Tibau: Sat 31 October 2001

Above, Samuel setting up one of the hammocks. Below, lunch with Alfredo (standing), Thelma (his wife next to him) and Silverina, Samuel's wife.

Below: the trick to lying in a hammock is to lie transversely (not entirely clear from this photo, though!)

Below: Alfredo in the hammock, the lady who looks after the house pointing, Silverina standing

We left Fortaleza around 0930 Sat morning. We being Samuel and his wife Silverina, Alfredo and his wife Thelma and me. Alfredo driving. Alfredo is Samuel's son. I am staying with Samuel and Silverina. An industrialist friend of Samuel has a holiday house on the beach front at Tibau, just across the border into the neighbouring state of Rio Grande do Norte. Tibau is about 250 kms east along the coast from Fortaleza. As we drive out of Fortaleza there is lots of sugar cane (as well as the usual Coconut, Cashew and Mango plantations). The sugar cane is used to make cachaca (pron. ka-sha-sa) - a strong alcoholic drink, probably closest to white rum. It is the basic ingredient of the caipirinha, Brasil's famous cocktail. Beside the road are signs for Engenho de Paolo, Engenho de Casa Vermelho, etc - these are places where the sugar cane is turned into cachaca. Small, basic factories with a brick chimney. The most popular brand in Brasil comes from the North-east - Ypioca (pron: Ipi - oka). Also beside the road are people selling fruit and local honey. The sugar cane is replaced by large Cashew plantations. Signs pointing to condominiums on the beach - some have golf courses and are popular with Europeans, esp Portuguese and Spanish, but also English. Past small villages - Iguape, Beberibe, Paripuera; across the Jaguaribe River, passed turn off to Canoa Quebrada (another popular beach - canoa as the name suggests is a small boat, quebrada is broken). As we get closer to border with Rio Grande do Norte the road deteriorates and we spend 20kms trying to miss the pot holes. As we cross into Rio Grande do Norte the road improves again and there are lots of "nodding donkeys" as Petrobras has numerous oil wells. Also, see large salt flats as Rio Grande do Norte is the major producer of salt in Brasil.

Arrive at the house and set up hammocks - hammocks are typical in North East Brazil - every house and apartment has hammocks on verandahs, etc.

The lady who looks after the house is there to cook our lunch, etc. Fish and prawns. Also, home-made dulce do caju - which is a sweet made from cashew fruit (not the nut) and sugar and is cooked over an open wood fire - a gooey, sticky, paste that is extremely sweet. Delicious. We also have home-made dulce do coco - which is like a soft toffee made from coconut milk. One of the lady's sons comes in with a wheelbarrow load of fresh coconuts - for the coconut water.

Above some pictures of the house, hammocks, etc.