Surviving the first stop in Amazing Race 13 Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, the remaining ten teams take taxis to the airport for their next stop: Fortaleza, the capital of the state of Ceará in northeastern Brazil.
Fortaleza is bisected by the Paejú River. The fortress, Fortaleza de Nossos Senorha da Assuncao, was built in 1609 and gave its name to the settlement that grew up around it. It was occupied by the Dutch from 1637 to 1654. The city was the center for the sugar cane growers until the early 1800's when the ports of the Northeast were opened to international trade.
The state of Ceará, 57,149 sq mi (148,015 sq km), was once one of Brazil's poorest states, but social, economic and political reform plus the promotion of tourism to enjoy the 600 km of coastline and magnificent beaches has now made quite a difference.
Today Fortaleza is a major commercial center, with fishing as one of its major business, and tourism another. It's a blend of old and new, with universities, traditional folkloric crafts and lively nightlife. The Regata de Jangadas, an annual July regatta of small wooden sailboats, the Semana do Folclore and the Festa de Iemanjá in August bring many visitors to the area.
The beaches of Ceará extend either side of Fortaleza, and are exceptional. They figure in one of the challenges the teams face. Arriving via GOL airlines in Fortaleza (after some harsh words at the airport), the teams must first take a taxi to the plaza of the fishing village of Cumbuco, where their first clue directs them to the beach, where an exhiliratiang ride in a dune buggy, or bugres down the beach takes them to the Barraca D Manuel, and the next clue. Scattered across the sandy beach are a group of small wooden sailboats, called jangadas. See photo.
The next clue points to a detour: "Beach It or Dock It. In Beach It, Teams had to travel by bugres to a nearby beach where they had to choose a two-man crew and a traditional Brazilian boat. Using local methods, Teams needed to maneuver heavy rolling logs to drag the 440-pound vessel 100 yards across the sand and into an inlet. In Dock It, Teams had to travel by bugres to the nearby Port of Pecem and search for a container hidden in the shipyard. At the port, they needed to use a computer to scour a database until they find the same unique serial number listed in their clue. After finding the number, the teams had to use the corresponding four-letter code to locate the section of the shipyard in which their container was located. Once they located their container in the section, they would find their clue inside."
Having manouevered the detour, the next clue directs them to the Parque de Vaquejada, or Cowboy Park, where they had to discover the "first Road Block on the race. In it, one team member had to locate the name of their next destination, Cidade Da Crianca, somewhere along a 600-foot wall. To accomplish it quickly, racers had to embrace the laidback local culture and resist the urge to over think the numerous Portuguese ads surrounding it."
The teams arrive at the pit stop on the Parque da Crianca, a city park dedicated to children. The first team to arrive wins a pair of off-road vehicles, ATVs, and the last is eliminated:
- Ken and Tina
- Mark and Bill
- Terence and Sarah
- Aja and Ty
- Toni and Dallas
- Nick and Starr
- Kelly and Christy
- Andrew and Dan
- Marisa and Brooke
- Anthony and Stephanie
Join us next time as the teams travel to the high altitude of La Paz, Bolivia.