Praia de Pipa

Bus travel Belo Horizonte – FORTALEZA (05)
Looking for Dolphins near Praia de Pipa (RN)
(Click here for the complete overview of ‘FORTALEZA’)

Destination Fortaleza, capital of the state of Ceará.
Bus travel from Belo Horizonte (MG) to Fortaleza (CE), via Porto de Galinhas (PE), Praia de Pipa (RN), and Canoa Quebrada (CE).
Part 5: Looking for dolphins near Praia de Pipa.

web site praia de pipa
web site praia de pipa (2)

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Pipa Beach

Cloudy…

It was a rainy day at Porto de Galinhas, yesterday. We eagerly hoped for at least a day without rain. On our way to Pipa Beach, we had some rain. Since then, we had no rain. There were some dark clouds, but we also could enjoy some sun. During those sunny moment, the beach appeared to be subject to a complete metamorphosis. The beach did not look grayish, but turned into an eyesoring (yellowish) white. The ocean water gained the bright azure blue color. Our group had settled themselves on the beach, where they would sit down and have their drinks. Some girls spread their cangas and lied down to gain a bronze tan. the guys preferred plastic chairs under a giant umbrella. The local barman arrived quickly, and placed a plastic table. Only minutes later, he appeared again, with bottles of ice-cold beer and small glasses.

The shuttle boat, at low tide

Guaranteed

(Foreign) tourist at such popular beaches are willing targets to a large number of locals who want to make good profits. But in an easy-going way. Many ambulant vendors wander on the beach, all day long, with their merchandise. Fishermen and small entrepreneurs rent their boats for short trips on the water. Some of them offer boat trips to the lagoon, where dolphins may be observed. In order to convince skeptical tourists, they even offer a see-dolphin guarantee. When there are no dolphins to be observed, you will get back the fee of that boat trip, worth 20 reais (8 euros). Like a Dutch saying: First see, then believe…

Safety vests on the beach…

Sun!

Guarantee or not, we wanted to do this boat trip. We were offered safety vests. The crew then watched carefully whether we had tied them on in the right way. A small, flat boat carried us to a larger boat, and we went on board. The center of the deck was covered with a piece of canvas, where sun lovers were allowed to lie down. I did not join them, I preferred to walk around and take some photographs. My friends asked me to take some pictures of them, too.

On the way to the dolphin’s lagoon

Dolphin fins

It took about twenty minutes before the boat arrived in the lagoon, where dolphins were supposed to swim around. We all were somewhat skeptical about that, but soon we lost that skepticism when the first dolphin fins were observed. I was lucky to observe them too. However, other friends were not able to observe them, and son complained about that. We waited patiently for more opportunities to see the fins. They came, but they were also very fast and unpredictable. Impossible to record them or photograph them! I did not manage to photograph a single dolphin fin! Within ten minutes, I had observed the dolphins about twenty times. One good friend of mine did not see them at all. She complained with the skipper. He waved away her protest with a faint smile. She was one of the few unfortunates who did not see the dolphins..

Safety buoy, and Pipa Beach behind.

Floating

There was opportunity to jump in the water and float around the anchored boat. The majority of our group did not resist to float in the refreshingly azure blue ocean water. The orange safety vests kept them floating. Again, I took pictures of them, floating around. I did not join them. When everyone was on board again, the boat made a big u-turn before heading for the beach. A small group left the boat, and were carried by a smaller, flat boat to the beach. Others, me included, continued the boat trip for another thirty minutes. The boat brought us in front of the other side of Pipa Beach and then returned to the beach. The entire trip lasted more than ninety minutes. We were satisfied, we had seen the dolphins! For me it was the second time to observe dolphins in Brazil: six months earlier, I had seen them during another boat trip, from São Luís to the peninsula of Alcântara…

Some of us left the boat early…

We enjoyed some more time on the boat

We noticed the dolphin fins here…

Blue the sky, azure blue the water…

Back to the beach….

Other tourists had more luck…

By Dr. Adriano Antoine Robbesom
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Bus Travel Belo Horizonte – FORTALEZA (04)
First Ocean Blue Impression of Praia de Pipa (RN).

(Click here for the complete coverage of ‘FORTALEZA’)

Destination Fortaleza, capital of the state of Ceará.
A travel report of the bus travel from Belo Horizonte to Fortaleza.
Part 4: Ocean blue impressions of Praia de Pipa.

Click here for general information about FORTALEZA. (including videos)

The very first impression of the Atlantic Ocean
at Praia de Pipa…

Curious

We had spent the night in the bus, from Porto de Galinhas to Praia de Pipa. It was still early in the morning, when we left the bus. We were happy to be able to stretch our legs again, and to massage our painful and stiff backs and necks. We could not wait until we would arrive on the beach and sit there; therefore we all grouped together and walked down the main street, in search of the nearest beach. The road signs were clear enough, most of us were following these signs like hungry horses in search for their hay rack. I was not that hungry yet, I suffered more from a certain curiosity. And I was not the only one. I joined three friends, and we walked in all sideways and alleys. Our curiosity was awarded with beautiful views at steep sand cliffs and dune tops. And we witnessed a beautiful azure blue ocean. We intensely enjoyed these unforgettable views.

The serenity of blue….

Sand cliffs and dunes

Small fisherman’s boats, and small
boats for transport of tourists.

Floating along the shoreline.

By Dr. Adriano Antoine Robbesom
Original text in Dutch, translation with help of Google Translator

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Bus Travel Belo Horizonte – FORTALEZA (03)
On the Way to Praia de Pipa, nearby Natal (RN).

(Click here for the complete coverage of ‘FORTALEZA’)

Destination Fortaleza, Capital of the state of Ceará.
A report of the bus travel from Belo Horizonte to Fortaleza.
Part 3: On the way to Praia de Pipa, nearby Natal.

Click here for general information about FORTALEZA. (including videos)

One of the first images of the state of Rio Grande
do Norte, we were on the right route.

No sun

We had travel one day and a half, from Belo Horizonte, to reach the beaches of Porto de Galinhas. For many Brazilians, Porto de Galinhas is one of the beach paradises, such as Cabo Frio, Búzios, Porto Seguro, Praia de Pipa. Especially the beaches in the northeast of Brazil are very popular. They are admired because of the white beaches flanked by green coconut trees, and warm, turquoise blue water, warm water. We had spent a day at Porto de Galinhas. A somewhat disappointing day, due to the grey sky and the drizzling rain, during the day. Only in the late afternoon, when there were few moments of faint sunshine, we ran to the beach and took our pictures, for the home front. The rest of the cloudy day was spent in the small, touristic city center.

A middle class house: it is common that these
verandas are protected with wrought iron fences.
The antenna dish is very common in Brazil.

Night drive

AT night, we found a cheap possibility to take a warm shower. Above a local supermarket, a pousada was offering showers for two reais (75 eurocents). However, there were only two shower rooms available; therefore the queue was quite long. Nevertheless, we were ready to leave to our next beach paradise: Para de Pipa, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte. This Brazilian state is the top of Northeast Brazil; the city of Natal is the capital At night, we had to cross the state of Paraíba, before we would reach Tibau do Sul, near our destination, in the morning. It was our third consecutive night in the bus, we already were considering the bus as our riding home.

A lower class house: made of tree branches and
mud. The roofs of these houses often are
composed of thatches or dried palm leaves.

Exotic

It was still early in the morning, when we arrived in Tibau do Sul. We were driving along small settlements, green sugar cane fields; the reeds, moved by the predominant wind, demonstrated a massive wave to us. Northeast Brazil is known for its poverty, but also here we noticed significant differences. Humble huts, made of tree branches and mud, next to colossal country houses, which were surrounded by lush green of well-kept gardens. The closer we approached Praia de Pipa, the more country houses we noticed.Giant billboards tried to lure interested tourists buying luxurious apartments at exotic dream locations. We left the highway, and entered a secondary road. Guardians stopped the bus, but the bus driver did not need to spend much time with them. It is common to notice such guardians at the entrance roads of popular beaches.

Giant billboards,giant promises.

Parking

The bus followed the secondary road. Small road signs indicated the route. Finally, the bus halted near the entrance to the beach village. There was a large parking lot, where the bus could be parked, for a fare of 80 reais (30 euros). Our bus driver paid the fare, since it already was included in the total bus fare. (For those who are interested: a return trip of more than 5000 for 300 reais, about 120 euros). We quickly left the bus, on our way to the white beaches and the warm, crystalline water.

Tourist fares….