How to get from Natal to Jericoacoara?
We took a plane from Natal to Fortaleza (40min flight/500km). From the airport, we took the bus transfer to Jeri (6h/85B$/22€). We arrived in the middle of the night to this surf/fishing village of Jericoacoara - an example of the human heritage of Brazil. This natural park is made of kilometres of sand dunes along the Atlantic coast of North- Eastern Brazil. It's nice to take a full day to walk across the dunes and become immersed in Nature. The strong wind gives you the power to carry on walking up and down. It's quite challenging especially when the sun is out. But it was mainly cloudy during our walk.
Where to stay in Jericoacoara?
In terms of accommodation, the prices are the same as everywhere else in Brazil. The cost of one bed in the hostel is 50-60B$(15-18€), while a private double room in a Pousada is 150-250B$(50€-70€), both are with breakfast included. We chose the most economical version: camping for a week (15B$/6€ per person) at Camping Natureza. Located on the edge of the Center close to a rocky, isolated kite surfing beach. Such a perfect spot for a morning yoga practice on the beach! Well away from all the vendors and drug dealers.
Yes, indeed, once I was practising on the other side, next to the dunes and I was harassed by a drug dealer. He tried to convince me to enhance such a powerful yogic experience by the influence of LSD. He even mentioned that he is a Capoeira teacher and could give me a lesson. I couldn't believe how narrow-minded this local guy was. Luckily, so far, it was the only bad incident I encountered while connecting with my body and mind surrounded by the sea and dunes.
By the way, free camping was prohibited, and the police patrol was always alert for any law breaking. Also, there was not a single palm tree to hide under on the dunes. So the choices for camping was clear and restricted to the designated campsites.
In general, free camping in Brazil is prohibited unless you find the spot where the police won't see you, which is what we did in every time. We camped for most of our trip, except then were in cities, where we stayed in pousadas or hostels. In the end, you won't save any money by free camping because you don't have access to a kitchen and so you need to eat in the restaurants where your daily budget would be 30€. It's exactly the same as the cost of a stay in a pousada. Pousadas and hotels have breakfast included. Choosing free camping is generally the personal matter, I like to sleep under the sky with million stars and next to the sea and waking up with the sunrise. This is the best way to get as close to nature as possible.
Jericoacoara - kite surf paradise
Three days are enough in Jericoacoara if you want to experience the sand dunes. I was tempted to try the kitesurfing, it is a paradise for kite surfers. The 3h package costs 450B$/120€ while 10h package 1500B$/450€. I decided to try it another time once I have my own second-hand kitesurfing kit (800€). Then I can try by myself. It looks like Brazil is not such a cheap destination, especially for foreign tourists. The locals have the market quite well and set their own prices. That's why people in Brazil can get rich quite quickly without any inheritance. Everything here is a black market. Lots of foreigners, such as Italians and Argentinians investing in propriety.
Eventually, we decided to end our activities in Jeri with the most economical option and took a ride with a private buggy driver (280B$/80€)
https://goo.gl/images/06Tct8
To share the cost of the buggy hire with other two people it is recommended to go down to the Center of the village at 9 am. Then you can divide the official price of 350B$ by 4. We experienced a pretty adventurous and challenging drive across the dunes straight to the idyllic fishing Turtles beach. I must say this trip was worth every penny we paid for it. The adrenaline ran high and the experience of being in the middle of these 20m high mountains of sand was special. It felt like being in the Sahara desert on one side and on a sea coast on the other one.
Turtles Beach
We learned (in Pipa) how to cook a typical Brazilian dish - Tapioca
We benefited from having access to a kitchen while camping and cooked six tapiocas every morning for breakfast. Once with eggs, cheese, avocado and tomato; another time with ham, cheese and tomato/cucumber salad. Tapioca is the best discovery ever. It is very filling but not fattening. Tapioca is a gluten free starch extracted from cassava root. This species is native to the North Region of Brazil but is found throughout the South American continent. It can be served as a salty or sweet meal. It takes five minutes to make. It doesn't require other ingredients than tapiocas flour (1kg/1€) and some ingredients to add. It is a very much recommended dish for vegans and healthy eaters. It's a cheap and valuable meal.
