When we married his parents cried. But it weren’t tears of joy Aimee said with a super French accent. My sister and I just met her, and her newly wed husband James, in Jericoacoara, Brazil. It was July 2008.
Aimee and James, A French woman and Brazilian guy, told us how they fell in love and married just months later. They were pretty spontaneous in all they did. That was actually the reason we met. They went to Jericoacoara without any cash to discover that there were no ATM’s in Jeri… So they asked us if they could pay our dinner by credit card and if we could give them the same amount back in cash. Not a problem and from that moment we hung out with them for a couple of days.
Aimee and James were not the only ones who started the trip to Jeri a bit unprepared (or in my case reckless), I must admit. My sister and I traveled from Fortaleza to Camocim. The bus took way longer than expected, since the bus driver decided to have an hour lunch after we just left for 15 minutes… In Camocim we had to change to either a 4×4 car or a ‘buggy’; more or less an open jeep. We chose the latter. Our backpacks were put on top of the vehicle and we left.
Sand dunes and green and blue lagoons
The drive over the sand dunes was priceless! We saw jaw dropping green and blue coloured lagoons, wild cows, horses, pigs, birds, and so on. And the feeling of the wind through our hair while driving over the edge of the high dunes…insane!
But just like the bus drive, this ride took a bit longer than expected too. We got stuck in the sand quite a couple of times. We had to push the buggy, and at one point even other guys had to help us because the buggy got totally stuck in the sand. Then, when we drove next to the ocean, the engine of the vehicle decided it was enough. It was such a hot day and I reckon the engine was overheated. After 45 minutes we were finally able to move on.
I started to worry a bit. This ride took way longer than planned and I didn’t put on sun screen yet. And my lotion was in my backpack on top of the buggy…
We stopped for lunch at an amazing idyllic place. A small restaurant with a thatched roof at a small lagoon with hammocks in the water. Just perfect. They offered us the freshest fish ever. I enjoyed a couple of oysters, opened by the fisherman next to my table. Delicious and so cheap. I combined it with a fresh mango juice. Ok, maybe not the best combination but who cares when you’re in heaven anyway!
After lunch we still had to drive for an hour and by the time we arrived in Jericoacoara I looked like a lobster…
In the following (painful) days we enjoyed Jericoacoara withAimee and James. We went horse back riding (over the sand dunes!), saw capoeira on the beach and watched the sun set from a big sand dune, Duna do por do Sol! Jericoacoara consisted of 4 dusty streets at that time and I kind of hope it still does. The ambiance was all hippie. Think dreadlocks, hearing Bob Marley’s Redemption Song everywhere you go and only relaxed people! We visited another beautiful lagoon, drank caipirinhas at the beach and watched the stars.
More caipirinhas and spontaneous stories
And to top it off we listened to Aimee and James, funny stories.
‘I love to see (h)im naked’, Aimee said with her French tongue. James turned red. Almost as red as my lobster skin. ‘Yes, I blush a bit’, James said, ‘because I have such blue eyes for a Brazilian guy and everyone always wanted to see my eyes and stared at me since I was a kid’. ‘James…when you’re naked I don’t look at your eyes’… Aimee said. Oh well… We laughed and had another caipirinha.