João Pessoa and Praia de Pipa

After Olinda, we headed north, wanting to explore more of the northeastern coast. As we drove along beautiful stretches of highway, the first thing that struck us was miles and miles and miles (or km and km and km) of sugar cane growing on every inch of land.  Sugar production in Brazil goes back to the 16th century and much of the Brazilian economy was built on this crop, through the forced labor of African slaves.  

Our first stop was João Pessoa, the capital of the state of Paraíba in Brazil. It was founded in 1585 and sometimes is called the city where the sun rises first, as it is the easternmost city in the Americas.  The city was much larger than we expected, with high rise buildings lining the coast.  It took some time to find the pousada since many streets were under construction.  We found Espaço Soleil and were greeted by Carol, a Brazilian teacher and pousada owner, and then her husband Cedric, who is a French chef.  https://www.espacosoleil.com/.   They were incredibly easy to talk with and gave us a lot of tips about the city, especially the local quilo, or self-serve restaurant with about 250 different options!  The most memorable part of  Espaço Soleil was the breakfast, where Cedric served brownies and ice cream to finish it off.  If we had stayed there longer than two days, we would have been in trouble.  

The city itself was disappointing- historic sites in the Center were closed and we could never quite find places that were recommended.  After that, every time we were excited about an experience, we'd say it was Wow and if we were disappointed, we'd label it as João.  

Carol strongly recommended Praia de Pipa as our next stop.  She said it was one of their favorite places and was so excited for us even called their favorite pousada and negotiated a discount for us! Pipa is located next to city of Natal, the capital city of state of Rio Grande do Norte.  Most notable in Praia was the diversity of beaches, the red stone and clay cliffs, the hikes and the marmosets (mico) that came right to our porch for morning bananas.   

YES!!  Pousada Dos Girassóis

Our litte bungalow in heaven

What a cute dude

More cats that we love

Jim and Debbie, happy!

One intense rock formation after another

Climbing the rocks on the beach

Beautiful in the setting sun

Layers of history in the rock

Handmade home for surfers

Another incredible sunset

Peacocks roaming

Jim showing Diego the wonders of the waves

On top of the jeep (jeep-ee) that took us across the cliff tops

Diego and Jim sand surfing

Guess what this is made of... turn it upside down.  The root of a palm tree!

Sunset after a day-long cruise.  The captain played Andrea Bocelli Por Ti Volare and tears came. The beauty and power of the day, the sunset and one man's voice moved us all. 

Later we moved to Pousada Terra Dos Goitis and fell in love with the peace of the place.  This is the view from the shower!

Jim loving the hammock on the front porch

Mico or marmoset on the front porch

One of the best things about this place- a fully equipped kitchen so Jim could do one of the things he loves most-- cook!

Another mico comes to visit Diego

Views from the forest trail that open on to the ocean

Diego with a turtle skull as he recites "To be or not to be.."

One of our favorite grafite pieces on the way to the beach

Debbie's favorite breakfast, papaya

Super cool grafite on our way out of town

A caipirinha at sunset

The Pipa hillsides and a very strange perspective

Jim and Diego loving it here

On our daylong boat cruise on the lake.  We stopped for a swim and oysters

Jim and fresh oysters

Diego feeding mico in the morning

The boat stopped in the lake on a sand bar, the guys working the boat set out tables, chairs and bruschetta so we could all eat in the water.  WE LOVE BRAZIL!!