Bertioga - part two

The village of Bertioga is on one side of the channel where it widens to meet the sea. The other side is a jungle-covered hill and rocky headland with a little lighthouse at the point. Both sides have the remains of forts built in the 1600s by the Portuguese to defend against French, Dutch and Spanish invaders who would be caught in cannon crossfire should they attempt to sail up the channel to Santos.

 

 Looking across the channel from the headland towards the fort right on the point where sea and channel meet.

 

 The ruin of the fort on the headland side was reached by a narrow path through the jungle and next to it were the remains of an ancient monastery. I believe nowadays it has all been tidied up and is more accessible.

 We continued to go to Bertioga for holidays for a number of years. Over time a road was built along the coast so it became easier to get to, although I missed the trip 'up the Amazon'. Instead there was a fifteen minute ride on a little car ferry which trundled back and forth from the headland to the now growing village.

In later years we wild camped on the beach instead of staying at the Lido Hotel, but it continued to be an idyllic place. My parents actually bought a dugout canoe which was looked after for us by a fisherman. It was the most tricky thing to try and paddle in, turning turtle at the least excuse!

One year when I was in my teens I decided to swim across the channel from the headland to the village and my mother accompanied me in the canoe. I waited for high tide as the current was extremely strong, but it was still a very foolhardy thing to do as I was no swimmer, only being able to do the breaststroke and never having swum any distance before. It took me a couple of hours and I could hardly stand when I reached the other side. My father was furious when he found what I´d done.

Sadly those halcyon days of childhood holidays are long gone and the sleepy fishing village exists only in memories. Nowadays Bertioga can be reached in a couple of hours by an inland motorway and has become a busy and somewhat tacky resort. The miles of beach are still there but no longer backed by scrub and no longer empty. There are high-rise apartments as far as the eye can see and beach vendors every few minutes.

Sigh...