Pipa de Praia

Friday, January 16, 2015
Tibau do Sul, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
Tuesday, january 13th- saturday, January 17th

Praia de Pipa, Brazil

(Tami and Dean - stop reading here ... We are not finding anything fun without you!)

We flew out of Olinda late Tuesday, arriving in Natal about 8 pm and found our taxi driver waiting to take us along the northeast coast to Praia (beach) de Pipa. Arriving about 10 pm, it was completely dark out until we got into town, where we see a busy main street with tourists walking everywhere along shops and restaurants. Continuing through to the other side of town and still not being sure where we're headed, our taxi arrived at Pousada de Mirante and we were led to our house built into the trees, a large platformed bungalow with air conditioning and a full bathroom. Each pousada was free standing and isolated from the others. It was the next morning that we were able to appreciate our surroundings on top of a lookout point overlooking the main town and beach. The first full day we walked to the closest beach, Praia Amor (love), accessible only by climbing down steep staircases or rock ledges. This beach is also called 'drowning' beach because of the strong riptides . They even have volunteer lifeguards for the surfers and swimmers. After several hours of sunbathing, we decided to walk further, to another beach accessible at low tide which was also marked as a turtle nesting area, as they had numbered each nest and placed chicken wire over the top so animals didn't get the eggs before they hatched. After walking back, we stopped for a late lunch/dinner of pastries-fried dough filled with chicken and cheese along with cervejas. We climbed back up the cliffs towards our pousada for sunset, a remarkable view over Pipa. Our pousada has a sunset bar that they charge an admission fee (free for guests) that has great views over the Atlantic and town of Pipa.

Day 2 at Pipa we headed by local bus back down the coastline to the Ecological Sanctuary outside of Pipa, where we each paid $4 to enter. Once inside with our map, we quickly found two small 'tufted' monkeys hanging in the trees, although I am convinced they were expecting to be fed by us. Following the path along the ocean cliffs, we found ourselves facing dolphin bay, and true to the name, there were several dolphins in the water (unfortunately there were several loaded tour boats following along) . We doubled back to another lookout where we watched dozens of sea turtles at high tide surfacing between the waves, all from our vantage point directly above from the high cliffs overlooking the Atlantic.  

After seeing the main attractions of the sanctuary, we climbed down a steep staircase to yet another beach, this one noted for calmer waves and good for beginners surfing. Gina decided it was a good time to take a lesson and try it out. As I continued to drink beer and watch more dolphins in the bay, Gina got the basics and headed into the surf. True to her yoga core, she was able to get up on the board several times and made it look easy. At this point it was late in the afternoon and we needed to catch the bus back before dark. Climbing the steep steps back into the Sanctuary, we encountered more monkeys, only this time we learned they were being fed smashed bananas by park staff before closing. A short bus ride home, a shower, then a sushi dinner before residing on our balcony with a bottle of Chilean Malbec. We can certainly hear the nocturnal animals around us, but they seem to keep their distance.

Day 3 at Pipa has us returning to Amor beach to soak up as much Vitamin D as possible before our return home this weekend. We leave Sat morning, a long taxi ride, 4 legs of flights, with layovers, totalling 28 hours until we find ourselves back in reality.

Comments

Jessica
2015-01-16

Love the pics!
Bring some sun north when you head back!

Dad
2015-01-16

Always nice to read about your trips and look over the great pix of magnificent views... while sitting at my Mac in frigid N. Mankato with snow & muck all over the ground. Hey Gina! Great surfing pic... good for you!

Pam
2015-01-17

Of course Gina would be able to surf like a pro right away! Thanks for the update and safe travels.

2025-02-12

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