The Blaus - South America and Europe

18 do Julho - Jericoacoara, Brazil

Jericoacoara is a small beach town that is very remote. To get there we had to take an overnight bus to a small town, from there we had to catch another bus to a smaller town, from there we had to ride in the back of a pick-up truck for three hours to yet a smaller town, then take a 4X4 for 45 minutes to Jericoacoara. We have never before worked so hard to get to the beach. It was quite a pilgrimage to Jeri from the northern part of Brazil. The pick up ride was by far the most interesting leg of the journey to Jeri. We piled into the back of a truck with two guys from New Zealand that we met earlier in Sao Luis who happened to be on our bus, another American couple that was also on our bus, and 21 other people. Yes, we got 26 people and a lot of luggage into one pick up truck. It was no great surprise when the pick-up broke down on the way, and we had to pile into a flat bed truck, where we bumped down the road getting splinters and bruises for another two hours. All of this was after a night of very little sleep on an overnight bus journey, so we were happy to finally arrive at this famous and secluded Brazilian beach.

The town itself is very small, completely built on sand. The streets are sand, and nobody wears shoes or shirts, ever, as far as we could tell. The beach is listed as one of the 10 best beaches in the world, but when we arrived and put it to the test we weren´t sure that it measured up to its reputation. It was very unique, however, and positioned right next to a giant sand dune that is 200 feet tall. The town is situated on a peninsula, and the beach is somehow positioned so that the sun sets over the ocean, which should not happen over the Atlantic in the Americas.

We very quickly got into the swing of things. At sunset, the tradition in Jeri is to walk up to the top of the sand dune to watch the sun go down. Once the last light has vanished, the entire town gathered on the dune cheers and claps. Then, all the kids in the town run down the sheer face of the dune, which is very steep and very high. Then the teenagers descend while turning flips and showing off their tricky maneuvers down the dune (one guy did complete back flips from his feet the entire way down). At last the older people make fools of themselves trying to do something brave but most just fall and roll down the hill. It is very fun, and the entire town participates.

After watching the sunset and running down the dune, everyone heads to the beach in front of the town to watch Capoeira. Capoeira is a dance that was invented by the slaves in Brazil 400 years ago. It was originally used as a way to practice a kind of martial art which they would then use to defend themselves against the Portugese slave masters, but to mask their intent they transformed it into a kind of dance. It is a combination of dance, martial arts, and gymnastics. It is, in one word, incredible. The dancers were accompanied by music and singing, and every night we crowded around the Capoeiristas in a small circle to watch them spar.

The dance started slowly, with some little kids going out and practicing their flips and kicks. Then the adults would come out and dance in slow motion, then gradually speed up as the fading sun´s light dimmed. It really looks like a choreographed fight, with the dancers kicking right above the head of their opponents, and the opponents crouching into a defensive move while the other dancers jump over them while doing a flip. The speed at which this is done, and the amount of incredible flips, near misses with kicks and punches, and show of strength were truly mesmerizing. Some of the dancers did handstands with one arm while kicking their legs up and down with great power, some posed in the air, upside down with one arm on the ground, and their legs twisted in a 90 degree angle to their body. One guy was so fast and could do so many flips that you could not really track what he was doing. This was all happening at sundown, and the darker it became the faster and more intense the dance got. We just loved it, and would watch with tears in our eyes every night, it is just a moving experience. The whole crowd clapped and chanted along to the music, it was a truly great event every night. The funniest part is how very abruptly the music would end, the dance would stop, and everyone would just walk away. This incredible event ended just like that, no grand finale or anything, music over, crowd dispersed, that´s it until the next evening.

We never missed a sunset or Capoeira session the 5 days we were in Jeri. We generally spent the days walking along the dunes outside of town, looking for deserted beaches, which were very easy to find. We swam a lot in the warm water, and generally enjoyed ourselves. One day we took a dune buggy (a small, three seater) to the nearby national park and lake, but it was not as impressive as Lencois Marenhenses.

We made friends with the two guys from New Zealand who are cave guides on a two year trip around the world. They invited us over to their house for dinner, where they prepared the backpackers special--pasta, canned tuna fish, and ketchup. It tasted better than it sounds, and it was nice to be invited over for dinner by two younger guys. We have noticed that we are generally 10 years older than anyone else we meet doing the same kind of thing in South America. It makes us feel young again. We also stayed in a very nice Pousada where we hung our hammocks outside to relax in them and were spoiled by the very friendly owners of the place. Every morning we woke up to a breakfast of 5 different fresh fruits, cakes, juices, coffee, bread and eggs. Cafe de Manha in Brazil is a great way to start the day. Every night we ate dinner at the same restaurant. A local from Jeri converted her home into a restaurant and served either fish, steak, or chicken, along with beans and rice for 5 Reais ($2 US). It was a great deal and we found nothing else that could compete in value. In the evenings along the main street tons of street carts set up shop and sold drinks, mainly Brazilian tropical cocktails. Every night there was a small party in the street, and apparently after we went to bed the real parties began (as evidenced by our neighbor from Holland who kept us up until sunrise one night).

Jericoacoara was a bit like a vacation, but after the Amazon and all the traveling we did to get to the beach, we felt we deserved some downtime. We met a lot of people that have taken up residency in Jeri for 2 or 3 months, and we can understand why, as the town just has a great atmosphere. We were ready to leave after 4 nights because Jeri is just a little too slow for us, but worth it for a place to rest and enjoy the beach.

posted by The Blaus @ 10:51 AM