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Our 4x4 truck
This took us from Barreirinhas to Paulino Neves. The journey from Barreirinhas to Parnaiba consisted of three legs, the first of which was worthy of its own blog. The three hour ride in a 4x4 truck to Paulino Neves is along a bumpy, mostly flooded track, beginning through forest and ending by passing over vast sand dunes. It was a very uncomfortable ride, but the beauty of the scenery completely took our minds off it.
We ate pineapples with an Israeli couple while we waited for the next truck in Paulino Neves, while sitting on the other driver's porch. From here it was only an hour by truck to Tutoia. We had lunch in a restaurant by the river while a local carrying his passport asked Chris if he'd swap identities. He declined.
The last leg was a 2 hour bus ride to Parnaiba, home to possibly the largest river delta system on earth. We arrived at dark, took a taxi to the Porto das Barcas and arranged a tour for the following morning. We then strolled around the area, a quiet place with quiant art and handicraft shops.
The next morning we met our companions for the tour, an older Brazilian couple from the south
who spoke almost no English, though Carina managed to communiate with the woman in Spanish! We drove in their rented car to the docks in Tatus, a small town 12km away from Parnaiba with great access to the deltas, and boarded our speedboat.
The deltas reminded us of the amazon a little bit. We saw a surprising array of wildlife: monkeys (who even sat still so we could take photos), caiman, hundreds of crabs and small fish that skimmed the surface of the water. Our guide showed us how local fisherman catch the crabs - apparently a very muddy profession! The delta system was beautiful, vast and confusing, with each river path looking similar but remaining unique. The diversity of landscape was quite something: forest spread out to our left while sand dunes rose on our right. One moment we were drifting through mangroves and the next we were on an enormous beach, with river on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other, completely deserted except for a lost iguana.
We sped to a local village for lunch at an expensive restaurant, which consisted of the traditional (and rather good) Brazilian black beans, with spaghetti and
On the way from Barreirinhas to Paulino Neves
The truck behind us getting through a huge...er...puddle! vegetables; the other couple took pity on our poverty and shared some fish with Chris. We then headed back to Tatus, and eventually to Parnaiba, stopping briefly in the deserted resort town of Pedra do Sal, situated on a peninsula with stunning beaches. We didn't really know we were going there; the other couple just took us along with them for the afternoon, so we ended up exploring a bit more of the area than we otherwise would have. A bit bizarre, but very nice of them. Once back in Parnaiba we strolled around a bit, exploring the shops and wasting time while waiting for our evening bus to our next destination.
The journey came and went, two hours or so to Camocim, where we would have to stay overnight before heading to Jericoacoara, famous in Brazil for it's beaches, dunes and relaxed atmosphere. A 90-minute bus ride on the morning of May 6th to Jijoca, another 4x4 ride from there...and we were in Jericoacoara. Another incredible ride.
By now we were feeling quite tired. Travelling in northern Brazil is difficult without speaking Portugese; places can be difficult to get to and lots of travelling arrangements need to
be made. We had decided long ago that we would spend some time in Jeri to relax, so we followed some Italians we met on the truck to a nearby Italian-run pousada, abandoning ideas of searching for the hostel we had booked. We struck gold. The place was wonderful: we had a hammock swinging in our room, a fantastic breakfast and only a short walk to Jeri's famous dune. After weeks of rushing, waking up early each morning and enduring tough journeys, this was our gift to ourselves.
We spent four days in Jericoacoara. Unfortunately the first two days were spent willing the sun to barge the clouds out of the way, though we did walk along the rocky coastline to Pedra Furada, an arched rock formation right on the sea.
On the third day the sun broke through, much to our delight. We spent the day on a buggy tour visiting some nearby lagoons (aptly named Lagoas Azul and Paradiso), tanning ourselves on hammocks floating in the clear blue waters. We also visited the next village, Prea, a simple fishing village set perfectly next to the ocean. On the way back to Jeri we stopped for some
great photos at Lagoa Carocao, just as dark clouds approached.
Every evening people in Jeri climb the dune on the beach to watch the sun set over the Atlantic - we chose to follow on horses! Not being experienced riders (which is a massive understatement!) we chose the most "tranquile" beasts, though it turned out Carina's was still quite lairy. Chris's horse was happy with a nice slow pace, which was a coincidence because so was Chris!
The rest of our time in Jeri was spent enjoying the atmosphere: playing football and watching capoeira (a martial art) on the beach, buying flip-flops, eating crepes after sunset, tasting the local capirinhas, walking for hours along the beaches and enjoying an Italian cooked pasta meal, courtesy of our new friends.
We enjoyed our time in Jericoacoara. We needed to relax and our wonderful hosts provided a great place for us to enjoy feeling part of the local spirit. We were lucky to be there at low season; Jeri is plagued with tourists in the summer months but we found it quiet and peaceful. The weather could have been better though!
We left Jeri early on May 10th, ready
On the way from Barreirinhas to Paulino Neves
After the forest and puddles came these dunes. to get back to quick travelling, on our way to more adventures...
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