We Visited Santos Instead Of Sao Paulo On Our Port Day

Decision To Visit Santos Instead Of Sao Paulo On Our Port Day

On our South America cruise along the Brazilian coast with Oceania Cruises, we chose to visit Santos instead of Sao Paulo on our port day.  

Sometimes it was hard to choose a port excursion.  In bigger cities or in wonderful nature spots, there were often many good things to do.  When we docked in Santos, Brazil only one of the excursions went to Sao Paulo, the capital of Brazil.  It was about a 2 hour drive each way.  And we were told that did not include expected bad traffic.  The trip was mostly photographic stops.  And some stops might be missed if the guide got short of time. 

In the end we chose to visit Santos instead of Sao Paulo on our port day.  We knew we would come back to Brazil and would fly through Sao Paulo.  At that time, we could give the city the time it deserved.

The day trip around Santos provide us with interesting stops at the Orchid Garden (Orquidario Botanical Garden), coffee museum (Museu Do Café) and Acqua Mundo Guarjua Aquarium.  And we got a delicious local churrascaria lunch!  It was a great excursion to pick.  

Arriving In Santos

Santos is the largest Latin America port.  It was developed initially to support the vast coffee industry in Brazil.  But as coffee became a less dominant export, the port continued to expand to support the export of cars, machinery, orange juice and soybeans.

As we arrived, we saw a vast skyline of high rise buildings along the shore.  And other areas with small houses for workers.  On our tour, we got more information about a section of these buildings.  They were built without foundations that hit the bedrock.  And over time all of the buildings started to tilt.  When we sailed out at night we watched for the tilt.

We docked at the industrial port and buses picked us up at the ship.  When we left the port we passed the Praia da Enseada beach and saw some fun statues along the boardwalk.  As we continued around town we found more street art.

We were on our way to visit Santos instead of Sao Paulo on our port day.

A Walk Through The Santos Orquidario Botanical Gardens

The first stop on our day tour of Santos was at the Orquidario Botanical Gardens.  It was not a large garden.  But we were glad we visited early in the day.  The moist heat cloyed at our skin.

We walked along pathways shaded by local plants.  The tranquil sound of ponds and trickling water soothed us.  We saw an alligator lazing beside one pool.  And turtles and lizards in another area.  We learned that the Orquidario Botanical Gardens also did animal rescue.

Several times we heard the call of birds.  We stopped once to watch a chatty bird in the tree.  Another large enclosure held colourful parrots.  

The Orquidario Botanical Gardens was known for its orchids.  Unfortunately when we visited, it was the wrong season.  But we were still delighted to find two interesting varieties of orchids.

We were happy to start our visit with the Orquidario Botanical Gardens.  It was certainly the first reason we were happy we chose to visit Santos instead of Sao Paulo on our port day.

Visiting The Museu Do Café In Santos

The bus parked and we walked to the Museu Do Cafe.  It was housed in a beautiful palace building designed to show how important coffee was to Brazil.

We were instantly entranced with the beautiful main atrium.  Our eyes were drawn to the detailed and colourful stained glass on the ceiling. 

Against the back wall we saw a large mural that depicted the history of coffee in Brazil.   Even the doors leading off of the atrium were decorated with colourful scenes.  When we looked down we found Italian marble floors.

A small museum displayed several artifacts of the history of coffee in Brazil.  And the processing of coffee from beans through to delicious brews.  

We had enough time to visit the café before we left.  There was a variety of beans and coffee drinks available to try.  David had his straight as an espresso to get the real taste.  But the cold brew process fascinated me.

We were delighted with our visit to the Museu Do Cafe.  This was a key driver for our to visit Santos instead of Sao Paulo on our port day.

A Traditional Churrascaria Lunch

Our lunch break was at Veneza Churrascaria and Pizzeria.  We were not sure we would really get a meat feast at a restaurant with this name.  But boy where we surprised!

We ate at churrascaria restaurants before this trip.  When we were in Napa for the weekend, we visited a great one with our friends.  So our expectations were high.  

It was not long before the food started to be delivered.  Large skewers of food were taken from person to person.  And everything looked and tasted amazing.  It was not long before our plates were full.

The restaurant did an amazing job of serving the several bus loads of people that showed up.  It was certainly a tasty reason to visit Santos instead of Sao Paulo on our port day.

Wandering Through The Acqua Mundo Guarjua Aquarium

After lunch we re-boarded our bus for an hour drive Guarjua on the outskirts of Santos.  We saw a little of the countryside as we drove.  When we hit Guarjua, we headed down towards the beach to visit the Acqua Mundo Guarjua Aquarium.  

Before the crowd followed, we headed for the penguin display.  We were excited for our first view of penguins.  We knew we would see penguins later in our South America cruise when we visited Bluff Cove in the Falkland Islands and then Magdalena Island in Chile.  But we still eagerly watched them play.

As we walked through the aquarium, we saw many different kinds of reptiles.  Turtles climbed over each other.  Aligators lounged in wait.  Iguanas of different colours and sizes looked out at us.  Snakes curled in the sand.

We walked past the murky aquariums and looked at the local fish as they slowly circled the tank.  The lobsters hid in the rocks.

As we walked back towards the entrance, we saw tanks of beautiful coloured coral.  And in one tank we got mesmerized by the sea horses.  We saw sea horses before when we scuba dived.  But never this large or this colourful.

Our last stop at the Acqua Mundo Guarjua Aquarium provided us with many fun things to see.  It was definitely one of the reasons to visit Santos instead of Sao Paulo on our port day.

Glad We Visited Santos Instead Of Sao Paulo On Our Port Day

We heard a lot about Sao Paulo and we definitely want to visit one day.  But we were glad we visited Santos instead of Sao Paulo on our port day.  There were so many interesting stops on our tour day on our cruise around South America.   If you travel along the coast of Brazil, don’t miss a chance to stop in Santos.

Did you visit Santos or Sao Paulo when cruising in South America?  If you visited Sao Paulo, was it worth the long drive on a port day?

Copyright Notice: All material on this travel blog site is the sole property of RetiredAndTravelling.  This includes blog posts, pages, design and all photos (whether watermarked or not). Any use of materials from this site without express written consent will be considered copyright infringement.