Brasil North Coast - Ceará, Piauí, Maranhão, Pará

Brasil is basically a continent in itself. Anything, aside from maybe the Andes and Patagonia, you could dream of finding in S.A. you can surely find in Brasil. From pink river dolphins in the Amazon river to canyons and mile high waterfalls. After spending nearly 5 months in Brasil I have been fortunate enough to backpack along the entire coast….almost. There were a few states I was eager to visit, so when my time at Akatu in Sao Paulo was up I quickly bought a one way ticket to Fortaleza, Ceara on the North coast. Fortaleza, with a population of over 2.5 million (metropolitan region over 3.4 million), is the 5th largest city in brasil. I arrived to a friends house and was quickly taking the bus all over the city. Praia do Futuro, Dragão do Mar, and Av Dumont were some of my city stops the past days. Always finding my way back to the Papicu bus station. Bus drivers are on strike here so getting around takes FOREVER!
I was expecting Ceara, and the north coast for that matter to be much more Afro influenced than it is. After visiting states like Rio Grande do Norte, Bahia and Pernambuco, I was expecting the same vibe.
Quite to the contrary. Ceara is totally diverse with actually very little afro presence. I found out that Fortaleza was the first city to abolish slavery in Brasil so the slave trade ports were quickly moved further south along the coast. As a gringo-bolivian (looking more gringo than bolivian ;) it helps to blend in and roam the city. People immediately think Im from Sao Paulo, which mean I´ve probably picked up the paulistano sutaque (accent).
My plan was to head West towards the state of Piauí, stopping in Jericoacoara, a small undeveloped beach town. I was encouraged to make a treck 4 hours east to visit another town called Canoa Quebrada before heading West. Am I glad I did. Caonoa Quebrada, near the city of Aracati and Majorlandia is paradise. A small town with 2 paved roads and enough hostals and restaurants to suite the high rolling big spending Europeans that often visit or ngo working backpackers like myself. I quickly made friends with ´os nativos´ as the locals call themselves. It is always cool to link up with locals because they show you a completely different side of a town you may have thought was quite simple and calm. Duna por do Sol (sunset sand dune), Ponta Grossa beach and barefoot basketball in the fishermans village (they actually have a decent court!)… My team couldn’t loose ;)
Days are spent on the beach lounging, resting up for the all night bon fire and reggae jam sessions. Canoa is reggae central! Such a nice change of pace, I was getting really sick of forro, certanejo and pagoda music.
Beach soccer and cocowater with lemos juice is a must. There are tons of activities, kitesurfing, hangglyding, buggy rides, horseback, …. All pretty pricey for me. I usually sit and watch OTHER people enjoy the extreme tourist attractions and chat up the tour guide. Always helps so when you see them later that night on the strip you actually have someone to talk to.
Travelling alone can take its tole, nice to have moments to reflect and disconnect. Canoa is just the place.
I am traveling with nothing more than a school backpack, a few shorts and tshirts and flipflops. I love the minimalist life, no worries. Few possessions. Ready to pick up and go in the blink of an eye.
I am 2 hours from boarding a 7 hour bus to Jericoacoara, an even more remote beach town widely considered one of Brasils most beautiful beaches.
The north coast is amazing, beautiful people, smiles and energy. Went to the beach with new friens to watch the Brasil game on a huge teletron. Thousands of people! Its like the super bowl X 10!! Ive never seen anything like it. Streets are littered with murals of Kaka, streamers, and green and yellow flags and paint flood the sidewalk. A beautiful woman gave me a brasil jersey and danced with me when Brasil scored a goal ;)
And I chose to live in chilly, hectic, noisy Sao Paulo because???!!!!
Bus station awaits.
Ceara, to Piauí, to Maranhão, to Pará....1000+km in the next couple weeks.