Prea, Ceara - Brazil

Prea, Ceara - Brazil slideshow

Prea is a lot smaller than Jericoacoara, and it is the hub of kite surfing schools because the wind is favorable here as it blows southerly towards the beach. This is safer for kite surfers as their kite will drag them back to shore if they fall and can't get back on their board.

We were lucky again to get a great view of the ocean from our porch. The sea shore outside our room was very colorful with kite surfers and small sail boats used by fisherman in the northeast – they have colorful triangular sails, the same length on all three sides.

It was a busy scene in front of our pousada every morning, when the boats returned from their fishing trips that lasted from three days to a week. I heard from a fisherman that they had to go farther and farther into the sea to get a catch that was worthwhile for them. There were dozens of fishermen and every day a large group returned to shore in a flurry of activity. The men helped each other with their boats, people bought fish directly from them while they filled crates to bring their catch their cooperative. Finally, the sails were rolled up around their masts and were dragged up the beach to just above the high tide level until the next trip back into the ocean. By 10 am all was quiet again, and a few hours later, we tasted some of the catch at our favorite beach restaurant 50 meters down from where we stayed.

Life was very easy and soothing at Prea. We had a three-day decompressing time, mainly reading, writing and walking on the beach. Watching the kite surfers was a pretty good source of entertainment. Some of them make dramatic cuts through the waves, and leap in the air over the ocean swells. We don't know the next time we will be in a relaxing tropical beach again, so we said our good byes for now. We came to Fortaleza yesterday, Friday, November 20th, and we will fly “home” to Belo Horizonte from here. It is time to visit with family and friends as the holidays approach.