I had a day to relax (not be in transit!) in Fortelaza, got laundry done, walked to the ocean front, and bought some food to make my own dinner for the first time in a very long time which cost four times as much as if I’d just gone to another pay by weight buffet restaurant! But at least I had some salad and fruit and a break from rice, beans and meat.

Following morning early minibus transfer picked myself and two Aussie guys up for a seven hour transfer to Jericocoaba beach. I’d met serval people who’d told me to go here, it’s a national park with a beach flanked by sand dunes and blue lakes of rainwater. After five hours in a minibus we swapped into a converted 4×4 pickup up truck for a bumpy ride through the sand dunes to get to Jeri. It really is in the middle of nowhere, but it being Friday and school holidays we were far from the only ones there. A resort town of four main streets with no paved roads, just sand. We had time for a swim before the sunset, nearly everyone then climbs the sand dune adjacent to the beach to watch the sunset, before running or boarding down the front. We just watched the first day from a bar…it’s very chilled place! We were joined by a few American girls from our the hostel in Fortelaza, one of whom was I could tell immediately just a little bit too much for the guys. Myself and the guys made plans for fish dinner and we joined by this girl. The fish was stunning, huge snapper grilled in the street followed by the best octopus I’ve ever eaten. The guys then ran away leaving me with my new friend who then stuck to me like glue all week.

I’d originally only planned a few days in the place, but changed that to a week. We had a few days of patchy weather, but enough sun to get the tan going a bit. I spent the Saturday with the three girls on a buggy tour, which was great aside from the fact it was Saturday and all the places we went to see we’re rammed with weekenders, later in the week would have been preferential. Still lying by blue lakes in the middle of sand dunes was very cool, and the buggy ride itself great fun. The hostel I was in was brilliant, not fancy but so well run. Lots of hammocks to relax in, and every time I started to read I’d wake up half an hour later. There was a good bunch of people aside from my new limpet who kept everyone else at a bit distance. We had a huge BBQ one night in the hostel of about thirty of us that the Brazilians organised perfectly. A few nights I made it up for the sand dune sunset, before running down it. There was plenty of partying opportunities, but every night after spending the day with my new friend I was exhausted…she just needed an off switch.

This was the longest time I’ve spent in one place since Buenos Aires at the beginning of my trip, and as I reached the just one month left point of my trip I was starting to feel a bit of travellers fatigue, slightly lower on energy than usual. In high-insight I had a bit of a cold and this girl just left me with nothing at the end of the day. She lives in Salvador working as a teacher in the international school and she’d invited me to stay with her which I’d excepted…earlier in the week. We left on Thursday with the two Aussies who’d managed to keep their distance most of the week, we had an hour ride to lake for a few hours, before connecting with a minibus. It was at this point I snapped with her over something, and back in Fortelaza I thanked her for the invite but decided to stay in a hostel. With so little time left, I need to be enjoying myself to the max and I instantly felt a huge weight lift from me.

The following day a bit of a mooch, some new denim shorts purchased to replace my others which ripped fully up the butt from lying a hammock, and a bus ride over to the beach. A whole day on myself was lovely! In the evening I headed out with the two Aussies who fully admitted that the whole week in Jeri they’d avoided us because of her. Our stay coincided with “Fortal”, Fortelaza’s carnival. I wasn’t sure what to expect but it was a brilliant night. Very well organised event, and whilst I’m sure it’s not a patch on Rio or Salvador we had ourselves a ball. Helped in part by some crazy canned Guarrana based 15% proof alco-pop! We somehow managed to get into the area where the bus with the performers and all the punters who pay to walk in behind it were. They all had the sponsors T-shirts on showing they’ve bought that package, which we didn’t. But for a while no one said anything and as the bus started moving off, with our inflatable white sponsor tubes we were fully in the throng of the crowd dancing in torrential rain loving our carnival experience. Until we were tapped on the shoulder and asked politely where our T-shirts were, and then escorted out of the area! A couple of heavy deluges during the night didn’t take away from the experience, and after the main stage buses had worked their way round we killed a few more hours leaping around in the electro tent. I felt back to more normal self after a week of suffocation. Slightly melodramatic maybe….