dutch during their invasion of the region. Fort Orange has a privilaged location priveleged location, right at the shore, in front of the little Island "Coroa do Avião" (Plane's Crown); research centre of migrating birds and place where one can have a cold beer or caipirinha in one of the local bars.
Optional boat tour to "Ilha do Amor" (Island of Love) and "Coroa do Avião" (Plane's crown). From our boat we will have great views over mangrove areas and the deep blue Atlantic.
Included: Transport, entrancee and English speaking guide.
Duration: approximately 8 hours.
Remarks: Daily departures
