Jericoacoara

is a small fishing village windsurf and kitesurf mecca in Ceará, Brazil, around 300 km west of Fortaleza. Jeri, as it is affectionately known, is the kind of idyllic place where many travelers end up deciding to stay for longer than they had originally planned. Jericoacoara is a place removed from the hurried modern world of screeching sirens, maniac deadlines, traffic jams and endless lineups. A place where streets are paved with sand, where beaches stretch as far as the eye can see and where warm water marries with palm swaying breezes. Until about 20 years ago, Jericoacoara was still a secluded and simple fishing village. There were no roads, no electricity, no phones, no TV’s, no newspapers, and money was rarely used. Since 1984, the area around Jericoacoara was declared Environmental Protection Area (APA) and became a National Park in 2002. This brought many building restrictions and tourism controls what help to preserve the area. Electricity arrived in the village and today, hot showers and air conditioning are no longer luxury articles. However, illumination of the streets is forbidden by local law.

Lencois Maranhenses

There is nothing comparable to the fascinating Brazilian Lencois Maranhenses. The area of Lencois Park, located on the east coast of Maranhao State, involving the cities of Humberto de Campos, Primeira Cruz, Santo Amaro and Barreirinhas, the last being the main gateway to this fantastic natural beauty. Its greatest attraction is the National Park Lencois Maranhenses, rounded by the Preguica river, in Maranhao. It is 155 hectare of stunning countryside, full of high dunes up to 40 feet tall and freshwater ponds, whose waters range from shades of green and blue. The Lencois Maranhenses seem a great desert, but the rain drops 300 times more than the Sahara Africa. These are the waters, trapped between the dunes, form true tropical oasis, obligatory stops for anyone who walks in the dunes. Some ponds will even have fish. The rain creates lagoons that appear throughout the area of the park form a unique landscape around the world. Being a rare geological phenomenon formed over thousands of years through the action of nature. The most famous lagoons are called Lagoa Azul (Blue Lagoon) and Lagoa Bonita (Beauty Lagoon), famous for its charm and excellent swimming conditions.

Package 9 Days:
DAY 1 – Fly to Fortaleza. Drive to Jericoacoara.
Connect onwards with a flight to Fortaleza in the North East of Brazil where on arrival you will welcomed by a guide and transferred around 4 hours by private vehicle to your hotel in Jericoacoara for a 4 night stay. Check-in, relax and enjoy the remainder of today at your leisure.
Jericoacoara is an unforgettable destination. With an exotic beauty and hard to describe landscape, the region is surrounded by dunes, virgin beaches and natu-ral sculptures. Located 300km away from Fortaleza, Jeri as it is known, is consid-ered an ecological sanctuary. In 1984, it became an area of environmental pro-tection and practically untouchable. In 2002, it became a National Park. Today, it is one of the most important postcards of Ceará; a place removed from the hur-ried modern world of screeching sirens, deadlines, traffic jams and queues. A place where streets are paved with sand and beaches stretch as far as the eye can see. Until around 20 years ago, Jeri was still a secluded and simple fishing village. There were no roads, no electricity, no phones or TVs, newspapers and money was rarely used. Most commerce was made by trading goods such as fish for rice and so forth. Today, the town has entered some elements of the modern world but remains a peaceful and remote haven where you can enjoy the stun-ning beaches and array of water sports for which the town draws many visitors.
DAY 2-3 At leisure in Jericoacoara
At leisure on the beach. If you fancy something a bit more active we suggest you hire a dune buggy and roar through the dunes and along the beach via a village called Praia to an area with several beautiful lagoons (Lagoa Azul and Paradaiso).
From here take a sail boat across to an island (5 minutes away) with a restaurant and bar situated on the shores of Lagoa Azul. Here you will find classic Brazilian scenes of hammocks and tables in the shallows. Jeri also offers fantastic kite surf-ing (there is a kite surfing school for those in need of instruction).
DAY 4
Today you head off over the dunes that skirt Jeri, westwards on your trip to Sao Luis via Barra Grande and Barreirinhas (Lencois Marahenses). This drive promises to be spectacular with beautiful dunes to the left and blue crashing waves to the right! It also promises to be rather lateral with an estuary crossing in which your vehicle sits atop a floating platform and gets poled across the water by two locals! Continue onwards through a mangrove swamp to Funil (a 50m sand dune). From the top en-joy fabulous views over the whole landscape (and perhaps surf down its side) before continuing on via Tatajuba village with its various lake side restaurants. Continue on along beaches and over sand dunes until you reach your next water crossing – a motorised ferry (capacity 4 vehicles).
Locally hand-built fishing boats adorn the jetty where you meet your car and finish the day with a short drive up the coast to Barra Grande for a 3 night stay.
DAY 5-6 – At leisure in Barra Grande.
At leisure to enjoy the beach and the fabulous views. The local bar is an excellent spot to sit and watch wondrous sunsets.
DAY 7 – Journey by speedboat and 4×4 to Atins.
Private transfer from Barra Grande to Parnaíba by Porto dos Tatus, departing at 8am. You then board a speed boat from Porto dos Tatus to Tutóia departing at 10am, crossing the Delta do Parnaíba through several creeks, dunes and islands with a stop at Baia do Caju for a swim. Take a break at one of the islands in the Del-ta, arriving around 3pm at the port from where you continue to Caburé. You’ll be on the road for 30 km until Paulino Neves known as the Oasis of the New River. Arrive at Pequenos Lençois where the trip heads off-road along 27km of beaches. Finally, transfer by speed boat from Caburé to Atins departing at 4:30pm.
DAY 8 – Tour over Big Lencois on the Green Lagoon.
Depart at 9.00am this morning for a tour over the Big Lençóis on the Green Lagoon by car.
DAY 9 – Trip up Preguicas River. Scenic Flight over Lencois Marahenses to Sao Luis.
Depart this morning around 8.00am for a private speedboat navigation from Atins to Barreirinhas through the Preguiças River. Stop en route at Vassouras, a small fishing village along the river (we recommend the riverside bar here – the local monkeys put on a fine show!) and the Mandacaru Village to admire the view from the top of the local lighthouse.
At 10.00am depart for scenic flight over Lençóis Maranhenses and on to Sao Luis. Your luggage will follow by car.
On arrival in Sao Luis you will be collected at the airport and transfered to Portas da Amazonia for your overnight stay.