Brazil

Benefits:
Kyte surfing in Prea (just next to Jericoacoara)
Eating Acai

Concerns:
Traffic in Sao Paulo
Electricity shutdown in Jeri
Nightlife starts very late (normally 2.00 am in Jeri)

Places visited (& days): 21 days from 2nd Dec. till 22nd Dec. – Sao Paulo (3); Jericoacoara (16); Fortaleza (2)

Transport (time or distances): From Buenos Aires to Sao Paulo by air (2h3o); Sao Paulo to Fortaleza by air (3h00); Fortaleza to Jericoacoara by bus (7h00), Jericoacoara back to Fortaleza by van (6h00), Fortaleza to Lisbon by air (8h00)

Currency:
1.00 EUR = 2,58 BRL (Brazil Reais)

Funny Experiences:

• When I arrived in Sao Paulo on a Sunday it was the last day of the Brazilian championship (o Brazileirao). That day Corinthias lost their game and went to second division. I was really surprised since all the other supporters from Sao Paulo celabrated this fact as if they were winning the championship. At the end of the match there were even fireworks in the city


• Motorbiking to avoid the traffic of Sao Paulo and to be sure that I could catch the flight to Fortaleza.

I had been in Brazil twice (2001 & 2002). At that time I visited Rio, Buzios, Angra dos Reis, Paraty and Florianopolis. This time, my goal was to visit some friends in Sao Paulo and to go Kytesurfing to Jericoacoara (Northest of Brasil), 300 km from Fortaleza.

In Sao Paulo, I stayed at Fernando’s house with his lovely family. I had met him & Rafael in New Zealand this year during my round the world trip. Since my visit was very short I was glad that Fernando's cousin (Allessandro) had a motorbike and we could easily visit the city - Parque Ibirapuera, Cathedral, Teatro Municipal, Market…

Cathedral


Teatro Municipal

Market

One very good spot for having a drink was the Sky bar at Hotel Unique which gives awsome views from the city, mainly from the skylines of the Avenida Paulista. Here also some old friends form Portugal and Brazil join us for a great evening.

The Sky bar at the Hotel Unique

Isabela, Pedro, Nathalia and Fernando - Sky Bar

Alex, Bibiana, Pedro, Andrea & Domingos - Sky Bar

Arriving at the airport with a motorbike (the only way to avoid the heavy traffic)

Then I went to Jericoacoara (Jeri) where I spent 2 weeks, kyting almost everyday at Rancho do Peixe, in Prea, just 10 km from Jeri. The reason for going to Prea is because it is much better for kyting compared to Jeri which is more a windsurfing spot.

Jericoacoara

Windsurfing at Jericoacoara

Streets of Jeri (all of them with sand)

So everyday, during the morning I was picked up at Blue Jeri, my pousada, to go to Prea. The 20 min trip was amazing since we drove along the sea on the dunes.

Going to Prea from Jeri by jeep

We used to stop to say hello to some kids in Prea

Arriving in Prea we stayed at Rancho do Peixe where Mosquito and Vanessa have run their business for the last years. Very professional, good material to rent and to sell, a great team of international monitors and local boys and fantastic restaurant. Nothing was missing!

Rancho do Peixe - Prea

Kytesurfers team

The first 2 days since I hadn´t practised kyting for a long time, I decided for 2 private lessons with Celso. It was really helpfull since after that I could easily kyte on my own. Celso, is the multi task guy because during the day he teaches kyte, during the night works for the only japanese restaurant in Jeri (Kase) and also runs a the Pousada Ibirapuera!

The Tuga (Pedro) Kytesurfing

Celso & Pedro

I made a lot of friends during these 2 weeks. Some of them who where kyting with me, others at Jeri who were surfing and of course brazilians who were living there running some pousadas, or spending holidays, or just serving cocktails in the street.

With Renato y favourite barman of the main street

I used to kyte 3 times during the day, meaning I had two breaks. The first one was for lunch to take my favourite course for several days: Açai. It is a amazonian fruit which mixed with guarana gives a lot of energy (sometimes even called the Viagra of the Amazon!!!), therefore ideal for kytesurfers to be fit all the time. So day after day, as I came out of the water, Leonardo, Thiago who were working at Rancho do Peixe restaurant already knew what I wanted.

Enjoying a Açai (myself and all the others too!)

After finishing kyting and going back to Jeri, I normally spent some time at Club dos Ventos for some internet, and to enjoy the awsome sunsets.

Sunset at Club do Ventos

Then our meeting point before dinner was normally Mauricio's Pousada where we had our first beers. The difficulty then was not to find a restaurant but rather decide which one to pick with the amount of offers. My favourite ones were, Tempero da Terra (excelent fish – Pargo), Nomad (ideal for Pizzas), Café Brasil (for Pastas), Albert (for meat, honestly as good as the ones that I had in Argentina) and Kase (Japanese).

Misha, Cristina, Vincent, Maurad, Alberto, Ella & Pedro at Tempero da Terra

With Simone having dinner at Cafe Brasil

Nightlife is also hot here. The best days are Wednesday and Saturday normally for dancing the Forro. A good altenative place is Planeta Jeri. The only problem is that it starts just after 2h00 am. Normally people have dinner earlier, go to bed for a big rest of 4 hours and then show up at 1hoo. I couldn’ t do it!


Vincent, Pedro, Maurad & ... at Mauricio's

The most famous guy in Jeri: Bin Lata (can)

Coming to Jeri means coming to look for the wind for windsurfing and kyting. Apart from that, the main activities are renting bugee and horse for a drive on the dunes, or climb the dune just next to Jeri. One day I decided to not take the jeep to Prea and walk the 10 km to see the Pedra Furada (a rock with a hole) and enjoy the landscape in a more relaxed way.

The main Dune next to Jeri

The Pedro Furada

Leaving Jeri was very hard. It meant for me the end of 15 fantastic days, kyting, meeting a lot of people, having a great time but even more it was the end of my round the world trip!

The last dinner at Kase (Japanese) with Simone, Frederic, Lex, Ze Antonio, Fabrice, & Aude

The question that comes to my mind all the time now is when will I have the chance to do another trip like this one?

I am sending this post from the airport directly from the VIP lounge (do not think I traveled like that all the time but I thaught it would be nice to finish my trip this way since I collected so many miles). I ‘ll be catching my flight back to Portugal in 1 hour. It is Christmas time and I think it was the right place to be, after having been away from home for such a long time.

Doing this round the world tour alone was an incredible experience and sharing it with all of you as well. Thanks for all the e-mails that you sent me with your stories, tips, jokes, incentives, pictures. For these reasons I never felt alone!

I hope to be back soon with some more info to share with all of you.

I wish you all a good Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Pedro (The Tuga)