The Projeto Tamar is a Brazilian environmental organization as well-known as it is respected. Strictly speaking Tamar is not an NGO, as its organization chart includes a government body. The organization benefits from a very powerful sponsor: Petrobras, the mighty Brazilian oil company, always eager to appear as an environmental asset – and not a hazard.

The Projeto Tamar field of action is the Brazilian coastline and its Oceanic islands, and its main aim is to work for the protection and preservation of sea turtles. Brazil is home to five out seven species of sea turtles, all of them endangered species. From September to March, along the coast, and January to June, on the islands, the organization monitors the beaches where the turtles lay their eggs. Tamar estimates each year 14.000 nests and 650.000 baby turtles.

As well as their preservation work, the secret of the Projeto Tamar’s success lies in the way they have build links with the communities, in an effort to spread a culture of preservation replacing a deeply-rooted tradition of destruction, and also giving employment opportunities to less well-off comunities.

Tamar’s HQ is at the Praia do Forte, north of Salvador de Bahía. The organization has bases in other 8 Brazilian states, including Ceará (Almofala), Rio Grande do Norte (Atol das Rocas), Pernambuco (Fernando de Noronha), Sergipe (Pirambu, Ponta dos Mangues, Abaís and Aracaju), Espírito Santo (Vitória, Comboios, Pontal do Ipiranga, Guriri, Itaúnas, Trindade and Anchieta), Rio de Janeiro (Campos de Goytacazes), São Paulo (Ubatuba) and Santa Catarina (Barra da Lagoa).

At many of its bases the emphasis is on education. We have visited the bases of Fernando de Noronha, Ubatuba and Barra da Lagoa (Florianópolis) and it became quite clear that educating is as important as the contemplation of the reptiles. Fernando de Noronha is probably the best place to get acquainted with the work carried out by the Projeto Tamar. Depending on the time of your visit to the island, you might be able to contemplate the birth of the turtles. All year round you have a unique an unforgettable chance of diving with the turtles in the wild.

At the Projeto Tamar’s webpage there is plenty of information. It has en English version.

I have put together five photo albums from our recent trip to Florianópolis. They can be seen at my Flickr page.

The first album is dedicated to the north of the island, with photos of Santo Antônio de Lisboa, the Projeto Tamar in Barra da Lagoa, and the beaches of Jurerê, Canasvieiras, Ingleses, Brava and Santinho.

The second album is dedicated to the centre and the Lagoa da Conceição, with photos of the Mercado Municipal, of the Lagoa and of the Mole beach.

The third album is dedicated to the south of the island, with photos of Armação, Ribeirão da Ilha and Pântano do Sul.

The fourth álbum is dedicated to the Campeche beach and the idyllic Campeche island.

An the fifth and final album is dedicated to the Joaquina dunes and its sandboard artists.

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The island of Florianópolis, object of desire of Argentinians, Uruguayans, Paraguayans as well as thousands of Brazilians (mainly from Rio Grande do Sul and São Paulo), is a well-rounded holiday destination that touches on the heavenly in some places. The combination of an excellent quality of life with beautiful beaches and hills make of Floripa, as it is known familiarly, the guarantee of a succesful holiday.

The island is roughly divided in three main regions: the north, where the beaches popular among Argentinians are; the centre, where the capital of the state is found as well as the Lagoa da Conceição; and the south, with beautiful beaches that attract less visitors than their northern counterparts.

WE LIKE THE MOST: the beaches, the gentle nature of the natives, food, landscapes, affordable prices, safety.

WE LIKE THE LEAST: poor infrastructures; it seems hard to believe that a tourist destination that generates so much revenue should have a road network in such a precarious state. Going places during the high season is torture. Getting to some of the beaches, hell. We also profoundly disliked all the building work completed and in progress in environmentally protected areas.

HOW TO GET THERE: by car, bus or plane. The first option is chosen by many Argentinians, Uruguayans and Paraguayans. There are regular bus services from Porto Alegre, Curitiba and São Paulo. GOL, TAM and Varig airlines all fly to Florianópolis airport. As well as numerous charter flights from Argentina and Chile.

CAREFUL WITH: the high season: a sizeable part of the island becomes a gigantic traffic jam; water supply to the northern part of the island becomes a problem too.

FAVORITE PLACES: Campeche island, Campeche beach, the Joaquina dunes, the Lagoa da Conceição

PIECE OF ADVICE:

• around the Lagoa da Conceição, and especially in the part known as Canto da Lagoa, there are numerous restaurants popular among Brazilians where few foreign tourists venture.
• one of the traditional dishes of the island is the seqüência de camarâo, several servings of prawns [shrimps] cooked in different ways, accompanied by fish and crab. It is found all throughout the island, but the most traditional place to eat the seqüência is the Lagoa da Conceição.
• although it is not impossible to travel by public bus throughout the island, it is an exercise that demands quite a lot of patience. If you are in Florianópolis for a short stay, our advice is for you to rent a car. For longer stays, when you will only be visiting one beach per day, you can use the public transportation system.
• crime rates in Florianópolis are lower than in other big Brazilian cities; it doesn’t mean crime doesn’t exist but, in this regard, Florianópolis is much safer than São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro or Recife.
• during the coming weeks we will publish detailed information on the blog on the beaches and places of interest of Florianópolis. Links to the new material will appear here as the entries are published.

ACCOMMODATION: We have full listings of accommodation for Campeche, Canasvieiras and Praia dos Ingleses.

LINKS: Guia Floripa, Visite Floripa.

WEATHER FORECAST: The weather in Florianópolis for the next 10 days

WEATHER: Average temperatures and rainfall in Florianópolis across the year

GOOGLE MAPS: Florianópolis

PHOTO ALBUMS: North (Santo Antônio de Lisboa, Jurerê, Canasvieiras, Brava, Ingleses, Santinho, Barra da Lagoa), Center (Mercado Municipal, Lagoa da Conceição, Praia Mole), South (Armação, Ribeirão da Ilha, Pântano do Sul), Campeche and Campeche island and sandboard in the Joaquina dunes.

OTHER BLOG ENTRIES ON FLORIANÓPOLIS:
- Map of Florianópolis
- Brazil in pictures: Florianópolis
- Florianópolis North: what to do and where to go
- Florianópolis Centre-Lagoa: what to do and where to go
- Florianópolis South: what to do and where to go
- Ilha do Campeche
- bar do Arante, Florianópolis

[Don’t forget to check out the list of other destinations already covered in this blog, here]

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