It was a little more than 1 month ago when I got the chance to catch a vacation to Cumbuco, Brazil.

My friend Gui was already going there and I thought that it was one of the opportunity I’m not gonna let go easily…. so I quickly made arrangements at work, sacrifice some days from the Christmas time in Italy and booked my 10 hours  flight Amsterdam-Fortaleza.

I stepped in the plane with -2 degrees and step out +30: enough to forget the previous 10 hours

Landed at Fortaleza, I found a Spanish dude sent there to pick me up with his truck and drove me 40Km in the north to the small fishermen village of Cumbuco.

Cumbuco is another world famous kite surfing Mecca, a places “100% wind guaranteed” confirmed by the fact that in some hotels you won’t pay the night if there’s no wind in the day

I loved the place and the life there.

It’s a touristic place, true, but nothing like big hotels or fancy restaurants…..  it’s an authentic fishermen village with some touristic infrastructures for kite surfers…. not really demanding people.

We stayed in a cool pousada, run by a curious Spanish guy that had left the rat race for an alternative lifestyle in Brasil. I lately got to know his friends, with similar inspiring stories.

Our room was beach front, with a nice veranda with amacas, so typical there, and chairs.

THE KITE SURFING

I was amazed by the weather conditions: +30 during the day, +25 during night, good wind (12-20Knots) from 10am till night, not only good for kite surfing but also to keep the humidity low.

We never suffered for the heat, and the AC wasn’t required to sleep like babies. Kite surfing was the best sleeping pill…

The kite surfing opportunities are different there.
Right in front of our room the large beach lead to the ocean, not a place for beginners and with waves 1 to 2 meters.
A shock for me, used to the flat water of lakes and lagoons

Surfing in the waves is a challenging option, but following a downwinder opens to a range of interesting possibilities.
Downwinder means kite surfing following the wind direction along the coast, moving from one place to another.
Going downwind for about 7Km allowed us to reach a nice – but crowded – lagoon, where locals were standing dangerously close to the water to look at the jumps.
A hat was serving aqua de coco and what I called the “ugly fish”… a dish with a whole grilled fish with a bad face, but good flesh, together with rice, beans, tomatoes and some salade.

Anyway, going for longer downwinder would take to a platform acting like harbor that was affecting the waves in a way that was absolutely fantastic, if I only had knew how to ride them
The place, Cauipe, was a doomed place as we got scared like hell by pales raising just above water and almost not visible, and a current drowning us just there.

Longer downwinds can take you virtually to Guyane and Suriname
The way back from these downwinders is guaranteed by buggy cars that, for a cheap price and some thrill, drive you on the beach as load as they can get.

So, an ocean with waves, downwinder and a lagoon were providing enough variety for my kite surfing week.

BRAZIL

No need to say that 1 week is nothing and I could not see much, anyway I report here what I can…

The food there is just great: great quality meat at the churrascaria’s, like picanha, carne do sol, costela (a whole cow’s rib served with the bone!) together with lots of beans (fajieao) and vegetables were easy to find.

To drink, the amazing juices of caju (my favourite), acai (with cereals, enough to give you energy for 1 day and 1 night, picture on the left), abacaxi and others fruits never saw before.
Or the “agua de coco” sold on the beach: they open an hole in the coconut and put a strow in it for you to drink it out.
And what about capirinha? freshly made, for less than 1 euro a glass….

OK, let’s move on.

I loved Cumbuco because the fishermen are still there, so you can choose to go to touristic places (cheap) or to local’s places (cheapest).

The restaurants for locals don’t serve fish, as they assume fishermen have enough of it, and a plate of meat with vegetables and a fresh juice were at 6 Reais, something like 2.5euro

People are talking to you in Portuguese assuming that you can understand them, in fact they can talk for ages without noticing your empty face showing confusion.

What I didn’t like? The girls.
Not because they’re not beautiful (less than expected, but some are really stunning) but because they play for money.
They would do anyway for free, but tourists are a nice source of income for the low class.
That’s the problem, Brazil has high class and low class, but nothing yet in between. As in many other countries, this separation increase criminality and prostitution.

Can’t really say much more about Brazil, such a big place requires months and some travelling to be evaluated, but at the same time I’m happy that we found a touristic place with some genuine elements in it!

All the photos:

It has been a very special experience!
Just imagine the Sahara dunes falling into a blue lagoon… with a bunch of colored kites.
Forget about hotels, tourists, (in)civilization.
Put instead a camp with tends, bungalows and just a big hut for restaurant and bar.

This was our holiday accomodation in Dakhla, a place where people go for kite surfing of fishing

Wind everyday, sun (but we had 3 drops of rain one morning!) and ~30degrees mitigated by the wind breeze.

We have been freed by any decision for 1 week.
Only thing to choose was the size of the kite so use, also the food was provided with no alternative option…

Our days were like this:

- 7am: natural wake up
- 8am: breakfast with sweet bread, honey, jams, coffee or tea
- 9am: kite surfing
- 1pm: lunch + siesta
- 4pm: kite surfing
- 7pm: sunset
- 8pm: diner + 2 beers
- 9:30-10pm: sleeping like babies

Especially the first days, it was very tiring to kite surf so long!! But has been curious to notice how the body quickly adapt to the strenuous activity and the more we kite surf the less tired we were feeling

After 2 days, the wind during the morning became less (~10knots) with nobody in the water, waiting ~11am for the wind to pick up before starting…. it was a kind of relief for our muscles!!

After a week there, we took the jeep driving us back to the airport, this time with daylight, and we really could notice how far we were from the world, connected with rallies that remember the old glorious Paris-Dakar…

From Dakhla we had fly back to Casablanca for a quick tour of the city, that we maximized visiting the incredible Mosque (so modern, but in antique style!), a nice Hammam (with massages and body scrub), and a great diner in an outdoor restaurant with the last tagine with olives

All the pictures below: