Florianopolis


Florianopolis is an internationally recognised tourist destination and some participants may be tempted to stay on after the conference to experience Xmas on the beach. The airport, the city, the state government and the federal university are all situated on an island, evocatively called the ‘Island of Exile’, which is some 60km long by 25km wide. The island has 42 beautiful beaches, all good for sunbathing and many for swimming and surfing. For some enticing pictures of the island log on to “Brazil’s Paradise Island” and for a more detailed, sober description see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florian%C3%B3polis.

The island was first visited by Europeans shortly after Pedro Álvares Cabral ‘discovered’ Brazil and claimed it for Portugal in 1500 and it became a popular place for ships to stop and restock with food and water. Indeed one of the island’s most popular beaches is named Ingleses in memory of a supposed shipwreck of English pirates in the 17th century. However the rock carving from which we derived our logo predates the arrival of the Portuguese by at least 1,000 years.