Pipa: The Beachy Side

Praia de Centro
Peeking out from under the canopy.

Before we geared up for our first Brazilian vacation this week, I scoffed at the idea of traveling from the beach right out our front door to, well... another beach. How different could it be? In my mind, all sand is the same: sneaky, itchy, hot, and filled with crabs. While the sand in Pipa really wasn't much different than the sand in Recife, the experience was indeed totally different, and in a good way. For starters in Pipa, there was no threat of shark attacks. Instead, this insanely popular hippie town promised dolphins. Sure enough, from the beach (and from a tour boat) we could watch slick, bottle-nose dolphins swimming amongst the paddle-boarders and surfers. Even though I saw them appear probably 50 times, my reaction was always the same: a startled shout with an exaggerated arm fling and a finger point in hopes they'd freeze for only a moment longer. This was followed up with a jostling of either child dumb enough to stand near me as I'd yell "Did you SEE that?!" Oh the joy.

Praia de Madeira
for beginner surfers and paddlers. 

Kayaking with dolphins. 

We saw a bit more than dolphins- obviously a multitude of fish and crabs, some monkeys, turtles and lizards. (More on this later.) The people watching here was impressive as well. Since Pipa has evolved from a fishing town to a tourist destination, visitors from all walks of life filled the streets to dine and shop along the cobblestone main street, after energy draining days of swimming, tanning and surfing. I'm talking HOT and sunny- I went through three bottles of sunscreen, chasing after the family as they'd dash to the water, pretending they didn't hear me.

Everyday after espresso and pastries we'd hike down the 100-130 foot cliffs to explore the various beaches. We'd find a giant umbrella with lounge chairs, crack open beers and order fresh squeezed juice. It was pretty surreal, especially when I managed to get the kids to nap- yes NAP on the beach. Mark dared to suggest I just might be a beach expert like the ones I enviously wrote about recently. I wouldn't go that far. But it did help stretch the time of "vacationing" with toddlers. When Deets wasn't trying to battle the ocean with his spoon, and Margo wasn't obliging me to bury her in the sand, we collected sea shells, spied on crabs, and wandered the long stretches of beach during low tide. It was about as tropical as one could get, and considering my tolerance for intense weather it wasn't half bad. I might even say I had fun.

Crease face.

Praia de Amor for advanced surfers. And Deets.

By the afternoon we'd truck back up the cliff side with the kids on our shoulders and back to our house where I'd stand in the backyard shower fully clothed. Only after my initial cool down, could the defrocking commence as the children and husband followed suit. With all the effort of "relaxing" in paradise, I never knew we could smell so bad. Hanging clothes up to dry outside was mandatory for the entire family- especially since we packed only four outfits for each person. Big mistake. I wished I packed more considering how filthy we got; one child still in diapers and another who didn't have any underwear packed for the week. I wonder who forgot that detail? Afternoons dwindled into early dinners of meat and beer followed by copious amounts of ice cream. By 8:00pm, with another shower,  the majority of us already passed out ready to be woken up bright and sweaty at 5:30am- ready for another day at the beach.