Fortaleza, Brazil

Our last few hours in Jericoacoara began with some packing, and then breakfast at 7:30 am. After breakfast we finished up our packing, with about one hour to spare before our 9:30 departure.

During that final hour we took a walk along the beach front and snapped a few photos of some horses. The guys with the horses were trying to sell us a horse ride along the beach, which would have been nice, but instead we explained that we were on our way back to Fortaleza, then Canada, in less than an hour – all good things must come to an end! They didn’t try too hard to earn our business after that.

At 9:30 we met our driver, Sebastian, and we loaded our luggage in the diesel-powered Toyota Hilux, and away we went. The route back was entirely on the inland road – no beach running today. The road was paved and in good condition all the way. Here is some typical scenery along the highway:

Our driver was very quiet and didn’t really want to engage in any conversation, so we pulled out our guidebooks and started planning future itineraries in Brazil. Brazil is a big country, like Canada, and to see everything requires a few different trips. Right now, the Pantanal is speaking to us – the wildlife viewing is supposed to be exceptional. The Brazilian visas we obtained are good for five years, so it would make sense to make a return trip to Brazil before they expire

We stopped for lunch at a road side self-serve restaurant around 12:30 pm. The food was decent and once again we just paid for what we ate by weight.
We rolled into Fortaleza at about 2:30 pm, so the drive was only five hours including a half hour lunch stop – much quicker than we expected. We were expecting another 8 hour drive, but obviously the inland route is much faster, but less interesting, than the beach route.

We checked into the Maredomus hotel, where our extra luggage was waiting in storage. Not wanting to waste our last hours in Brazil in a hotel room, we decided to hit the pavement and walked about ten blocks to the Mercado Central (central market). This place was a monstrosity! From the outside, it looked like a major league sports complex. On the inside, there were five levels of shops, with a maze of staircases connecting one floor to another. This market wasn’t as crowded as many other markets we’ve been to – the elbow room was much appreciated.

We didn’t buy any trinkets – there’s only so much of that you can put in your house back home. In fact, we haven’t been buying trinkets on our trips for many years now. Only if we find something very special do we buy anything now. We did, however, enjoy another fresh mango juice each – we’ll never get them that fresh and sweet back home! We also bought some Brazilian coffee to take home with us. We didn’t have one bad cup of coffee in four weeks so they must be doing something right with coffee in this country.

We spent the last hour before sunset on the rooftop terrace of our hotel. It was a nice way to relax and enjoy an urban sunset – our last in Brazil.

We had dinner at a restaurant called “La Casa”, a place we had walked by a few times when we were in Fortaleza earlier in the trip. It’s a quaint place along the malecon with a network of reflecting pools to give it great ambience. The food was pretty good, but the “chocolate fanatic” dessert was the best! On the walk back from the restaurant, we stopped and looked at the artists works along the malecon. One wood-carver in particular created some amazing pieces!

Overall, our trip to NE Brazil exceeded our expectations by a long shot.
In the next few days, we will post a summary of our trip – “Stader Stars” and “Stader Skips”. Basically we’ll write about our favorite parts of Brazil, favorite pousadas, activities, restaurants, etc. We’ll also give our opinion on areas that we would skip completely if we could do the trip all over again, or perhaps spend less time than we did.

Bon Viagem!

Horses on Jericoacoara beach

Jericoacoara, Brazil (wikipedia, map)

Today was a day of many ‘lasts’… Our last day in Jericoacoara, our last fun day (tomorrow we spend 8 hours in a Land Rover going back to Fortaleza), our last swim in the ocean, our last Brazilian sunset…

Our day began with Marcy heading off to her second kitesurfing lesson, while Ray was feeling good enough to hike out to Pedra Furada (the rock arch).

Marcy’s second lesson was spent entirely in the water. In addition to Adriana, there was an assistant, Marcilio, who spoke some Spanish so Marcy and he were able to communicate for the most part. The lesson today concentrated on controlling the kite in the water, body drags, controlling the kite with one hand, and lastly, how to get up on the board from the water. It was a tough day – the waves are relentless and Marcy spent a lot of time drinking sea water! But overall, it was a great lesson for Marcy, but now she wishes she had one more day here to complete the lessons and really start kitesurfing.

Meanwhile, Ray started the trek to Pedra Furada. With some tips obtained from Marcy’s journey there yesterday, the trip was straightforward – past the water tower, up a hill, down to the ridge, look for the garbage can, and drop down to the beach. The arch comes into view about half way down from the ridge. There was a vendor selling ice-cold coconut water, so Ray indulged and refreshed himself with one. The arch is very impressive and is a must see when coming to Jericoacoara. On the return, Ray chose to go along the ocean, which is a bit longer, but takes you by the windsurfers who were doing their tricks in the sea.

We had a very late lunch at about 3:15pm, and then we were going to meet a taxi driver between 4:00 – 4:30 pm to take us out to a mangrove where you can see sea horses in nature. Our ride didn’t show up, so we started walking around town to see if someone else could take us. They all told us it was too late to go today because there would be no fisherman available to take us around in the boat once we reached our destination.

So, we decided to go back to the beach to find a nice spot to enjoy sunset, and suddenly we ran into the taxi driver who was late coming back with some clients who were out windsurfing. He was eager to take us out there, even though we expressed some concern that it was getting so late. He said that if there were no fisherman available, he would take us out on a boat himself as he used to work there. We decided to give it a shot and jumped in the buggy and took off.

It turned out to be the perfect time of day to go – not a single other tourist there! One fisherman was still lingering and he was able to take us out. We saw two sea horses, one grey male and one orangy pregnant female. They scooped the sea horses into a small bowl for us to look at – they were so small and fragile. We took our photos and then released them back into the water. We also happened to catch the sunset while we were paddling through the mangrove, and also over the ocean just after we got out of the boat – it was a great excursion!

In the evening we strolled along ‘main street’ where all the action is. There were mini-bars set up where you could order a drink, a few vendors selling kebabs, and some busy restaurants. Because we ended up having such a late lunch today, we weren’t hungry so we skipped dinner.

Jericoacoara, Brazil (wikipedia, map)

We had another delicious breakfast at the pousada this morning. The fruits are so fresh and sweet compared to the produce imported into Canada. They also had fresh made flan and passion fruit mousse – we’re starting to get used to desserts for breakfast!

Then we took a stroll thru Jeri. With all the roads being sand, it gives the town a very unique feel. Even some of the shops have elected to go with a sand floor, and almost all the restaurants are big sand boxes! We stopped at one small cafe on a very quaint side street to try some fresh juices. All the juices are 100% freshly squeezed – you can see them do it. We had four different juices: orange, lemon, pineapple, and one other that we never heard of and can’t remember the name of. All of them were excellent. Somehow the town has managed to combine a rustic laid back feel with a touch of class, no wonder so many people get hooked on this place and stay permanently.

Ray was feeling pretty rotten from his cold by this time, so we started inquiring about kiteboarding lessons for Marcy. Ray would probably just need to rest mostly for the remaining two days in Jericoacoara, and Marcy has always had a keen interest in kiteboarding anyway, so it seemed like a good solution to the situation. Marcy booked 7 hours of kiteboarding lessons, 3 hours for today, and 4 hours for tomorrow.

There was enough time for Marcy to check out the Pedra Furada before her kiteboarding lesson, while Ray went to the room to try and sleep.

The way to the Pedra Furada started the same, and the wind and sand were blowing just as fiercely as yesterday. After trekking along the ridge top for a while, there was a hill from which you could see a long strip of coastline where wind surfers were plying the waters. The walking continued until finally Marcy reached a wide well used path that led to the beach – surely it was the right trail. The hike continued along the beach for a while, but suddenly a cliff appeared with no way around it – perhaps at low tide it’s passable.

The only options at this point were to retrace her steps, or climb up and around the cliff. Going back is never any fun, so up and around the cliff Marcy went. It was a grueling climb up – hot, steep, and shifting sand made it tough climb up. Continuing on along the cliff top, Marcy finally reached a spot where a guy was selling water. Finally this was the right spot to go down, and sure enough the rock formation appeared. The formation was very interesting and worth the journey.

After buying a bottle of water from the water salesman with no money in her pocket, just a promise to leave the money for him at our pousada, Marcy started the trip back following the advice of the vendor by taking a much more direct and easier path back to town.

After a lunch at a beach restaurant (including a cute kitty who enjoyed some chicken with us), it was time for Marcy’s kiteboarding lesson! Marcy’s instructor, Adrianna, was an Argentinian woman from Buenos Aires who has lived in Jeri for 7 years. The first lesson was all about wind theory, safety and how to fly the kite (all on land). Adrianna was a great instructor. There was a lot of information to take in, but so far so good!

After sunset, Jeri’s atmosphere changes. The streets of sand are lit with elegant lights, the restaurants have a very cozy and romantic feel to them, and there is music playing everywhere you go: lounge music, blues, Brazilian Pop, and retro. The wind is considerably lighter in the evening and there is less traffic – a very charming place.

Dinner this evening was at “Carcara,” where we ate shrimp moqueca (a flavourful stew of fresh vegetables, herbs, and of course, shrimp). We met another guy from Germany who was in Jeri for the windsurfing. Jeri has been the most international destination we’ve been to in NE Brazil. People from around the world come here for the kiteboarding and windsurfing – some never leave…