Jericoacoara is another small fishing village that existed for centuries uninterrupted before a 1994 Washington Post article ranked it among the top ten beaches in the world and it started becoming a tourist destination. Electricity wasn’t even introduced to the village until 1998 and today electrical street lights are forbidden to main dark night skies and massive hotel chains are banned.
It is popular amongst backpackers and Brazilians as a beach paradise where time stands still. It’s isolated from the main roads, separated by shifting sand dunes, and can only be accessed by driving a 4WD vehicle or ATV. There is no pavement; just sandy streets with beach bars, seafood restaurants, swimwear boutiques, açaí self service shops, and ice cream stands. There are more ATVs than cars and donkeys walk the streets with the pedestrians.
The town has a very unique charm to it, but it is certainly no longer off the beaten path. While I loved the vibe here and am glad I came; I would choose Pipa Beach over Jericoacoara if I were to return to one of the two. I think Pipa has better beaches and more beautiful coastal landscapes. Plus it is less touristy…for now.
Getting In
Jericoacoara is not an easy place to get to; especially all the way from Pipa. It was a multi day commute. I walked to the “bus station” in Pipa, aka a parking lot, for the 7am bus. I was walking up at 6:50 right as a bus was driving away. Shit I hope that wasn’t the one I needed. Why did it leave early and why didn’t I get here earlier? Luckily 15 minutes later another bus showed up. Okay phew. The bus took 2.5 hours with all the stops along the way. Then I had another two hour wait until my bus to Fortaleza. I ate lunch in the terminal and had a surprisingly tasty couscous with shredded chicken and egg paired with a cajá juice. Then it was a 9 hour ride to Fortaleza and we stopped halfway for dinner where I ate a couple of coxhinas. I arrived in Fortaleza just before 9 and Ubered to my hotel.
The next morning I got picked up by a bus directly from my hotel at 6:50am to begin the commute. It was a five hour ride to Jijoca with a 15 minute breakfast stop. Then it was a 45 minute ride from Jijoca to Jericoacoara in a 4WD vehicle. The first 15 minutes were on a normal road then we entered the pot hole ridden sand dunes. It required some serious driving skills. I got to my hostel just before 2pm.
Lodging
I stayed for three nights in Mandala Hostel. The breakfast was included so that was nice. I met some really good people while staying here. I realized I had barely spoken English during the last week in Maceió and Pipa so it was nice to meet some Brits and get to have some good banter in English; show my true personality. The first night I met a British guy Fras and we quickly became good friends. We hung out together the whole time the next few days. He was in his early 30s and we were able to vibe not only with our jokes and sense of humor but also on a more serious, deep level. We also hung out a lot with a 23 year old British guy Jimmy. You get two Brits together and the banter is absolutely hilarious. They take the jokes to extreme levels. It took me a day to get my wittiness back then I was right there with them. It was nice to have a sense of humor again and crack stupid jokes.
I also hung out a good bit with two young Dutch kids Storm and Tony. These poor 18 year old kids were at the end of their Brazil trip and had basically run out of money. Outside of lodging, they were on a 10 euro a day budget. Yikes! They decided to spend a week and a half in Jeri; it’s an easy place to do nothing and still be satisfied. We also hung out a few times with Stephanie, a Swiss girl who absolutely loved Brazil. It was her fourth time in the country in as many years. Finally there was Oriane, a French girl who I had met weeks before in Salvador. I had seen on Instagram she was also in Jeri and we ended up at the same hostel. It was nice to see a familiar face.
Food
I kept my seafood diet going while in Jeri. For my first meal I got grilled tuna with the fixings and a cashew juice to drink.
The best meal I ate was creamy pineapple shrimp served inside a pineapple with a side of crispy potatoes. It was the perfect blend of flavors.
Fras and I shared a red snapper on the day that we did the ATV tour. I was a bit too hungover to fully enjoy it, but it still hit the spot.
I continued my trend of getting the build your own Açaí and had two more in Jeri. Once again I absolutely loaded them up with toppings. I love this concept!
Hike Praia Malhada – Pedra Fuerda (2.9 miles; 318 feet elevation gain)
Of course the first thing I did when I arrived after eating lunch was go for a hike. It was a short trail along the coast just above the beach walking between the brush along a narrow path of sand.
I ran into an older couple from Manaus in the Amazon and we had a short conversation. They told me my Portuguese was very good. That’s a huge stretch, but it still always feels nice to get complimented. I just finished reading the Trevor Noah book Born a Crime (which I highly recommend) and as a traveler who always tries to learn some basics of the local language this passage really stuck with me:
“Nelson Mandela once said, ‘If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.’ He was so right. When you make the effort to speak someone else’s language, even if it’s just basic phrases here and there, you are saying to them, ‘I understand that you have a culture and identity that exists beyond me. I see you as a human being.”
I have felt this way many times while traveling around South America. Learning Spanish immediately got me more respect from the locals that I showed appreciation for their language and culture and it opened up a whole new world of opportunities and experiences. My basic Portuguese has done the same. Even if the conservations don’t go as deep as I can in Spanish, the Brazilians appreciate that I am at least making the effort to speak their language. It’s a very valuable lesson that I’ve learned from traveling and one that I will continue to leverage in the future. This is going to be much trickier in Asia but even if I learn a few words, it will go a long way.
When I arrived at Pedra Fuedra, a natural rock bridge in the ocean, it was impossible to get a photo of the rock without other people posing in front of it. Because of course Brazilians have to take the same photo with 30 different poses. Finally there was a quick reprieve and I snapped a few shots.
This Brazilian guy who was with his family started talking to me and he loved that I was from the U.S. He asked me to be in a photo with him and his family. Sure why not?
On the walk back I was beaming from the nice interactions I had. Brazilians really are the friendliest people. They love interacting with strangers.
After the hike I got a beer and watched the second half of the Canada – South Africa game. All the locals knew one another. Each new person that walked in said hi to everyone at all the different tables. Not surprising in a small town like this but it was fun to witness.
Night Life
On the first night, after having dinner with Fras, Jimmy, and Stephanie; we went to the entrance of the beach where a DJ was playing Samba music and vendors were setup on the sides. Naturally we ordered a caipirinha. We ran into the Dutch kids and went with them to Serramar a little outdoor “club” playing reggaeton and cumbia hits uplifted with a house beat. It was fun but by midnight I had run out of steam and walked home.
Brazil Futbol Match
The Brazil match was at 2pm. That morning Fras and I got some açaí bowls then hung out on Praia de Jericoacoara. The beach wasn’t as nice as the ones in Pipa but it was still good to soak in the sun and watch the wind surfers. On top of cracking our usual jokes, we also had good deep convos about our lives and the future.
We went back to the hostel for a quick shower then it was game time. A lot of people were sitting around watching at restaurants but we wanted something a little more high energy and found a two story bar that had a good crowd. It cost money to enter but also came with a free beer if you were wearing a Brazil jersey so that offset most of the cost.
Tension was high since this was the first game in the knockout round so everything was on the line. Japan scored the first goal and was up 1-0 at halftime. Yikes. People looked stressed. But Brazil whipped into shape in the second half quickly scoring a goal to tie it and another to take the lead. Every time they scored the bartenders would breakout a bottle and start pouring shots down peoples’ throats if they walked up to the bar. I was also a few caipirinhas deep at this point so I was feeling good. Brazil ended up winning 2-1 and the place absolutely exploded. These two girls came on stage to DJ and people were getting lit. It was 4pm on a Monday afternoon but the crowd energy felt like 11pm on a Friday night. People were getting lit!
Afterwards we went for an early dinner since we didn’t have lunch and I ate the delicious pineapple shrimp. Then Jimmy met up with us and he hadn’t eaten so we went to another restaurant. Fras had a second dinner but I stuck to beer. We went back to the hostel and ran into the Dutch kids who were about to head out for the Netherlands game. Perfect timing! I had wanted to watch the game with them. The three of us headed to a resto bar in the center. These kids absolutely love soccer so it was fun to watch with them. They were yelling at the scream throughout the game. The restaurant employees were also enjoying watching their reactions. The place normally closed at 11 but they stayed open just for us. The game went to penalty kicks and Morocco ended up winning. The Dutch kids were crushed. I felt bad for them, and also knew that they were on a tight budget, so I bought their beers.
ATV Tour
I woke up a bit hungover after drinking for hours the day before; starting with the Brasil game and ending with the Netherlands game. I almost bailed on doing the ATV tour with Fras since we hadn’t booked it yet but I willed myself out of bed and powered through. I knew I would regret it later if I didn’t go and just lied in bed all morning. I got up at 8 and the tour started at 9:30am. They were semi automatic five gear ATVs with no clutch but we did have to change the gears with our foot. It was just me, Fras, and the guide; who drove a motorcycle. The guide was absolutely ripping it. We got up 72 KPH on the flat beach. Then it was up and down the bumpy sand dunes, river crossings, and a few straight downhill nose dives. I was in the back just trying to keep up. I didn’t get any videos because we were going so fast and it seemed ill advised. You’re welcome Mom. The only footage I got was when we got off the ATVs and rafted across a small river.
We made a stop for coconut water then kept plowing forward. There was a few additional stops we could have made that cost extra money but neither me nor Fras cared to go down the water slides. It was a surreal experience cruising the dunes on ATVs and I enjoyed soaking it all in. After about an hour we stopped at restaurant on a Laguna with hammocks in the water. We were one of the first groups there since we didn’t make any stops and we didn’t take a million photos; as a matter of fact we took none.
It was nice to swim in the laguna on an incredibly hot afternoon. We ordered the red snapper for lunch. After two hours of chilling at the restaurant we were both ready to go. Once again we drove home like we were in a formula one race. I was getting used to driving the ATV at this point so I didn’t mind going top speed. Overall it was a really fun experience and I’m glad we did it. The hostel receptionist rides his ATV from Jijoca to Jericoacoara every day to get to work. What a life!
Fras and I watched the sunset that evening from the aptly named Dune Sunset Jericoacoara. Then we watched the first half of the French match and met up with Jimmy for sushi dinner. After more jokes and laughs, it was time to call it an early night.
