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Ponta do Mel
in Costa Branca
Unifying mountains, dry inner land, and the coast, this semi-virgin and almost deserted area is one of the most beautiful locations in the region of costa branca, the region in Rio Grande do Norte just next to the boarder with the state Ceara.
The scenery of the region is characterized by red canyons spreading along the beaches, white and red sand dunes, oasis of coconut trees, fishing boats, and a very picturesque small fishing village. Here the cowboy, and the farmer meet the fishermen in a sort of rural zone adjacent to the beach.
We stayed in the Resort Costa Branca and once there, we could not believe our eyes: a place where we could only dream of staying. The resort has several little cabanas built on top of a huge hill, with a beautiful swimming pool from which you can overlook the entire region in almost a birds eye perspective. Carlos, the owner, had already reserved the family cabana for us, which was more like a big house with a living room, kitchen, two bedrooms, and one master bedroom. Was more than sufficient for al the equipment we are carrying with us.
In the morning, Carlos invited us to accompany him on an eco tour in the surrounding area. Since a baby manatee had gotten stuck in sand overnight, however, we had to delay this trip for a short period and decided to accompany Carlos and the Ibama to learn how they would rescue this endangered specie from the sand. As soon as we got to the beach, it was impressive to see how many local fishermen and their families were trying to help. It was fascinating to observe their willingness to help, and their understanding for the environmental protection in this area…unlike many other regions in Brazil.
After many suggestions and attempts to lift the fish from the sand, finally the officials from the IBAMA managed to place the manatee inside a water tank on their truck. They left, and everyone applauded. The manatee was in safe hands and on its way to the next veterinary.
From the manatee encounter, Carlos took us to see the beaches surrounding Ponta do Mel. We visited the famous dunes “Dunas do Rosario,” which, much different from all others sand dunes we had seen so far, are formed by an interesting combination of the sand being blown in from the ocean and the red sand being dragged in from the earth of the mainland. The uniqueness of these dunes can only be portrayed by the images, and it was inexplicable to lift a kite there, as you can view in our picture section. Further inland, you can see green vegetation, which again explains this contrast of ocean, desert, and rural vegetation.
Another beautiful sight is the canyons formed by the red sand just about 300 meters from the ocean. The cliffs are about 60 meters high, and the sunsets there are amazing. At the highest elevation, there are some crosses placed on top of the main Canyon, which served as perfect scenery for the film “Maria – the mother of the son of God”, recorded in July 2003.
Given the appropriate wind conditions, this spot is ideal for paragliding. The wind was too strong for that, so instead, we went kitesurfing as usual and decided to do a 30 km down-winder from one edge of the beach to the other.
After mapping out the region of costa branca, we decided to check the kitesurfing conditions at the beach Ponta do Mel, just next to the resort we were staying. We started near to the village on the East, and kited about 20 km downwind to the west all the way to Ponta do Cristovao.
Ponta do Mel, was a fascinating experience. Here you can choose to practice sports, or just do nothing and relax as Carlos the initiator of the resort likes to put it. In our case, the location was perfect for writing articles and editing the films we had made. It is just something else to work on a notebook having a birds-eye perspective of the ocean instead of a white blank wall or even a cubical to keep you from socializing with your colegues.
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