Day 1 – Saturday (05/31/2014)

I bought the ticket from Rio de Janeiro to Christmas in a mega promotion from TAM (R$$360 round trip) with two other friends and we went to visit a sweetheart who has been living in the Northeast for almost 2 months. The goal of the trip: to make the most of the beauty of RN and catch up on the homesickness at the same time! We ended up visiting Natal, Pipa, Genipabu and Pirangi and I'll tell you all about it below. 🙂

Going from Rio to Natal

We took the flight on Friday night and arrived in Natal around 2:30 a.m. on Saturday. We got off at Augusto Severo airport and the taxi to our friend's house in Capim Macio cost R$1,400,000. We arrived super excited about the reunion, but we forced ourselves to go to bed early to enjoy the Saturday that had already started. We woke up at 9 a.m. and our hostess prepared delicious tapioca with coalho cheese for breakfast. A perfect welcome, even more so with the delicious view from her apartment:

Our accommodation in Pipa

After hearing the taxi driver speak very highly of Pipa's nightlife, we felt like sleeping there on Saturday and chose a hotel on Booking, Earth Magic, which had a great cost benefit, with the room for 4 people costing R$$50 each. We packed our things and hit the road towards Kite (1h30 south of Natal).

Getting to know Christmas

On the way to Pipa, we passed by the coast of Black Point, which is pretty cool with the Bald Hill on the right corner and several cool restaurants:

On the way to Pipa

The road to Pipa was OK until we came across this spectacular view, look:

SURREAL, people! The most beautiful thing! We took thousands of photos, drank coconut water and calmed down, because the excitement was only increasing! We continued on the road and shortly after, we stopped at Madeiro Beach, already known and recommended by our host friend.

Madeiro Beach

We parked the car in a parking lot on the side of the road (R$5) and went down a long flight of stairs until we reached the sand. As soon as we arrived at the first bar, Barraca do Jegue, we were greeted by a very excited French girl (Candice) speaking very cute Portuguese and we stayed there.

We took a tent for ourselves (1 huge umbrella + 4 wooden chairs lying down) and started the celebration by ordering caipirinhas/caipivodkas made with cashew and cajá, which were simply AMAZING. Many street vendors passed by us offering jewelry, food and souvenirs, but the one who caught our attention was the guy doing the SURF/SUP (Stand Up Paddle).

My first time doing SUP 

We immediately agreed to take classes with him and within an hour of our arrival, we were in the sea. The class he gave was right on the sand and then he put each of us in the water with that huge board and paddle. We were in a place with little wind and current, but even so, standing up seemed like an impossible task for me. My friends managed it after a few tries, but it didn't work out for me.

My fear of sharks and other animals blocked me and the only thing I wanted to do was sit on the board without touching the water. I did this for a while and when I realized it, I was taken to an area with wind and current and I couldn't get out of there. My friends were super comfortable even with the current, but my panic didn't go away. To make matters worse, after almost half an hour in the sea, I saw a dolphin less than 5 meters away from me. Total panic. I screamed in horror and they came to me, super excited at the idea of seeing it again.

After a long time paddling against the current and barely feeling my arms anymore, the assistant of the guy who sold us the lessons came to rescue us with the kayak. He said we couldn't stay there and blah blah blah. As if I wanted to stop there, right? LOL. Anyway. One of the four of us later went surfing and managed to catch several good waves in that area that didn't have much current or wind.

We went back to our stall, ordered drinks and some snacks and everything was wonderful. It's a shame that the quantity wasn't that great... 

Love Beach

We left there excited to see the Love Beach, but we had to face those huge stairs on the way back. When we got to the car, my legs and arms were shaking… lol. We headed to the beach, with the feeling that everyone had already left (it was about 4 pm), especially after we saw the empty parking lot (R$5). We passed by a super hostel cool which has beds outside the rooms, look how cool:

When we arrived at the beach, we were met with a really cool view and a really pleasant temperature, since the sun was not very strong:

We took several photos and spent some time enjoying the breeze and the view. What a great vibe this place has! Here are some tips for tours there:

Going to the hotel in Pipa

We left there and went in search of our hostel. Our GPS wasn't working and the Booking map didn't help much either, so we had to ask for directions on the street, which ended up being the funniest part of the day. It was amazing how nice the people were when it came to explaining things, but we didn't understand the route we had to take. It was all “go up and then go down”, “turn after the bus stop” (bus stop = bus stop), “you'll see the pavement” (pavement = asphalt) back and forth, so much so that we got lost many times, laughing a lot! After more than half an hour of searching, we found our cute hotel.

Dining in Pipa

We got ready for dinner and asked the friendly receptionist, who was Argentinian but had moved from Spain less than 8 months ago, for recommendations. She told us about a restaurant on the street from the hotel, before reaching the main street, that served artisanal food. It seemed (and was) perfect for us. The name of the restaurant is Monkey and it's so cute. It's small, has cool decor and, most importantly, delicious food. It was definitely worth it!

Strolling through Pipa

We then went for a walk along the city's main street, which is full of cute little shops and restaurants, super cozy. It reminded me of Búzios (RJ), except it's smaller and the people who frequent it seemed less arrogant...lol. We walked around a lot and then went back to the hotel. We slept like logs.

Day 2 – Sunday (01/06/2014)

We woke up around 8am, had a very tasty breakfast and when we stepped out of the hotel towards the main street, we realized that it was starting to rain.

We thought it best to do the checkout and drive to the other attractions we wanted to see. We almost stopped at Pipa Beach, but we believed our friend when she said that the beach was nothing special and we continued our journey towards LARGEST CASHEW TREE IN THE WORLD.

Update: a blog reader told me that the largest cashew tree in the world is actually in Piauí and is known as 'King Cashew Tree'. I checked it out on Google and it’s true! See how things are…

Before parking the car, we were approached by a very friendly salesman who offered us a dip in the natural pools of Pirangi with a Buy 3, Get 4 promotion. Since it wasn’t even 11am and the speedboat diving trip would last a maximum of 2 hours, we immediately agreed. Just look at the view from the beach…

Boat Tour in Pirangi

It was just the four of us tourists on the boat and when we got to the pools, I have to admit I was a little disappointed. The guy had said that the place where the boats stopped was different from the place where the big boats stopped, which made me think it would be something exclusive. It's not. Everyone dives in the same place. We got off the boat with the snorkels from the company and went in search of the promised colorful fish. We saw very few, perhaps because the water was quite busy with the amount of people there. We only managed to see many fish when one of the guides started feeding them, which was really cool, but not at all natural. We took the opportunity to take several photos and that was it. I was very frustrated, but I think my friends enjoyed it.

I prefer nature walks, like it was in Nobles (MT) or as I see it is in Bonito, Noronha, Ilha Grande or Abrolhos (I did it with my parents when I was a child). After we left the pools, we passed by several cool beaches, like Buzios, which is full of summer houses and because it is very windy, there are many people practicing kite surf. The coolest thing there was seeing several dolphins swimming! It was much more exciting for me, being “protected” on the boat. We even passed by a beach that is practically private (whose name I don’t remember, but it was very beautiful).

Getting to Know the Largest Cashew Tree in the World

We returned from the tour feeling refreshed and went straight to the famous cashew tree. Guys, it really is incredible. A single seed, planted over 120 years ago, has produced a SINGLE tree that occupies an entire city block (and continues to grow). Look how beautiful it is:

I found the place to be extremely organized, with guides who will answer all your questions. They said that in the summer it is possible to harvest cashews (more than 70,000 fruits) and everything is offered to visitors. Cool, right? Around the cashew tree, there is a little market with lots of cool handicrafts, but I don't know how long it will be there, because from what the guide said, they must be removed from there to make more space for the cashew tree to grow. Really cool, it's definitely worth the visit!

We took the car and headed towards Genipabu Dunes, which is half an hour from Natal, but to the North. When we arrived in Natal, we were hungry but in a hurry, so we stopped to eat some quick tapioca at a restaurant we saw by chance.

On the way to Genipabu

On the way to Genipabu, we passed by the beaches that are very close to the Mãe Luiza favela in Natal. Avoid them as much as possible, even though they have small pools and are quite attractive. We heard that they are quite dangerous.

After the bridge, we walked a bit and stopped at the Shell gas station, which my friend already knew. At this station, there is a huge sign about the dune buggy rides in Genipabu, with several phone numbers. We called the first cell phone (84 8805 7098) and luckily, a buggy driver was available and came to pick us up at the gas station. We bought the tour from Mobile Dunes and Fixed Dunes and we paid R$180 for the 4 of us (from what I understand, the price is independent of the number of people in the buggy and the maximum capacity in the car is 4 people, luckily for us).

Buggy Tour through the Genipabu Dunes

We continue on buggy to the dunes, but I confess that I had low expectations, perhaps because I was tired from the rush of the tours. When we arrived at the mobile dunes, we had a VERY PLEASANT SURPRISE. The place is beautiful, it is incredibly peaceful and the antics of the guide with the buggy are really hair-raising. I thought several times that we were going to roll over, but luckily nothing bad happened. 🙂

I sat in the back of the buggy, on the far left, and I think it's the worst position, because practically all the curves are on that side. We asked excitedly and it really was with a lot of excitement! For our peace of mind (and yours too), the guide explained to us that the buggy drivers who drive on the dunes have to take an 8-month course and the license only lasts 1 year, meaning they are always evaluated to continue working there. It was a relief when he said this, but I didn't check if it was true... lol.

We continued on to the fixed dunes and then stopped at a lagoon, always taking lots of photos. At the end, we went to the region where the dromedaries (animals similar to camels, but with only one back). We saw a FABULOUS sunset from there, with Genipabu beach below and very few people around to disturb the peace of the place. It was perfect! Our friend who lives in Natal even told us that she thinks it is the best time to visit there, because until the early afternoon everything is always full. I LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS PLACE! The dunes are beautiful, the view of the city of Natal in the background is amazing, the energy of the place is light, the maneuvers of the guide are really exciting, in short, a complete tour. If I had to go back and could only choose between 1 of the 3 places I visited on this trip, it would definitely be Genipabu.

Dining at Christmas

We left there with the help of the GPS, went home to get ready and then went to dinner at the restaurant. Cameroon in the Ponta Negra neighborhood, to end the trip with a flourish. What a beautiful restaurant, what delicious food, and best of all: the prices are reasonable, compared to the prices in Rio de Janeiro. A plate with lots of shrimp for 2 cost around R$$80/R$$90. Good, right? But hey, remember…you can’t go there wearing a swimsuit. The place is very tidy.

The time to leave was approaching and a tightness in my chest began. I loved the cities I visited, I loved missing my friend and I really liked the people of Rio Grande do Norte. It reminded me of my Bahia <3

We waited for an hour until we went to the airport, which would now be in new terminal, recently opened. We left our friend's house at midnight, because the taxi driver we booked said it would take us 1 hour to get there (the flight was at 2:00 am). Can you imagine how far it was for the guy to say he needed 1 hour in the middle of the night, without traffic? Weird. And to make matters worse, he kept talking the whole time about how dangerous the route there was and how there were a lot of muggings. Terrible. To top it off, the bill came to R$$150 for the 4 of us. What a rip-off. I felt sorry for people who are traveling to Natal and will land at this airport. Round-trip taxis will cost R$$300, which is almost the price of the promotional ticket I paid. It's a lot for just one person.

That's it, folks. In one weekend, I think I was able to see the main attractions around Natal, but I still needed to explore the capital of Rio Grande do Norte. I think there are many cool places to visit in Rio Grande do Norte, so I plan to go back one day to explore more calmly.

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