Beach bound to Ceará

Ceará is a state in the northeast part of Brazil, a 3 hour direct flight north from Sao Paulo, best known for its amazing sandy coastline stretching 573 kilometers (356 miles). The temperatures have shifted in Sao Paulo to chilly (for Brazil) late fall temperatures of about 10C (~50 F), and while this does not sound cold, I have to report that it’s much colder than it sounds. Most buildings generally are not well insulated and nor do they usually have heat. So while the temperatures don’t sound overly cold, the layers of clothing I am already wearing on cooler days and the shivering at all times in my apartment, indicate otherwise. So as you can imagine, I have been looking forward to some sunny skies and warm temperatures for a weekend of R&R at the beach. Given the famed endless stretches of beach and year round warm temperatures, I was headed to Fortaleza, the capital and biggest city in Ceará, to meet Trevor to do a whole lot of nothing for a couple days.

True to promise, I got just that. A perfect weekend away. No traffic to the airport thanks to the timing of my departure (it seems I’m learning to schedule my flights to avoid muito transito now), no delays and a quick arrival into Fortaleza on Friday night. Trevor and I proceeded to spend the entire weekend at the beach. I vowed not to leave my beach chair and other than sleeping and eating, I did just that. And just what the doctored ordered for my ongoing recovery. We spent one day at Beira Mar, the main beach adjacent to hotels and lined with beach barracas (beach hut bars), packed with people glued to the World Cup matches running all day long on make-shift TV set ups. And, we then spent the following day at a less trafficked beach, 30 kms west of Fortaleza called Cumbuco. This beach was practically deserted once you walked a few minutes past the main beach bar catering to tourists like us. A kite surfer’s paradise (I was thinking of you, Mark!), it has a long stretch of windy beach and boast a few kite surfing haunts in town. At one point I counted over 20 kites going strong along the beach. Now that I’ve had a chance to visit the Northeast, I’m already planning my next weekend away for when winter fully hits in Sao Paulo and I’m jonesing for some sunshine again.