North Eastern Brasil

---

After our relaxed journey along the Amazon we decided to spend only a morning in Belem and then travel to Ilha de Marajo in the afternoon. After dropping our bags at the port we got into town by taxi with yet another South American attempt at adjusting the fare... We were dropped off at the cathedral and had a look at the spectacular interior. Afterwards we visited the well restored fort. Following on to the city’s markets we found large areas selling whatever you may need. It was a more modern and organised market but lacked the life of Manaus’ markets; at the same time it was a more relaxed place though. We did get the opportunity to try acai, something Brazil is famed for. We continued past the fishing docks and ventured further into the city centre seeing some churches in need of repair and a central square with the same problem. We managed to try another recommendation of salted bbq’d beef (from another famous Brazilian trait, the kilo restaurant!) - very good and very cheap! Desert would be coconut water straight out of the nut!

We made our way back to port and caught the afternoon ferry to Ilha de Marajo. We watched the Amazon turn into Atlantic as the seas really started to become rough. We got a local transport to the small town of Joanes where we treated ourselves to a Posada perched on a cliff edge, overlooking the deserted beach below lined with local fishing boats. We thought we had arrived in paradise! For dinner we went the restaurant on the beach and tried fresh, delicious fish and what the Island is famous for - buffalo. The meat was succulent and the cheese was full of flavour. I think I could get used to this place!

We got up very early and made our way down to the beach to try and catch a trip with one of the fishermen. It took us a while but we did find a fisherman who was willing to take us out. We left with two fishermen in their small motor boat and headed out into the ocean. It was a great experience with the sea so rough the boat was thrown about all over the place. We also watched as they dragged in their nets, hauled the catch onboard and then re-set the nets. We also got good views of the island from the water and, as we came back to shore, we saw the water buffalo moving across the beach and the locals running out to the boat to help with the catch. It was an excellent trip and made the journey onto the island well worth it. As we walked back to our posada we walked through the centre of the small village, it had a lot of character, grass roads, constant PA music played throughout the basic but well filled square and the odd wandering buffalo. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing on the picturesque beach and hammocks of our posada.

Joanes was another place we would end up spending more time in than we had intended. With great food, accommodation, views and the tranquillity of nobody around - can you blame us?!

We returned to Belem and took an overnight journey to the colonial city of Sao Luis. We left the bus terminal and spent a few hours wandering around Sao Luis’ interesting streets. The historical centre is certainly picturesque with its cobbled matrix streets, colonial buildings and open spaces. Some builds are still covered in traditional Portuguese tilings which are nice and different to the other colonial parts of South America I’ve seen. The Spanish style steps scattered around the centre are very quaint as are the plazas and mini boulevards they lead to. The thing that really gives Sao Luis its character is how run down it is. The historical centre is in need of money for restoration work. Where work has been completed the results are fantastic but the majority of the builds look like a scene from Sarajevo. Old original tiles and architecture crumble and whittle away. Its no surprise as this part of the city is very poor. The rich part is over the bridge amongst the nice beaches and sky rises. But government and local investment projects are slowly turning things around.

We visited the local market drinking vitaminas (freshly made fruit juices - unbelievably good!) and having acai with granola (a speciality!). After getting hustled by the ‘handycraft’ crew we visited the museo del arte where we had good views of the city from a balcony in the beautifully restored tiled building. The exhibits were of mainly local origin and the ground floor had a very good exhibition on the Portuguese tiles.

We left impressed by Sao Luis and headed to Barreirinhas just in time to find my highlight dinner of the trip - fish, shrimp and an absolutely fantastic sauce, perfecto!!
We booked ourselves onto a tour of the inaccessible Parque Nacional dos Lencois Maranhenses. Not before returning to Bella Vista for lunch and the superb dish I had for dinner last night. We boarded our jeep and journeyed to the well preserved and untouched national park. Dos Lencois Maranhenses is a massive park of rolling sand dunes containing lakes of blue, green and yellow waters connected by weaving rivers between the mountain-sized dunes. We swam and walked between lakes and oases as we had a small taste of the size of this park - it’s huge! Our afternoon finished sitting upon one of the tranquil dunes, watching the sun dip behind the rippled rolling hills of sand that continue far into the distance. Another unique, surreal and beautiful part of the world. On returning to Barreirinhas I had dinner in Bella Vista again - yes it is that good!!

The next stage of our journey would be to travel across sand-duned terrain to the idyllic town of Jericoacoara. It’s a journey that requires two days, patience and plenty of camera opportunities - so we have been told. We waited at the Banco do Brasil as instructed for the first transport. Soon we were wondering where it was and then unimpressed as locals told us that the transport leaves from the other side of the road and they weren’t even sure if it operates on a Sunday... Luck it seems would be on our side - we managed to track down a transport that would take us all the way to Paulino Neves. Our mode? A converted jeep with wooden slats as seats - oh so comfortable! We loaded up with locals, luggage and freight and started our interesting journey. We travelled through sub-tropical scrub passing primitive villages along the way and dropped off passengers as we progressed. One elderly lady took a liking to us and insisted that we go and have water with her in her farm house. This says a lot about Brazilians - extremely friendly, curious and courteous, but they have no sense of time. Reluctantly we declined, the drivers would have been none too impressed and we would not have gotten another transport until the next day. We said goodbye to the nice old lady and the jeep continued out of the sub-tropical scrub and onto a labyrinth of rivers running between sand dunes, feeding lagoons. We passed even more remote villages, oases and wet grasslands. It was a truly spectacular journey!

On arrival into Paulino Neves we were dropped off at a house where we could get further transportation onto Tutoia. After another attempted rip off by the jeep drivers we were greeted by a friendly family with a host of parrots as pets. They let us play about with the inquisitive birds before the jeep was ready to depart. We left Paulino Neves and drove through sandy forests along the way to Tutoia. Luck was on our side on arrival, the last bus to Parnaiba passed and we fortunately managed to flag it down. After the standard bus journey we arrived in Parnaiba to find out that the last bus to Camocim doesn’t run on a Sunday. This would have been the town we were aiming for today, but as the morning was a bit of a debacle we didn’t mind so much. But of course there is more! The morning bus to Camocim is full, the afternoon bus will arrive after the transport to Jericoacoara leaves. It looks like whichever way we turn nothing will pan out for us. We stayed for the night in Parnaiba and watched football in the evening at an outside bar/takeaway place. We found out that there is the possibility of a collectivo leaving from the plaza early the next morning.

We were up very early and made our way over to the plaza where we found out that a collectivo certainly does run but not until 10am and only as far as a town called Barrugulue. By now we were used to this and thought ‘ok we can get a step closer’. Of course this would mean that we would miss the morning jeep to Jeri, something else we were used to. This gave us a little time to wander around Parnaiba. There were no tourists in sight so it was a refreshing change to see a big town in local full swing. After another superb Brazilian breakfast (they are served at all accommodations and are truly world class!!) we gathered our things and had a last look around and the chance to pick up some dirt cheap Havianas. I forgot to take my malaria tablet so whilst in the market I stopped at a kiosk and had the option of either beer or a Brazilian liquor. At 0930 I found myself with a bottle of beer in hand to take a tablet, not only just a bottle but one of Brazil’s standard 1litre bottles. I sat and talked to the ever friendly locals behind the counter and sitting just beside it. As I offered some of the beer around the man at the counter replied ‘no, no, no, no, I drink coca in the morning. Twelve or one o clock then its cerveza’! A rule I need to remember!!

We left with the collectivo and the driver managed to time it just right for us to catch an onward bus to Camocim. On arrival in Camocim we managed to get a jeep as far as Tatajuba, the village just before Jeri.

We arrived and got a room in the posada next to the beach, which also had a kite surfing school next to it! I enquired about having a go with the owner, who said its best to try in the afternoon when the winds are up. As it was quite cheap we decided that it would be best if we hung around and had a go! The school is run by a spaniard and he has converted an old fishing shack into a great little beach side hut. We spent the rest of the day eating superb sea food in our posada and enjoying a beer at Eloi’s kite surfing school’s tranquil patio.

After a morning of chilling out in the posada we walked over to the kite surf school and started our lesson. We practised the basics with what is known as a foil. The wind was really strong and after feeling the force through the foil I think we were both worried about controlling the larger kite. As we went through the movements needed to control the kite I got a taste of how strong the wind really is - after ‘miss’ controlling the foil I was sent flying into the air and landed a few metres away flat on my face! Apparently the wind here is 21-25 knots and at 30 knots you need to be a professional. I started to think the wind would have been perfect in the morning...

Now it was time for the real kite. After going through a few safety procedures we were ready to harness up and have a go at flying the kite on dry land. Now it was time to go into the sea hold onto the back of the instructor and see how to move forward. After a quick demonstration it was my turn. I laid in the sea and the kite was released into the sky. I set about flying the kite in the figure of eight motion as practised earlier and sure enough I was propelled through the sea with the instructor holding onto me. After a couple of tries it was time to go solo. I did well for my first solo efforts, managing to keep control and move along the surf. Then I managed a text book ‘lose control, try to gain control, fail to gain control, fly a couple of metres out of the water, dive back in the water, fly out of the water, dive back in again...’ It really did show me how much power the wind has.

With the sun now setting in front of us I practised a bit more. I never got to go on a board with the kite but we had taken a very rushed lesson so in reality had gotten very far. We packed the equipment up and watched the last of the sun setting over the deserted beach. We had tried to find these paradise beaches in the Caribbean but Brazil has thrown up so many already. Picturesque and deserted - so what about a little wind!!

After more great food from our posada we joined Eloi, his girlfriend and the other instructor for a couple of beers while the sound of the surf gently soothed our already aching muscles. As we had spent a lot more time and connections trying to get to Jeri we were running low on cash, if we weren’t we would have definitely stayed here for a couple more days and had more lessons. Tatajuba is one of those places that we had been trying to seek out. I think we were both glad we couldn’t get all the way to Jeri!

The next day we made the connection to Jeri. On arrival I think we were both pretty disappointed. Jeri, although has a fantastic setting (easy to see why it’s become so popular) is overrun with tourists and far too commercial. Which always leads to a place being overpriced. I managed to squeeze in a wind surfing lesson (I’m now a kite surfer - all the way!!). Jeri has a nice location nestled in between giant sand dunes but it has lost the character that guide books rave about. Built up, developed, expensive and full of tourists - everything Tatajuba isn’t. As cash is now a problem we decide to leave early and put the time to better use elsewhere. Although it did take us four days to get here…

For all its pitfalls, Jeri is a good place to come, the trouble was it wasn’t what we were looking for. Tour companies offer tours of all descriptions on tap and with the development have come some nice amenities and a bohemian scene. For me Jeri’s highlight was a 3km morning walk along the beach to Pedra Furada, an ancient rock formation. Impressive coast line, impressive rock formations and of course friendly locals made the trip very enjoyable. We left in the afternoon to sizable city of Fortaleza where we boarded an overnight bus further south.

Full Belem Photos on Flickr
Full Sao LuisPhotos on Flickr
Full Ilha Marajo Photos on Flickr
Full Road to Jericoacoara Photos on Flickr
Full Lençóis Maranhenses Photos on Flickr

---