Jericoacoara

According to the tourist sign, the name means "alligator taking the sun" in the native language. It refers to the way the dune looks. The dunes are the distinguishing feature of this little village, often just called Jeri by all. It attracts wind, water and sand sports people, and people who just want to chill out.

But in the story, first I have to arrive here, so bear with me. 

In the morning, I paid my hotel bill. I find that they only take Visa so I say Pago á vista. Thanks to my Portuguese lessons I know that this means "I am paying in cash" and not "boycott Microsoft". And that what I do. Pay in cash that is. Though I also boycott Microsoft. As a result I have to make another cash withdrawal from the ATM in the supermarket on the way to the pickup point.

One advantage of the hotel I stayed at in Meireiles, Fortaleza is that it is close to beach and artisan markets, as you saw, but also close to the pickup point for the buses to Jeri. I caught one at 0930. It took an hour picking up passengers from the main bus station (Brazilian long distance bus stations tend to be inconveniently located outside the city, hence the fortune of having a service that commences from the tourist hotel district), and airport. Then it travelled along the highway stopping at all towns. For the last 24 km or so we transfered to a different bus, a special vehicle adapted to the sand called a jardiniera which you see here. This vehicle has doors for every row and no windows. In total the journey took over 7 hours.

The pousada I have chosen is quite nice. It has a little garden and a swimming pool. There are tasteful garden decorations and some hammocks. The owner is Italian and the pousada seems to attract quite a few Italian tourists, I discover the next day. Whether it due to word of mouth, an arrangement with travel agencies, or that the website is mainly in Italian, I couldn't say.

I take a dip in the pool to cool off, a proper shower to clean up and then walk to the village centre to get dinner. All of the handful of roads in the village are just tracks in the fine sand. There is a pleasant breeze from the ocean.

At this point I didn't know that the dune is just around the corner and look around for package tours. A bugiero talks to me and says that you have to get a buggy-full to share the cost. If would leave my name and lodging name with him, someone might contact me tomorrow if they have a buggy to fill.

And that was pretty much it for the evening.

(To be continued.)