The Return to Pipa

Normally when I do a weekend excursion to a beach, I come home annoyed with the very idea of setting another foot onto scalding sand or swimming in ocean water. I feel like dried out leather yet bloated and ill from the salt water, beer and grease I invariably consume.  I assumed I would feel this way when we came home from Pipa but surprisingly found myself wondering when we could return. The basics remained the same: beautiful beaches, crabs galore, the good ol' hippie atmosphere. But some things were totally different from our first trip here six months ago: laws, seashells, animal sightings.  

The biggest thing I looked forward to was collecting seashells. I loved how the beach between Praia de Centro and Praia de Amor was drenched in millions of colorful shells back in November 2014. Unfortunately like the changing seasons, the turnover of sand and rock migrations were different- not a shell in sight. I asked one of the bar guys when the shells would return and he guessed within 5-6 months. We still enjoyed the tiny black crabs scrambling over the sharp, water abused rocks that seemed to have multiplied. Or maybe it was just extremely low tide.

Crab hunting. 

Grandma and grandpa take a hit to the face.

My children particularly looked forward to a promised catamaran tour to see the famous dolphins and to swim in the deep ocean off the back of the boat. I marched right up to one of the many guides on the beach and requested tickets for 4 adults and 2 children. To no avail. According to the guide, that was a law enacted in January 2015 prohibiting children under 5 to ride in a boat, even if they had lifejackets. I ended up distracting their sadness with promises of ice cream and kayak rides. The good news: the dolphin sitings were few and far between during this so-called low season, so we didn't feel like we missed much. 

Mark couldn't wait to get his hands on Pipa's sole microbrew: CAP Beer. Last time we were in Pipa we toured CAP's brewery built into a residential home located off a rowdy, crag ridden neighborhood dirt road. At the time all three employees were present, and we hung out drinking beer while the kids played on the lawn. We walked away with beer (duh), goodies, and advice on finding decent beer in Recife. When this next trip came up, Mark emailed the brew master to schedule a visit but learned he and his brewery were on hiatus in Chile. Apparently he was dealing with exploding bottles and recipe improvement.  His hope is to begin bottling in June and selling by July. Which naturally means we need to come back.

As for the rest of the trip? Not too shabby. We got pounded by waves and watched the muscle hard surfers on Praia de Amor. We lingered in a tidal pool and "built" sand castles and drank passion fruit (maracuja) caipirinhas where we would have collected shells. We lingered on my now favorite beach, Praia de Madeira during (go during low tide) and bobbed like loons in the rolling waves. We hiked through the Ecological Sanctuary where this time about 20 marmosets pommeled and chased each other in the trees. Let's not forget to mention the bats, turtles, and frogs. And spiders- there were a few anxiety inducing arachnids, but no tarantulas; and not in my bed either.

Margo and Deets as Godzillas.

Saguis/Marmosets

This might sound like I'm playing the Princess Card, but we enjoyed air conditioning and a pool at the condo we rented via Airbnb. The last condo in Pipa was bit more... rustic. It was much quieter and further away than our last place too, about a 20 minute walk from the main road.  Since we always end up carrying the kids on our shoulders, this walk turned into a pretty strenuous hike but helpful to burn off incurred calories of vacation imbibement. And imbibe we did: espresso and pastries at Terra Nostra, gelato at Preciosa, grape caiprinhas at Macoco, Argentinan picnanha at Os Prazeres de Carne. Everyone eats well and surprisingly affordably when they visit Pipa. 

Even after my reticence with beach life and entertaining the children with nothing more than a shovel and a bucket, after the ocean itch, and after the chronic sandy sunscreen applications, I think I am ready for more action. Well, maybe 1 more week.

Night sky from our balcony.

View of Baia dos Golfinhos- accessible from
Praia do Centro only at low tide
above Mark's right shoulder.

Stairs leading to Praia de Madeira.