Cumbuco kite surfing vacation

4214It was a little more than 1 month ago when I got the chance to catch a vacation to Cumbuco, Brazil.

My friend Gui was already going there and I thought that it was one of the opportunity I’m not gonna let go easily…. so I quickly made arrangements at work, sacrifice some days from the Christmas time in Italy and booked my 10 hours  flight Amsterdam-Fortaleza.

I stepped in the plane with -2 degrees and step out +30: enough to forget the previous 10 hours 🙂

Landed at Fortaleza, I found a Spanish dude sent there to pick me up with his truck and drove me 40Km in the north to the small fishermen village of Cumbuco.

Cumbuco is another world famous kite surfing Mecca, a places “100% wind guaranteed” confirmed by the fact that in some hotels you won’t pay the night if there’s no wind in the day 😀

I loved the place and the life there.

It’s a touristic place, true, but nothing like big hotels or fancy restaurants…..  it’s an authentic fishermen village with some touristic infrastructures for kite surfers…. not really demanding people.

 

4184We stayed in a cool pousada, run by a curious Spanish guy that had left the rat race for an alternative lifestyle in Brasil. I lately got to know his friends, with similar inspiring stories.

Our room was beach front, with a nice veranda with amacas, so typical there, and chairs.

 

THE KITE SURFING

I was amazed by the weather conditions: +30 during the day, +25 during night, good wind (12-20Knots) from 10am till night, not only good for kite surfing but also to keep the humidity low.

We never suffered for the heat, and the AC wasn’t required to sleep like babies. Kite surfing was the best sleeping pill…

The kite surfing opportunities are different there.
Right in front of our room the large beach lead to the ocean, not a place for beginners and with waves 1 to 2 meters.
A shock for me, used to the flat water of lakes and lagoons 🙂

Surfing in the waves is a challenging option, but following a downwinder opens to a range of interesting possibilities.

Downwinder means kite surfing following the wind direction along the coast, moving from one place to another.
Going downwind for about 7Km allowed us to reach a nice – but crowded – lagoon, where locals were standing dangerously close to the water to look at the jumps.
A hat was serving aqua de coco and what I called the “ugly fish”… a dish with a whole grilled fish with a bad face, but good flesh, together with rice, beans, tomatoes and some salade.

Anyway, going for longer downwinder would take to a platform acting like harbor that was affecting the waves in a way that was absolutely fantastic, if I only had knew how to ride them 😀
The place, Cauipe, was a doomed place as we got scared like hell by pales raising just above water and almost not visible, and a current drowning us just there.

Longer downwinds can take you virtually to Guyane and Suriname 🙂
The way back from these downwinders is guaranteed by buggy cars that, for a cheap price and some thrill, drive you on the beach as load as they can get.

So, an ocean with waves, downwinder and a lagoon were providing enough variety for my kite surfing week.

4235


BRAZIL

No need to say that 1 week is nothing and I could not see much, anyway I report here what I can…

The food there is just great: great quality meat at the churrascaria’s, like picanha, carne do sol, costela (a whole cow’s rib served with the bone!) together with lots of beans (fajieao) and vegetables were easy to find.

4157To drink, the amazing juices of caju (my favourite), acai (with cereals, enough to give you energy for 1 day and 1 night, picture on the left), abacaxi and others fruits never saw before.
Or the “agua de coco” sold on the beach: they open an hole in the coconut and put a strow in it for you to drink it out.
And what about capirinha? freshly made, for less than 1 euro a glass….

OK, let’s move on.

I loved Cumbuco because the fishermen are still there, so you can choose to go to touristic places (cheap) or to local’s places (cheapest).

The restaurants for locals don’t serve fish, as they assume fishermen have enough of it, and a plate of meat with vegetables and a fresh juice were at 6 Reais, something like 2.5euro 😀

People are talking to you in Portuguese assuming that you can understand them, in fact they can talk for ages without noticing your empty face showing confusion.

What I didn’t like? The girls.

Not because they’re not beautiful (less than expected, but some are really stunning) but because they play for money.
They would do anyway for free, but tourists are a nice source of income for the low class.
That’s the problem, Brazil has high class and low class, but nothing yet in between. As in many other countries, this separation increase criminality and prostitution.

Can’t really say much more about Brazil, such a big place requires months and some travelling to be evaluated, but at the same time I’m happy that we found a touristic place with some genuine elements in it!

 

All the photos:

IMG_0404.jpg

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Di Daniele

Hi, I’m Daniele! A human being from planet earth. I founded WP-OK.it and I like dancing Salsa, running, and living a location independent lifestyle.

10 commenti

  1. Please Daniele, can you tell me in which pousada you were staying, because I’m going there on 21.of Jan. And I will need some cool place to stay for about 3 weeks. And can you tell me the price? Please reply on my email: [email protected]

    Greetings from Slovenia,

    Maja

  2. Please Daniele, can you tell me in which pousada you were staying, because I’m going there on 21.of Jan. And I will need some cool place to stay for about 3 weeks. And can you tell me the price?

    Greetings from Slovenia,

    Maja

  3. Hi Maja,
    If you are a beginner surfer, you will need at least few lessons to learn the basics before going off on your own.

    1. Hi Cloudio,
      yes I tried already, it was a kind of yogurt with cereals super-super-good.
      The acai you made in Puerto Nariño had nothing to do with that trust me! 😀

      1. i know the one you try and i reckon it taste better, but apart i didn’t make it, that one was the real thing, many more nutrients.
        I can still feel the effects 🙂

  4. Hi Daniele
    I made one guide of Cumbuco, free, with full information regarding hotels, pousadas, restaurants, spots, lagoas, travel in onibus , help to move from airpot to cumbuco, go to lagoa in bus, etc
    I readed your blog and i would like to link it in our web site, we like to inform about other experiences to show how cumbuco is seen for visitors and this blog is perfect. Please let me know if you let us link it in our web site.
    Best Regards
    Franc Plans

    1. Hi Franc,

      That’s a great initiative!
      I have some friends living in Cumbuco right now, I’ll also inform them about your guide as I’m sure they can help.

      Feel free to link to my post, thanks!

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