Natal - Northern Coastal Brazil

On the way to Natal we flew over Recife and captured this panoramic site from the airplane window. An interesting statistic sure to grab the men's attention: most of the Brazillian coastal-cities have avg. ratios of 7:1, women to men! (Tiff is not sure she believes that.)
 
We stayed at a "Pousada" (a bed-breakfast hotel) for less than $40 on the beach in Ponte Negra, Natal for a week. The parking was little tight and always filled with those cars that remind you that you are somewhere in the 3rd world. However as you can see from the rest of the pictures the natural surrounding are simply and perfectly tropical! 
 
And what a great deal!
 
 
 
 
 
We took this picture of net fisherman and tourists checking out the catch from our window. The beach was long and very flat when the tide was out. The waves were a beginning surfers dream. And the wind kicked up in the afternoon, but no equipment to rent anywhere - we checked. Just shoot me...... 

Upon arriving Hans saw a beach soccer game that he quickly joined. As you can see the flat sand is perfect except for the fact that it's wet. Well, after an hour of playing and running hard the water had softened the skin on the soles of his feet to the point of causing major and painful foot sized blisters. Bummer.

 
There were many hidden places up and down the coast. We found a perfect little bar on one of our trips. It was around the corner from here that an ultra-light aircraft almost landed on Tiffany. "Hey, watch were you're landing you bandido!" 

(we'll have to show you the landing skid marks 2 feet from Tiff's blanket)

 
 
On the weekends there were quite a few people on Ponte Negra beach which is near Natal's center. Here is a traditional fishing boat called a Jangada. It is a flat bottomed so it can actually plane and uses triangular sales, like the boats in Africa.The sailors sit on a wooden stool built up from the hull. It was the closest we got to windsurfing :-(
 
"Don't hate me cause I'm beautiful". Tiffany took this lovely picture of a svelt Mom taking care of her adorable baby boy. Ladies, who says there's no bikini life after child birth? Gentleman, note the special Brazillian bathing suit cut - prevalent throughout this country.
 
  Gotta throw that customary tourist shot in. Our hotel is showing on the right. We were not kidding when we said it is "on the beach" we had the room on the second floor overlooking the ocean. 

Lots of the folks back home are cracking the speedo jokes - but hey - that is all they wear in Brazil. One has got to "fit in".

 
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More photos of sand dunes
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