|
|
 |
our way to Jericoacoara
at night
There we were, ready to depart to the next location on our journey¯one of the most visited windsurfing spots in Brazil: Jericoacoara.
The trip from Parnaiba to Jeri itself was an experience to be remembered. It was already 7 pm, and we had a three-hour drive ahead of us. It all went quite well until Camocin, a little coastal village in the state of Ceara. Arriving there, we decided to leave the road, which was full of holes, but nothing we hadn’t seen already, to drive along the beach. It was already completely dark. Deep down inside, in the core of our inner responsibility, we knew that it would be crazy to risk driving on an unknown beach at night. . .but there was no way to stop us from doing this!
We started asking our way around and by chance met Junior Koala, owner of the Koala off road adventure agency, who told us that it would be absolutely mad to drive to Jeri at night without knowing the way, especially because we could risk getting stuck in the sand during low tide and have a surprise as the tide came in. But luck was on our side that night. Just as we began to search for accommodation for the night, Junior received an urgent phone call. A group of tourists needed to be picked up the next morning in Jeri, and therefore he had to send one of his trucks that same night. Yea! We had a truck to guide us to Jeri after all.
We got underway and soon had to cross a river on a ferry. The fisherman responsible for the ferry were sleeping and had to be awakened, which gave us enough time inspect the craft onto which we were loading our beloved truck, all of our kiting gear, and not to mention the whole lot of our electronics, too. We were shocked, even for South America. . .imagine, if you can, a very simple wooden fishing boat. . .adapted to transport cars across the river. . .powered by an out-board motor. . .not longer than eight meters in total length. . .and so narrow that if you opened the doors to the truck you could jump directly into the water. . .
It really did not feel secure at all and we just hoped that it wouldn’t sink. To our relief, by the way the fisherman handled it all we could see that it wasn’t his first time doing this. Everything went well, and we crossed the river without any problems. The rest of the ride to Jeri along the beach was safe and uneventful, given some turns and deviations from the main path, and crossing another river on a ferry even more rustic than the one on which we had made our first crossing. Instead of an engine on this one, the fishermen propelled the boat by pushing on the river bottom with large poles. By now we were convinced that we would’ve been in serious trouble if we had not had Junior’s truck to follow. Again our sincere thanks to Junior Koala and Koala tours for their kind advice and assistance.
|
|
|
