Jijoca de Jericoacoara (Brazil) via Fortaleza (Brazil)
06 JUNE - 11 JUNE 2015
Paris, New York, London, Sydney - they're omnipotent in the consciousness of the mind of the traveler. They're the beacons that somehow draw you into their gravitational frame of reference. Somehow you feel compelled to visit and inevitably there's something that captures the imagination. They're locks. That's a given.
Other experiences of mine have been happy discoveries when 'sailing the seas of consequence', places like Buenos Aires (Argentina), Hallstat (Austria), Antigua (Guatemala), Caye Caulker (Belize), Cape Town (South Africa), Amalfi (Italy), El Tunco (El Salvador), El Chalten (Argentina) - there's probably a few more to add AND they're not so hidden. These places are well known but it was the unspecified consequence of chance and choice that delivered me to these locations without preconceived notions of what would exist, usually, but not always, being the route to take for the happiest of surprises....and then, you have a third category, he 'randomly referred locations'.
I've found that the randomly referred location has also brought me a lot of joy over the years. Whilst those have been few and far between, mostly as travel discussions centre on the well traveled and traversed locales, some do happen to appear out of the blue. In this category I add Vang Vieng (Laos), Chefchaouen (Morocco), Huacachina (Peru) and Jericoacoara (Brazil).
Usually the randomly referred locations come in the form of legendary or fabled stories. I recall Vang Vieng being described to me as an Apocalypse Now type of setting, random bars located in the Lao jungle where drugged out hippies floated down the river on rubber inner tubes looking for their next giant water slide....(and guess what)...that was more or less the case (back then, FYI). In the same manner "Jeri" was sold to me as a hippie hangout, 'kumbaya' sing alongs on mountainous sand dunes overlooking the sea. Streets paved of golden sand and not a closed toe shoe within 50kms...(and guess what)....well, I'll get to that in the moment.
Our flight out of Foz du Iguaza was via Brasilia, landing in the city of Fortaleza early in the evening, a city of around 2.5 million people and the fifth largest in Brazil. Whilst this acted purely as a transit destination the city, or rather the beaches, were more than pleasant, and we spent a nice day working out the logistics of how to get to Jeri whilst downing beach side caipirinhas. This my friends was also the trigger for my downfall - once again....
Fortaleza - Brazil
Whilst in Fortaleza we stayed in a nice beach side hotel called the Seara Praia. The top floor had a rooftop spa, nice views down the coastline and bar service. This as they say in the classics was the 'Return of the Mack', or something akin to that, you know insert whatever moniker you want for making a comeback. I do believe that it was another errant Tom Collins, or at the very least, a drink with a bit of squeezed lemon that commenced proceedings, but 2-3 weeks after shaking off awful stomach troubles whilst in Puno (Peru), whatever it was that was somehow still lurking in the nasty crevices of my intestines decided to come back for a second bite. I knew it immediately too. I knew what trouble existed just over the horizon. In that moment I tried to rationalise it as just some acid reflux that I'd easily step out of but come the next day, the very moment when we started our 5.5hr journey by minibus to Jeri, I was layed out on the back seat and painfully riding out every bump on that God forsaken highway to nowhere. Now, I've done that same road a few times since then and can say that its not nearly the pot holed riddled bomb pit that I make it out to be, but bouncing in the back of the van with that ultra sensitivity to vertical movement in the hope of delaying the upcheck reflex - man oh man, that was a nightmare.
Jericoacoara - Brazil
Jericoacoara - Brazil
Jericoacoara - Brazil
From Jijoca to Jericoacoara the only method of transport is via 4*4. All the roads are sand and there's just no other way. Quite the pleasure ride into wild if at peak fitness at will but somewhere on that road, I believe it was when we stopped to view some pissant lake (which was probably quite nice), the ghosts of Tom Collins' past came back to me. On that day I left a piece of me out on the dunes of Parque Nacional de Jericoacoara - there's just some thing in life that you can never get back.
It took me a few days to get into the idea of Jeri, that was purely for the fact that a lot of that time I was occupying a position on the 'bed of recuperation'. Inga however was like a duck to water, what more does a Latvian girl want than sun, getting a sun tan, beach life and sand wherever you go?
When I finally recovered myself I found Jeri to be quite the location. Probably not exactly the trippy hippie commune set in the sticks of Northern Brazil but how can you go past streets of sand, sand floors in restaurants and bars, and a saloon where the locals do actually tie their horses up out front. The place was and is quite beautiful with God's additional gift of magical sunsets being granted almost upon request.
Jericoacoara - Brazil
Jericoacoara - Brazil
Jericoacoara - Brasil
Jericoacoara - Brasil
If the beach wasn't on the agenda for the day then there were other opportunities aplenty. One of those day we did a quad bike tour around the area that took us to dreamlike places like Paradise lagoon (both Lagoa Azul & Lagoa Paridiso), place where the water is disarmingly clear and you can pick your own hammock in the water, swaying in or just above the azure water. If this place isn't an advertisement for 'tranquilo' then I don't know what it.
Lagoa Paridiso - Jericoacoara - Brasil
Jeri has a lot going for it, a relatively small community of 16000+ people, sand, beaches, bars, relative isolation. If anyone is interested, here's my vote to you for a randomly referred location.
Fortaleza airport - on the way to Rio - Brazil
Getting there
We got to Jeri utilising www.fretcar.com.br
Book from Fortaleza to Jericoacoara - there will be a transfer required in Jijoca. The site covers that, so don't be surprised by the request for two tickets, it's essentially Fortaleza - Jijoca, then Jijoca - Jericoacoara
The site is in Portuguese, so if you're unsure then go to a Fretcar agent in Fortaleza, either the airport or on the beach in Meireles.
Time wise you're looking at 6-7hrs one way.
