Praia Tabatinga - Wet-n-Wild

Sorry I’m late with this next beach-week entry. I guess I’ve been spending too much time on the beach instead of on my computer. (But Palm trees are IN, Palm Treos OUT, ta?) And while lounging this past weekend on Praia Cabadelo, yet another lovely local beach (and the hometown of the infamous Gigi), I decided I needed to extend this sun and sand feature so I can share a few more hot spots with you. But in case some of you are feeling oppressed (like me) by the constant bright sunshine, I’m taking you today to Praia Tabatinga, where it seems to rain every time I visit. These little rain spells give the place that brooding gray beach feel we get fairly often on the US East Coast. Aside from the occasional cloudy day or hour, what I love about this beach is that it's like a Wet-n-Wild water park, save the artificial wave pool and funnel cake stands.

At Tabatinga, you can take a mud bath in the argila (soft clay) that forms the Tabatinga cliffs (see first photo above); you can lounge in the sweet waters of the Maceao River (see second photo), or play in its rapids at high-tide, when the river meets the sea; and of course, you can body surf in the emerald green ocean waves. You can also take romantic strolls along vast empty beach(see third photo below), from one bay to the next, Tabatinga to Cocarinho, and watch the sunlight move across the cliffs, bringing out a palate of pastels - yellow, salmon, and rose. Yes, this is the picture postcard Conde Naste Traveler side of Tabatinga. Then there's the other side...

Like all the beaches I’ve visited so far in the Northeast, Tabatinga is a bit rustic by American standards. Only 30 KM south of Joao Pessoa, this beach has no boardwalk or Holiday Inn or Rusty Rudder bar where you can sip a daiquiri on the deck. On the contrary, once you reach the coastal area, the roads turn to dirt, and the place becomes fairly deserted. There are just a few signs of civilization, like some colosal eyesore posadas that cater to Europeans, and the roadside galeterias (bbq chicken stands) that sprout-up on weekends. Your best bet for accomodations is to find a friend with a beach house, and spare keys under the doormat. The last weekend I was there with my boyfriend, we bunked down at Enrique’s place, along with about 5 other pop-in guests. And as the evening of drunken double-entendre Portuguese word play wore on, and the beer supply ran low, I began to wonder where in this small sparsely furnished house all of us would sleep. Not unlike the Dewey Beach house dilemma, I suppose, but they solution here was a little unusual. Everyone came prepared with his own hammock, and we strung them all across the room from hooks in the wall, making a complex maze of human cocoons. How romantic...and how painful! I awoke the next morning at sunrise, scratching at an plethora of mosquito bites, shielding my ears from the symphony of snorers, and feeling like I had been through an all-night battle. I carefully unfolded my body out of its sling and found it taken the shape of a banana.

I learned three things that night in Tabatinga: 1.There’s an art to sleeping in a hammock, and I desperately needed to develop it if I was going to survive in Brazil; 2. Wherever I go along the NE coast, I will go armed to fight the muricocas (mosquitoes), including in my arsenal a mosquito net, Off with super-strength Deet, and extra beer to ensure a restful, if not drunken-night's sleep.

Ahh…as I am sitting here typing in today’s entry, I’m happy to report that a five-minute shower has just washed over the city. I sensed the hushing sound of rain pounding the street 10 floors below. So I rushed to the window to catch a few sacred drops on my face and take-in the fresh smell of wet pavement. I down and noticed a women dash across her patio to rescue laundry from the line. But by the time she got to it off, the rain stopped and the sun was shining bright again. Oh well, so much for a rainy day in Joao Pessoa.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s entry about Cabadelo and Ilha Vermelha. Bon dia!

Copyright 2006 Anne Pellicciotto