Thursday 10th to Sunday 13th August 2006: BRASIL, Natal

The bus we took from Fortaleza to Natal was great as it was a night journey that allowed us to sleep the whole way so we only awoke once we arrived at the bus station at 7am on the Thursday. As our guidebook has been so wrong in terms of pricing the hotels we decided to visit the tourist information booth at the bus station to see what accomodation they recommended. The tourist information ladies were extremely helpful and were able to find us the best accomodation we´ve had since we started our travels (excepting Eric´s house in San Juan Del Sur!). Our accomodation was a chalet complete with kitchen, bathroom, air-conditioning and cable tv in a small family run complex with swimming pool, free internet and breakfast included (this was huge and delivered to our door each morning in a woven basket!), plus they came and picked up us from the bus stations and all this for just two pounds more a night than the hostel we had just left! The people who ran the place were really lovely and helpful advising us on the best places to eat and drink and when we went to the restaurant they recommended we enjoyed the best meal we have had during our honeymoon - a huge meal consisting of typical Brasilian food that was extremely yummy!

Natal was much prettier than Fortaleza and much more to our liking in terms of beach towns; relaxed and small in its population. We stayed away from the centre of town at Ponta Negra, the best beach in Natal. The beach was very long (great for our long walks) and there were also huge sand dunes along them that you were able to ride along in dune buggies.

We spent our days enjoying the beach, our chalet and the swimming pool so much so that we decided to stay a few days longer than planned. The weather was hot and sunny with the occasional rain shower but on the last day it was stormy which was when we knew it was time to leave and head on to the next beach southwards, Praia Pipa.

The beach at Ponta Negra

The famous 120 meter sand dune of Ponta Negra beach
(this used to be used as a sand skiing slope!)