February 27, 2007
Day 517
Me at Pedra Furada.
I went out to the beach at Jericoacoara early this morning. It was quite a nice place, and there were almost no people anywhere. Occasionally, a dune buggy full of tourists would drive past me, but that was about it. There was a large sand dune next to the town that I was told was a popular place to watch the sunset. After a few hours of walking, it got too hot and I had to retreat to a hammock under the veranda of my hotel for the afternoon.
I decided that today I would check out Pedra Furada during the sunset. It was a beautiful 3 KM walk over dunes and grassy hills with lots of grazing cattle and donkeys. Along the way I ran into many people going to the same place as me. They were mostly Brazilians from the south and Italians from what I could make out.
Pedra Furada is a natural rock arch that sits right at the level of the water during high tide. Incidentally, Jericoacoara is the only place in the state of Ceara where the sun sets over the horizon of the ocean. I've seen pictures of the sun passing through the arch of Pedra Furada, but it wasn't possible to see it from that perspective today. The photo must have been taken at a different time of year.
The waters around Jericoacoara.
One by one, people would pose for pictures underneath the rock. One lady who must have thought she was a supermodel stayed there for a good half hour while people took photos of her and others angrily awaited their turns. A couple guys walked all the way to the rock with coolers full of coconuts and other refreshments to be sold at three times the normal rate. As the sun went down, people started to clear out and I could take in the scenery alone. It indeed was quite a beautiful place. It's just too bad that it's no longer the secret little remote fishing village that it once was.
The photo album for this entry is here.
