Into the sertão

The main centre of the deep sertão is 500km west of Campina Grande – actually in the south of Ceará state – where a series of hill ranges, higher ground blessed with regular rainfall, provides a welcome respite. Food crops can be grown here, and every available inch of land is used to grow fruit and vegetables, or graze cattle. Here there are two towns within a few kilometres of each other, Crato and JUAZEIRO DO NORTE, and it was in this area that one of the most famous episodes in the history of the Northeast took place. It is still the site of a massive annual pilgrimage.

Paraíba’s coastline

Just to the south of João Pessoa is the fishing village of PENHA, served by local buses from outside the Rodoviária or from the Anel Viário. Strung out along a fine beach set in the midst of dense palm forest, Penha is distinguished from other fishing villages round about by a nineteenth-century church, the Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Penha, which is a pilgrimage centre and focus of much popular devotion. The beach near the church is also used by followers of candomblé, who identify the Virgin with Iemanjá, the goddess of the sea. The legend is that over a century ago an image of the Virgin was dredged up by fishermen in their nets, and worked so many miracles that the community adopted her as their patron saint and built the simple chapel to house her icon. Along the beach there are several rustic bars where you can eat and also string a hammock for a nominal fee. Discreet camping on the beach is also possible.

TAMBABA is set on a volcanic outcrop and lies some 30km to the south of João Pessoa. It’s the first officially recognized nudist beach in the Northeast and is well off the beaten track. Getting here involves a bus ride from the Rodoviária to the small seaside town of Jacumã followed by a walk of 8km along a rough road. If you don’t want to walk, it’s probably better to take a taxi than risk bringing a rented car along here as the dirt-track road is more difficult than it looks. The beach is superb and there’s a small if somewhat overpriced bar here. Alternatively, and a little nearer to Jacumã, is the Praia Coqueirinho, which is a popular spot for the local children in the surrounding villages. Again, you’ll need to take a taxi here. Camping is possible at the beach of Tabatinga, just to the north, or there are places to stay in Jacumã.

Penha apart, most of the readily accessible beaches are to the north, off the road that leads to Cabedelo, 18km or 45 minutes by frequent local buses from the Anel Viário in João Pessoa – they get very crowded at weekends. The road runs a little inland and there are turn-offs leading to the beaches on the way: it seems to depend more on the drivers’ whim than a timetable as to whether the bus takes you right to the beach, but hop on the Cabedelo bus anyway, and get off at the relevant turn-off if need be; it’ll only be a short walk to the sea.

BESSA is the generic name for the stretch of coastline immediately north of Tambaú. Six kilometres out of town is a turn-off that leads to the yacht club and a cluster of bars, which have a rather more upmarket clientele than the next village along, POÇO, where there is a chapel, some weekend homes, a fine palm-fringed beach with the obligatory bars and several good fish restaurants: Badionaldo serves delicious crab stew (ensopado de carangueijo), a local speciality, while at the Bar e Restaurante do Marcão, four crabs for $5 will satisfy even the greediest of appetites. From there, you could walk the 10km along the beach to Cabedelo; otherwise hourly buses to Cabedelo, or back to João Pessoa, leave during the day from the bus stop near the church.

CABEDELO itself is older than it looks. It was much fought over in the Dutch wars, and the star-shaped fort of Santa Caterina (Tues–Sat 8am–5pm), dating from 1585, is the major sight in the village. Unfortunately, Petrobrás have built a series of oil storage tanks right up to its ramparts, and it’s difficult to get a sense of its strategic position, commanding the only deep-water anchorage on this stretch of coast. Nowadays, Cabedelo’s main claim to fame is as the starting point for the famous Transamazon highway – the Transamazônica – and there’s a sign proving it over the João Pessoa road. The Transamazon was seen by its creators as the conduit along which would flow the “people without land” to the “land without people”, as poor Northeasterners were funnelled towards Amazônia – a political signal to the large landowners of the Northeast that the government had no intention of tackling the region’s problems by implementing agrarian reform. The only thing the poor of Paraíba got was a convenient escape route.

There’s no reason to hang around in Cabedelo and plenty of reason to continue 20km to two superb and largely unspoilt beaches. For the more adventurous camper there is the Praia do Oiteiro, a wild and beautiful beach with hills covered with tropical vegetation but little in the way of modern comforts. Campina, just north of Oiteiro, is similarly idyllic but with the addition of a small fishing settlement. You can get to both beaches on the same bus from João Pessoa via Cabedelo, or you could try renting a boat in Cabedelo as it’s only half the distance along the coast.