The Brazil edition of the well-known Rum & Reggae travel guide has this to say about Recife: “If the pickpocketers don’t get you, the sharks will.” Over-the-top though it may be, the statement reflects twin realities in Recife—high crime rates comparable to those of urban beach resorts such as Rio de Janeiro and a rate of shark attacks that on one stretch of coast is believed to rank among the highest in the world. The coast in question is a 12.5-mile (20-km) strip that includes Boa Viagem, the most fashionable district in northeastern Brazil. Since mid-1992, some 50 shark attacks on humans—19 of them fatal—have been recorded along this beach in Recife, the capital of Pernambuco state... [Log in to read more]
