The "La Dolce Vita" of Canoa Quebrada

Online we book the flight (850 euros) to Fortaleza and book in Canoa Quebrada, a village 160 km south of Fortaleza, at the pousada "La Dolce Vita" with B&B, and I already arrange for them to pick us up directly at the airport on our arrival. On 8 November at 19.00 we leave Milan for Fortaleza (via Recife), where we arrive at 3 in the morning. At the exit Beto, the pousada's driver, is waiting for us and, after the usual greetings, will take us to Canoa. Those arriving can change money immediately at the exchange office inside the airport on the right, 1 euro = about 2.70 reais, or do it in Canoa at the Banco do Brasil on the main street. At 6.00 on our arrival, Canoa is still a deserted village but already sunny, with a very blue sky.

The pousada is nicer than we expected: a tropical garden of palms and flowers, a lovely pool and a splendid apartment with an ocean view for 100 reais a day (about 35 euros: 17 euros each!). We have breakfast (there's something for every taste) and here we meet two tourists from Venice (Emanuela and Mirella) who will become our adventure companions for 7 days. Then, excited, we head to the sea, crossing the still-deserted Rua Broadway. Broadway is the main street that crosses Canoa; it is full of bars, shops, restaurants and venues, particularly decorated and colourful, and as the day goes on it comes alive with tourists and locals, giving its best on Friday and Saturday evenings, when people come from all the nearby towns to have fun until dawn.

Arriving at the sea, a stunning landscape opens up before us: a cliff dropping 10-15 metres to the sea, with colours ranging from red to orange, yellow and white, a very long beach (hundreds of km) and very wide, dotted with "barracas" (beach bars) built of wood and very colourful, where Brazilian music and reggae play all day and where you can eat fish for 20 reais (6-7 euros) and drink a large beer or a caipirinha for 2-3 reais (1 euro), prices that for us are derisory! After a long walk we stop at the barraca "Il Ghetto" (the last one on the right), run by an Italian guy (Marco) who travelled half the world before settling here with his Brazilian partner and their newborn. You eat excellent fish and drink at modest prices, like in the other barracas.

After a swim and some sun (protect yourselves, it's very strong), around 17.00, when the sun sets, we go back to the pousada, have a shower and then go out with Emanuela and Mirella to Marino's place (Emanuela's brother, who has opened a pizzeria-churrascheria here) to eat a delicious Argentine picanha for 25 reais (8 euros). A little stroll along the street and then off to bed, exhausted by the day and the sun. On Friday at 5.30 we are already up to go and watch the sunrise on the beach and take a nice walk while the sun is still low; then we climb back up through the more inland little streets of Canoa, where a more authentic Brazil appears: super cheap shops, colourful houses put up as best they can, dusty little streets where children still play barefoot with smiling faces, a dignified poverty.

We have breakfast in the welcome company of a little family of small monkeys typical of Brazil, who have fun eating the fruit we hold out to them. We arrange with Sivaldo for Saturday for our first buggy excursion with Emanuela and Mirella. The day passes quietly at the sea at the barraca "Il Ghetto"; at 17.00 we go up the highest sand dune in Canoa to watch the beautiful sunset. In the evening we go to eat at the restaurant "Terra Nostra" on the main street and then take a stroll to see all those little local craft shops. At the weekend the village fills with Brazilian tourists and locals from nearby towns who, together with foreign tourists, create a nice mix of people having fun until dawn. On Saturday at 10.00 we set off in Sivaldo's buggy towards Ponta Grossa, 40 km south of Canoa in the direction of Natal.

After a few kilometres of beach the first stop is at Majorlandia to visit the "Dourado" retreat, the villa of a doctor built on the cliff, where a local farmer named Toninho carved the cliff itself, creating biblical motifs, the Last Supper, statues and various decorations; entrance 1 real (35 cents) and an in-house guide. We then continue towards Quixaba, where we come across mineral water springs in a very evocative spot: the Garganta do Diablo, a white canyon that the water has carved into the cliff, which we climb up to the top to see the whole panorama of the ocean from above.

On the surface the cliff appears very arid, with sand of various colours, as dry as in a desert, but inside it holds and releases a lot of fresh water, so much so that as you pass you will see many little streams of water gushing from it; in some you can even go under to bathe! We continue for kilometres, with the sea on the left and the cliff on the right, until we reach Ponta Grossa, a beautiful orange sand dune that ends directly on the black sand of the beach and in the sea; we go to the top to take photos and then straight to a fisherman's barraca, where lobsters and prawns await us for the modest sum of 25 reais (8-9 euros). In the evening we all go to drink caipirinha at Marino's and then take a stroll along the street packed with tourists.

On Sunday morning we go to buy about a hundred notebooks which, together with the pencils, pens, rubbers, highlighters and clothes brought from Italy, we hand over to Giovanni's wife (the headmistress of the public school), who will give them to the poorest children; if you go, bring what you can, some really need it. Then straight to the beach for the whole day, enjoying a very blue, calm sea, full of kite surfing and jangadas (the typical local boats). In the evening we go to the restaurant/bar Sauré to eat typical dishes from the Nordeste region of Cearà, all very good and, as always, at modest prices. On Monday, together with Emanuela and Mirella, we book the Tuesday excursion to Morro Branco (60-70 km west of Canoa in the direction of Fortaleza) with Caio; after that, everyone to the beach, where all day long we stop the various "sellers" who pass by, buying all sorts of things.

Here in Brazil the various sellers are very discreet: they ask if you want to buy, but you just answer with a "no, obrigado" (no thanks) and they immediately smile and greet you without hard feelings. Smiling, friendly and a bit sly, these Brazilians! In the evening we go to eat a delicious pizza at Marino's. One of the very few times I can say I've eaten pizza abroad as good as in Italy; he has all the products you need, only extra virgin oil is missing! On Tuesday at 9.00 we set off with Caio for the second buggy excursion. After kilometres of beach we reach the first white and orange sand dunes, which we climb with the buggy to see beautiful panoramas; we continue to the mouth of the Jaguaribe river, which we cross on a boat.

We pass through the very pretty village of Fortim, nestled on the river with a lovely little church, and on to Praia das Fontes, where many water springs gush from inside the cliff towards the sea, and then reach the desert area of the "Cumbe", with beautiful white dunes from which you can see the whole valley below, with oases, a freshwater lake and grazing animals in the areas where the grass grows abundantly. We go down the highest dune (a real adrenaline rush) towards the freshwater lake, where we have a nice swim and refresh ourselves. We set off again for Morro Branco, where we take a short guided visit. The panorama is stunning, a cliff of as many as 12 different colours sculpted by water and wind; it feels like being in a great cany…