PIPA!

All work and no play makes Lindsay a dull child. So clearly after all my hard work up to this point -- I mean let's face it while I make snorkeling for seahorses in mucky environments sexy and fun, there are the low points too which I don't write about-- right so clearly after all my hard work, a little fun was in order. As you can see from the photo above, Pipa - a small beach tourist town in Rio do Grande Norte (the state directly to the North of where I am in Joao Pessoa) not only boasts of great views, but also of fun activities. (Side note: it took 3 people using 3 different cameras and me jumping for what felt like 100 times to actually get this photo taken, my legs still hurt from all the jumping).

So of course here is a google map of about where I am. You can barely make out Joao Pessoa to the south of me, and Natal (the capital of Rio do Grande Norte) to the north of me. Obviously I am the big yellow pushpin. We had one crazy car trip to get to Pipa. Which involved us taking the car on a makeshift raft, across a little estuary. So when we turned the corner and rolled down the end of the dirt hill, this is basically what happened. See all those logs tied together, we drove our little car right onto that raft.

Which was powered by this little guy.

While we trekked along on the car raft, we passed some beautiful scenary. Looks like a good place to have a little cerveja and enjoy the environment, especially if your raft gets stuck!

Here is the gang, minus Gabi, the photographer, on our little car ferry from one part of the estuary to the other. It was tight quarters with all of us on that raft!

We also passed other cars. If only all traffic jams happened like this!

As we continued on our way to Pipa, we passed some very nice little towns and I think this area is in part of a nature reserve. Anyway I am located right here, on this well documented map of Brasil.

We finally get to Pipa and we decide to check out one of the famous beaches for surving, the Praia do Amor (yes the beach of love). Yes I too was questioning how this beach got it's name, and yes let's all agree where our minds are converging, BUT thankfully it's name came about innocently. As the shape in the rocks are supposed to create a heart. I think this is the top of the heart from above on the cliff.
Anyway, the views were spectacular, the erosion of the cliffsides even more amazing. This beach is also great for surfing and I was disappointed we didn't have time for me to rent a board. The whole town reminds me of Byron Bay in Australia. For those of you lucky enough to have visited Byron Bay, you'll know just what I mean. For others, it's a cute little beach town, that is trendy and well known in the surfing community.

We hung out in Pipa later that night, unfortunately at a bar playing horrendously loud american music. I fear that my Brazilian friends were hoping I'd appreciate a bit of Beyoncé but we stopped at a beachside cafe that was playing live samba music, and I liked that place much better. It was quieter, but the music was nicer, it was by the sea, and we could dance without drunk people falling all over us.

The next day we went to the beach, where the water was calmer and great for swimming. I also found out that this area is known for its dolphin tourism. Boats leave from shore with tourists and go searching for the resident dolphins that migrate between a bay in Pipa and a bay in another town about an hour away. I learned that the boats were not supposed to get within 100 meters of the dolphins, but Gabi assured me that was never followed. I asked if there were laws protecting marine mammals in Brasil and Gabi said she didn't think so. This makes me wonder how the tourism industry is affecting the behavior of the dolphins. I've heard about whale shark tourism in Thailand causing the whale sharks to migrate elsewhere to seek food. Some of the research I did in Mexico this summer with whale sharks was trying to prevent that from happening in the Yucatan Peninsula in Holbox. The Marine Mammal Protection Act in the US is supposed to ensure that tourists, whale watchers and others don't interfere with the natural behavior of cetacean populations. Although based on my experience in Hawaii on a dive boat, this is definetly not followed (aghem I can neither confirm nor deny my involvement in any such swimming with a pod of melon headed whales). And we all know what happened at seaworld not so long ago, which makes me question the topic of human interactions with marine mammals in their natural environment, in captivity, for tourism or for research purposes...but I guess that's another topic for another day. I could probably continue but let's get back on track. Gabi assured me that there are researchers studying the dolphin populations here, so let's hope that if anything is going awry they are able to catch it.

After our little jaunt to the beach, we took a scenic drive to start our journey back to Joao Pessoa. This was my favorite view.....good for contemplating life, love, and also apparently good for dirtying your clothes as I found out when I stood up.
One thing that I recently found out about my new Brazilian friends is that they love to take photos. The more photos the better, landscapes, serious photos, silly photos, portraits, all kinds of photos. We stopped at one vista for about 20 minutes and everyone took turns playing model and having a dozen photos snapped of them. Here are a few silly ones of me, letting my fun side show through to my brazilian friends.

And another......
These silly shots were taken at this overlook of the bay. I like the contrast of the water, the different color green of the trees and also the bright white sand in the background.
One thing that I did like about my trip to Pipa was that I found some seahorse earrings and a beautiful seahorse necklace. Sadly I also found street vendors selling dried seahorses for earrings and necklaces as well. TRAGIC! But never fear, the ones I got were made out of silver.

Pipa was a great little place to get away for the weekend. I highly recommend it if you are in the Northeastern part of Brazil, especially if you are a surfer! Hopefully I can return with board in hand to catch some of that sweet Praia do Amor swell!