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Published: November 10th 2006
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Sax on the beach
Jacare beach, Joao Pessoa Last week I made my way down the Northeastern coast of Brazil from Natal to Recife. Traveling has occasionally been tricky, due to some bad luck with scheduling tours and my inability to speak portuguese. Tudo Bom(its all good), although Ive not seen everything I planned. There were 2 dune buggy tours that I was supposed to take to look around the 2 dozen or so beached near Natal, but unfortunately my driver never showed up for either scheduled tour. Oh well, that just left more time at the other beaches. Heres where I have been:
Natal - Ponta Negra Beach. This is pretty, urban beach that has been overrun with tourist targeted commercialism (a theme common with most of my stops in the northeast). It seems this is a major area for European tourism, and the underemployed locals come out in force to sell any and everything. Basically at Ponta Negra you can walk on the beach, pay somebody to set up an umbrella and chair(costs about $1 for the day, they find you almost the second you step on the beach), and sit down to enjoy the view and sun. Every couple of minutes someone walks by selling
The cliffs near Pipa Beach
photo taken during a boat tour things at low prices. Beer, liquor, sunglasses, CDs, ice cream, food like oysters shrimp, a million kinds of coconut concoctions, clothes, sunglasses, art, etc. Its a bit annoying, but after a while its easy to relax and let whatever you need come find you. In the meantime the waters are nice, the weather is good, and everything you may have heard about Brazilian swimsuits is true... the view at the beach is great 😊 There was an interesting strip of shops and restaurants along the road by the beach, so wandering around here was a good way to kill time when the buggy driver didnt show up.
Pria de Pipa(Pipa beach) - interesting for its developed village street community, as well as its beach landscape of cliffs dropping off to tourquoise waters. I took a boat tour one mourning which gave a good view of the area as well as an opportunity to spot dolphins that live in the area. Pipa is a laid back place with something of an artsy/stylish vibe to it, so spending the night walking down the main street was interesting. This would be a great place to come with some friends and party for
a week. Some decent bars and restaurants were there and I spent some time in a few of them. With regards to the bars - Ive been finding that I do fairly well chatting with the Brazilian women... for about 30 seconds. After that I've exhausted my limited vocabulary. I need to learn some more portuguese!
One big drawback of Pipa was that there was no international ATM to be found(in fact, the next city over had one, but it didn't work when I was there!). I nearly ran out of money and got stranded there with no place to stay as a busy holiday was coming. But I tapped into my reserve funds and bought myself transport to the next town.
Joao Pessoa - I spent 24 hours in Joao Pessoa, the easternmost continental city in the Western hemisphere. The guidebook says theres not much to do here, but I had a great time. This is a peaceful, safe city where people bring there kids to the beach and hang out for the day. Police are everywhere, but it almost seemed they werent needed as the residents of Joao Pessoa seem a happy, trustworthy bunch. The beach has
a great view, and the strip here was my favorite of the many beach cities I saw. The area is kept clean and there is plenty of oppen space. By day hundreds of people were jogging back and forth, and by evening there was a fairlike atmosphere centered around a market near the center of the beach. Upon arriving I saught out the tourist center, and had the good luck to meet a young woman in the travel agency there who had lived for a year in the US. She gave me some great tips to maximize my time there. And on her advice, at around 3 in the afternoon I headed to Jacare beach, which faces a river on the opposite end of the city. There was a restaurant bar there where every day(I think) at sunset they row in a musician playing saxaphone that is electronically mic'ed into the restaurant's speakers. Having arrived at just the right time I got a front row seat. It was a great show, maybe someday I'll be able to share a short video I took on this blog. The next day I toured the city then had a taxi driver drive me
more Pipa
photo of Pipa taken during a boat tour to my next stop in Recife.
Recife/Olinda - Recife is a huge city. Highrises are everywhere and people are constantly milling around the major areas. I stayed 2 nights at a relatively expensive hotel in Boa Viagem, an urban beach area. At first I didnt like the area - I had arrived on a major holiday and the beach was crowded with all types of partying and obviously not safe for foreign tourists. However, the restaurants and bars in the area were excellent, so it was not a total loss. The next day the beach cleared out a bit and I got a better impression of the city. I went on a cheap tour booked through my hotel and spent a few hours getting to know the city. The tour ended in Olinda, a colonial era locale on the far end of the city. Olinda had a more relaxed layout(no highrises, colonial architecture), but was overrun with the commerical flea market tourist sales bazaar Ive been seeing alot of. Overall I wasnt all that impressed with the area's historical sites, and left feeling that 2 days is more than enough for sightseeing in Recife/Olinda.
In all travelling through
all these beaches has been fun. Although the beaches generally share a warm climate and great waters, each place has a very different vibe to it. I had fun soaking up the atmosphere as I travelled along.
Its been an adventure trying to make my way around. I had left the last week relatively unplanned, so each day I had to secure transport and accomodation for the next stop. It might have been smarter to have planned this out beforehand. When you've only got 1 or 2 days in each city, it feels like a waste to spend a few hours a day handling logistics.
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Amy
non-member comment
Awesome!
Hey Scott good to hear you are safe and having a great time. Keep the journals coming! I wish I could have come out there, by the pics and your descriptions, the places look and sound fantastic. How amazing is it to swim with giant sea turtles and sting rays? Not something you get to do everyday thats for sure. Savor each and every moment because you will miss it, trust me. Have any crazy night life stories yet? come on, dont make this a PG journal entry just because mom and dad read it!! Those dollar beers must add up at some point! Hopefully you are adapting somewhat to the language there.. Have a great rest of the trip...I will be reading along. Be safe. Love you!