Date of Entry: October 2nd 2016
Date of Writing: December 4th 2016
Good news, I didn’t lose my real camera, so this entry is flush with visuals unlike the sparsely dotted last entry at beach park. Hooray for that. We leave our cozy Air BNB in Fortaleza early, sometime around 3 in the morning, which is the second earliest I’ve left for a day trip after the colca canyon tour back in peru. It’s ludicrous, but the surroundings of Jericoacoara will make it worth while, and while I’ve been there before, Renata and her amazing family have not. It’s also surprisingly affordable at around 75 reals per person after negotiation booked on the fortaleza beachfront. And so we’re up and out the door and after about 4 hours in a bus we’re transferred into our pick up truck for the last hour of the drive. It’s a tight fit with everyone but still as we tear through the bumpy sand roads leading through the Brazilian desert I hold my camera tight and snap a photo or two.
Soon enough though the bumpy ride is over for now and we’ve arrived at the alchemist beach club, a pricy and touristy version of paradise, but paradise nevertheless. And I’m especially excited for Renata to see it as she loves beaches and places like this, and I know just how special laguna paraiso is.
We walk through the wooden structures to the long glistening very white beach fringed with incredible turquoise waters and I hang back to watch the others react to this special place snapping a few photos as the other’s advance towards the devil’s oasis.
We waste no time as our bus is the first one to get here and so the boys and I head straight out into the water to nab one of the hammock cabanas in thigh deep turquoise water. There’s only a few of them so we’re lucky to claim a whole one for the 5 of us for as long as we care to occupy it. (we will eventually cede it to the growing crowd.) I’m pleased because everyone seems pretty impressed by this beautiful place, and really I can hardly blame them. It’s postcard perfect for relaxation.
We play around in the water as the sun drifts in and out of the fluffy white clouds above changing just how green the water is. Eventuallyh though the mixture of cold aand hunger pulls us out to the beach for some food and sunbathing for people like Renata who are braver and more heat resistant than I. (and before you ask,no I don’t have a reasonable explanation for the close up shot of my gaping mouth) but let’s be honest, I’m hardly going to compete with Renata’s beautiful smile.
After a light lunch with some birthday brownies with ice cream for the boys we head back into the beautiful water, frolicking as only brazilians (and perhaps canadians living in brazil) can. the boys and I head out for a bit of a wander out into the depths of the swimmable area of the lake (chest deep) and then before we know it it’s time to head back to the parking lot to meet our tour truck and head to our next stop on this whirlwind all day trip to Jericoacora.
After a decent drive through bumpy roads through beautiful desert and eventually along a kitesurfers dream of a coastline we pull over and stop nearby a tree that has grown according to the wind patterns of the region, meaning it’s bent almost to touch the ground. We dash away from the truck for a further photo op of the endless stretches of sand behind us, Renata being an incredibly loyal girlfriend and obliging my sick and twisted paint me jack addiction. (We all know she loves it)
By now it’s pretty damn hot, despite the near constant wind, and much to my dismay it makes everyone opt to skip a trip out to the pedro forrada (rock with a whole in it) which I visited during my last longer stay in Jericoacoara. Oh well. We head into town and wander through it’s touristy streets and along it’s not so impressive beach. We end up at one of the beach front restaurants to find shade, though they never ask us to order anything so we end up meandering off 45 minutes later and after another brief swim with Vinny we head further into town where Renata has her eternal love for Germany teased with the decorations for Brazilian october fest, which is perhaps a week away.
We buy some souvenirs and christmas gifts for people in Canada as well as some milkshakes and ale vera gel to help with burned skin before heading back to the meet up point and climbing into the truck. Here we are given two choices, go up the dune beside the main beach where everyone goes to watch the sunset, or go to a different dune where will be alone, all be it further back from the sea. Out for the second option, I can’t stress that enough.
As we drive the sun starts to set and I snap some pictures again doing my best to hold the camera steady as we chug along the bumpy roads.
One other truck follows behind us so I use them as a photo prop as the glowing orange ball of fire sinks closer and closer towards the endless rolling sand dunes behind us.
Eventually we come to our chosen dune, the beautiful and isolated half moon pile of sand and I (perhaps foolishely accustomed to traveling alone) let my childhood self take control with unbridled excitement, and after snapping some cool perspective photos of Renata Vinny and Felipe I head straight up to the top of the dune and sadly miss the family photo op. I think I thought people would follow to the top, but I should have checked on that.
Still I won’t lie, the view from up at the top of the mountain of golden sand is beyond impressive and I pose for paint me jacks and watch the sun and sky change colours as it sinks below the range of sand dunes in silent awe at the beauty of this world I’ve been blessed to explore so much of.
From here it’s a long straight shot back to Fortaleza, 1 hour in a truck and then back to the minibuses which get us back to air bnb around 11 pm. It’s been a marathon of a day, but thinking back on how much fun we all had it was well worth it. Besides we all got at least a bit of sleep in the minibus back. And besides you only live once.
