Jericoacoara was not originally on our Brazil destination list since it was north of our long route south; however, after three different Brazilians told us this beach town was on their life list….well, we had to adjust our plans. Though only accessible by dune buggies and mega trucks, we were now determined to get to the land of mountainous sand dunes, capoeira dance parties, and kite surfing shores…Jeri.
4×4 to Jeri
This picture doesn’t come close to capturing the majestic nature of the dunes of Jericoacoara. After one hour on the back of a 4-wheeler with huge tires, we rounded the corner for our first taste of these “big” dunes that our friends had fantasized about….and they did not disappoint. When our friends said “big” we were thinking, ok, bigger than the jersey shore, little did we know, they were talking large as compared to the Sahara desert (some dunes at Jeri reach over 40 meters tall (that’s 130 feet for the Americans reading along), see slide-show below for some sick photos)!
The Lazy Tree
There are very few places in the entire world where you can watch the Sunrise and Sunset over the ocean from the same city on the same day, so you know we weren’t going to miss this opportunity. We hiked through the early-morning darkness (and a few cow pastures, ask Anne about the cow she woke up…lol), to share a serene sunset and a visit to the “Lazy Tree”, a tree that looks like it’s reclining on the ground because the strong winds kept it from growing upwards.
Pedra Furada
Jeri is known for this rock, and it was pretty awesome, however the journey there (which included an accidentally massive detour where we overshot it by about two miles during our pre-sunrise, star-lit hike) was even more beautiful than the destination (see slide-show below).
Sunset Dune
Enjoying sunset is ritual in Jeri. At 5pm each day, the whole town scales the massive “Sunset Dune” for the best vantage point to the west, cheers once it hits the horizon, then runs (or sand boards) down the soft steep incline to watch the town capoeira troop practice their moves in the last moments of light. We got there early to snap this photo of us on top of “Sunset Dune”.
Capoeira Every Night
To close out every evening a huge drum circle surrounds the capoeira crew. These guys have so much energy, passion and skill, it really pulls you in, yearning for more.
Horseback Riding on the Beach
On Day 2 in Jeri, we strolled over to the stables to ask about a sunset tour. We hop on our horses, and instead of the guide hopping on his horse, he gives us each a small branch, then gives our horses a pat on the butt, and off we go….solo into the sunset….
Dune Buggy Tour
As we traveled the coast of Brazil we found lots of dunes and their accompanying buggy tours, but none as spectacular as Jericoacoara. The buggy tour was R$150 ($90USD) for a 5 hour private tour through mangroves, secluded lagoons, up and down the massive dunes, and across great expanses of wild beaches.
Sand dunes are a powerful force, and they don’t really mind what is in their way. The smooth texture of the sand, and its raw power just struck me as we flew past this in our dune buggy tour of Jeri.
Nova Tatajuba Lagoon
Our dune buggy tour culminated at this lagoon-front restaurant (pronounced he-store-an-she down here :), with a “live” menu of fish and shrimp (quite possibly the best meal so far on the trip), hammocks in the water, and kite surfers showcasing their skills for our entertainment.
Begin scheming how you will get yourself down to this amazing Brazilian beach town. We recommend 3 nights-4 days in Jeri, but it could be done in 3 days if you are in a rush, but no less. Cost is a bit higher than other northnern towns, but not unreasonable (our hotel was R$85 a night, which is about $50USD, and included breakfast & Wi-Fi).
The high adventure continues! And the photography keeps getting better…not that it wasn’t good in previous editions. Sending photos thru the post is a great way to set up the trail as to what and where is happening and makes the 63 image slide show a full meal. Continue to color me green with a barely suppressed shade if envy.
Pat
Glad you are liking the layout and the posts Pat. Yeah we are taking tips and ideas and trying to make them better with every post.
The pictures of this area are so unique … some views look endless and vast… what a world we live in! thanks for connecting us to this with your words & photography … we continue to look forward to your posts and gather the inspiration for our own adventures. much love.
Oh you know it Jim, hopefully we will show some places that might not get the exposure and international draw of say a Rio, or Amazon River ya know. there are some amazing places here in Brazil. We have loved everyone, but i would say my top 4 for sights that someone should visit, would be…#1. Jeri #2. Ilha grande #3. Olinda #4. Amazon…..oh man as i make that list i realize how many awesome places i didnt mention, like Tracoso, Salvadore, Rio, Manaus, Menge Seco…oh man, i need a bigger list!
Hi Anne and Mike!
Amazing photos! I love reading your posts! I started following Anne’s blog in the fall while looking for some inspiration for my house and now your HoneyTrek is fantastic! Very envious!! I hope you continue to have an incredible time! I traveled to Kenya and Tanzania last year and will be sure to post some suggestions in the next few weeks.
Laura, that is awesome. So glad you are following along on SeeingDesign.com as well, you ROCK! Wow Kenya and Tanzania, we would LOVE some tips….if you have a moment can you drop them on the place we set up for tips?
https://www.honeytrek.com/have-any-tips-on-kenya/
https://www.honeytrek.com/have-any-tips-on-tanzania/
Loved the restaurant photo of the waiter serving your fish and shrimp…you should post that pic on their Yelp page.
Was the fish and shrimp cooked? Cuz it looks pretty raw….sushi style?
Good idea on the Yelp….let me check if they are even on there, lol. ”
Sorry, but we didn’t understand the location you entered.” i dont think Yelp has reached Jeri yet 🙂
that was the fish and shrimp before it hit the grill. we choose the shrimp and was OFF THE HIZZY!
Dear Ann and Mike,
Everyone is going to want to go on a honeytrek…or at least a trek following your route! Amazing adventures. Gorgeous photos & videos. So Proud of you both!
Alison & Dean
Thanks so much Alison, it means a lot. We hope to learn a lot about the world, inspire some friends to do their own HoneyTrek, and just live life to the fullest, every single day!
Anne & Mike,
These pictures are amazing!!! I definitely will need to keep these in mind when I travel to Brazil. I’m so glad that both of you are having an AMAZING time on your honeymoon 🙂
Sam T.
Thanks Sam….and thanks for the comment bro. it means a lot when lurkers come out and say hello 🙂 yeah Brazil is SO much more than a Carnival spot or the Amazon Jungle. it might sound surprising, but those two places might not even make our top 3 favorite things we have done in Brazil….ok well one of them might, but there are so many beautiful places. and the people here….we had NO idea how nice they would be. i am talking crazy nice, its like Pleasantville down here (in a great way). it is like everyone is your personal tour guide, and just goes way out of their way to help you do thing….amazing.
Favorite post so far! Really love the pictures. I’m making a note of this place for future destinations.
so glad you are liking Brazil as much as we did David, and glad we might inspire a trip here. a few more blog post to come on amazing cities!
lol snow boarding in sand… epic! lol im SOO going to Brazil next vaca!
Oh yeah dude Sandboarding was a lot of fun, and on your butt boarding was fun too. Brazil has just been off the hook amazing. we thought it was basically the amazon and carnival and not much in between, but we were 180degrees off base! hows the website coming along? slammin i hope!
lol thats what i was about to say, i was expecting something like carnival scene type of deal hehe… website coming along REALLY good actually within a few weeks you will see a MAJOR update, thanks for asking. We are moving into enterprise java as our core lang. Also I have hired about 10 commission based advertising sales reps, they would be starting from v2 launch itself. So just told them to contact GR for order fulfillment since i don’t wana deal with all the admin stuff lol. I also may have a surprise for you once you return, at my spare time I have been working on Honey Trek CMS on my computer lol just a simple custom CMS. Sooo where are u off to next?
Wow…pics look great man. You should have brought your snowboard along…could have started a new wave of sand-boarding
oh yeah, it was a blast. but so cheap to rent, so we had a blast every evening on those things. yet to build a jump though 🙂 thanks for the comment brotha!
So cool!!!
oh yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jeri was one of our favs.