transport

Imaging Brazil 265: Low Tide in João Pessoa, PB (2010)

Posted by adrianoantoine on April 11, 2017

Posted in: Beaches, Brazil, Joao Pessoa, Landscape, Paraíba (PB), Photography, tourism, Travel. Tagged: adrianoantoine, Areia Vermelha, Brasil, Brazil, João Pessoa, low tide, Paraíba, photography, sandbank, tourism, transport, travel, water. Leave a comment

A personal selection of photographs with their stories.

265: Areia Vermelha

You will find a great variety of coasts and beaches along the very long Brazilian coastline. For example cliffs, sandstone shores, sandy beaches, beaches that disappear at high tide, sand banks. These sand banks are very popular among tourists; local boatmen try to have their profitable share. To a somewhat expensive rate they offer boat trips to the sand banks. However, at the larger and better known beach resorts, these boat trips are under the control of the municipality, and only licensed boats are allowed to transport tourists. As in Maragogi, Porto de Galinhas, and here in Joao Pessoa, where they offer boat trips to Areia Vermelha. At low tide, the ferry, with several dozen tourists, heads to the sandbank, and returns a few hours later, at the time when the sand disappears again, being taken by the water.

MARANHÃO (06)
Lençóis Maranhenses In and Out, By 4X4

(Click here for the complete coverage of ‘Maranhão’)
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Destination São Luís, capital of the state of Maranhão.
The dune landscape of Lençóis Maranhenses is accessible by a 4×4, over secondary roads and by using a ferry.

Click here to view general information about SÃO LUÍS

One of my favorite pictures of this travel:
A gently waving horseman in Lençóis

4×4

The small city of Barreirinhas may indeed be considered as the gateway to Lençóis, but that does not mean you can enter the park by a short walk. A 4×4 is needed, such a powerful monster that is able to drive on loose sand and wade through puddles. Such vehicles are for rent in Barreirinhas. It is strongly recommended to negotiate about the price. The boys and men who offer these 4×4 vehicles, are experienced enough to increase the fare for foreign tourists. It is best not to accept the first offer, and to ask around a bit more. Try to make them clear that they are not the only option of you. Talk a little with them, and show them that you are not very interested in their offer. Less than fifteen minutes later, when you are about to order your second beer, they come back and offer you a lower fare. Keep on insisting to accept a low price only. These men are keen enough to ask more, just before the start of the ride. Do not give in, insist with agreement you already had made with them.

The Preguiças River had to be crossed.

Tough ride

Such a journey is quite an adventure. The 4×4 is comfortable on paved road, but your body will become a bit hurt when the car is riding on loose sand and through deep puddles. Sometimes the driver has to use all horsepower available to move the car on. Sometimes the driver has to make sharp moves to the left or to the right; you are hurled back and forth. And it also happens that you jump a few decimeters from the seat. These seats are not covered with plush, but they are simple benches. It is not difficult to imagine that some passengers will have some bruised spots on their bodies as a vivid memory of this rough and tough ride. Just for free…

One may imagine that the ride with a 4×4
may be very tough here

This trajectory is quite smooth and comfortable.

Fortunately, the 4×4 has high seats,
so you will not get wet

Crossing the puddles is good for
some interesting shots

The cars are waiting patiently upon the
return of the passengers

The Lençóis national park has its own
inhabitants, as shown here

Just readable: Please visit Atins
Beach! And we already were
planning to go there….

By Dr. Adriano Antoine Robbesom
Original text in Dutch, translation with help of Google Translator
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Travel in Brazil: MARANHÃO (02). Dunes of Lençóis Maranhenses II (insiderbrazil.wordpress.com)
Travel in Brazil: MARANHÃO (01). Dunes of Lençóis Maranhenses (insiderbrazil.wordpress.com)
COLORFUL BRAZIL: Dunes of Lençóis Maranhenses (MA) (adrianoantoine.wordpress.com)
COLORFUL BRAZIL: Sunset at Atins, Maranhão (MA) (adrianoantoine.wordpress.com)
Travel in Brazil: Belo Horizonte – MARANHÃO: (12) Imaging the Bus Travel, Hour by Hour V (insiderbrazil.wordpress.com)
Travel in Brazil: MARANHÃO (04). Colorful Lençóis Maranhenses (insiderbrazil.wordpress.com)
Travel in Brazil: MARANHÃO (03). Barreirinhas, Gateway to Lençóis Maranhenses (insiderbrazil.wordpress.com)
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CURITIBA (06)
Images From a Bi-Articulate Bus

(Click here for the complete overview of ‘Curitiba’)
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Destination Curitiba, capital of the state of Paraná.
Photographs of the center of Curitiba, taken from the rear of a bi-articulate bus

Click here to view ‘General Information’ about Curitiba (including videos)

A bi-articulate bus in front of Shopping Estação.

Double harmonica

Articulate buses are common in The Netherlands, since a few decades. I took such a regional bus, painted in yellow, to the high school during the eighties of the past century. Initially, when this bus type was introduced, many students went to the back, in order to experience the sometimes hefty movements when the bus was rounding the corners. Some even dared to stand in the ‘harmonica’ space. When I was traveling to the Dutch city of Utrecht for a job interview, I first met a bi-articulate bus, which follows the route to the university campus ‘De Uithof’. In 2005, I met the orange-red bi-articulate buses in Curitiba, who follow two different, fixed routes. The buses, introduced in 1992, follow specially designed bus tracks, thereby avoiding traffic jams.

Tube

The many bus stops along the tracks of the ‘ônibus biarticular’, as the bi-articulated buses are called in Portuguese, have the shape of a elongated tube, the so-called ‘estação-tubo’, with turnstiles at both sides, and ticket- and payment facilities. As a result, no delays occur when boarding. The bi-articulate buses have the capacity of 270 passengers. According to the numbers of the City of Curitiba, at least two million Curitibans make use of the nearly two thousand buses and four hundred bus services, on a daily basis. The City subsidizes part of the bus fare (2.20 reais in 2008), and the prize is significantly reduced (to 1 real only) on Sundays and holidays.