IHANA.COM big trip - diary - October 2002

The drive to Jeri was much easier and we took a good shortcut at the end, 50kms on smooth dirt through tiny villages with pigs and cows wandering about. As we approached the town before Jeri we stopped and asked some locals in a dune buggy the way to the beach. As luck would have it they were on their way there too so we followed them across the dunes. We arrived just as the sun was starting to set, so walked up the big dune beside the sea to watch the suns final descent with all the other tourists. This turned out to be a nightly ritual and we also tried out sand boarding too which was a laugh, feet overhanging the edge not making turns too easy on the tiny board. A couple of local kids showed B how to back flip all the way down the dune non stop but he didn't manage to get the hang of it, much to the amusement of the watching crowd!

B spins on purpose...

...but T gets some help from a sandboard

Nighttime sandstorm

Capoiera demonstration...

...plenty of acrobatics...

...very impressive

Each evening the capoiera group would do their acrobatics and everybody would gather around to watch. Once we arrived for a look just as the two guys decided to have a proper fist fight which was much more entertaining!

The Sunday was election day and there was a countrywide ban on alchohol from Saturday morning until Sunday night, even here in Jeri. The result was that Saturday night was not party night but we did manage to find a little private party where we met some fellow travellers had a good time swapping stories and spent the next few evenings downing plenty of beers and caipys. The lack of tourists didn't make for very banging nightlife but B still managed to enjoy the company of a local doris.

Boats on the beach...

...some here a long time

Estrela do mar

The beach here is big but very shallow so its not good for swimming. The main watersports are windsurfing and kite surfing as there is a constant 40 knot wind. It didn't seem to be ideal conditions for beginners so we gave it a miss this time.

We managed to leave Jeri to head for Fortaleza where there is going to be a big music festival and hopefully more dorises. We drove out along the beach, not finding the proper way back through the dunes, but eventually came across another village where we could pick up the tarmac for the easy drive to the big city.