At the airport in Madrid, we hooked with up kiteboarders Carlos and Fede, who
work at the Ministry of External
Affairs and live in the capital, 600km away from the nearest beach. We were about to get our desperately needed kiteboarding fix in Fortaleza, Brazil with our friend Cris,
who had moved there half a year ago and had been making us green with envy with his tales of perfect wind and beaches.
After landing in Fortaleza, we found Cris waiting for us at the airport and after loading our gear on his car, headed into the city with its high-rise buildings, small antique houses and big, beautiful trees.
Our apartment was one block from the city beach, Meireles, and the promenade. Wired like zombies from the long flight, we were too tired to do anything but hit the sack.
Next morning, we loaded up the car and drove 37km to Cumbuco, a small village with a superb beach. It's actually a bay that starts at Tabuba village. The wind
here was 22 knots, the direction side on. We drove another 16km to what we saw was the perfect spot. The wind was a bit side off, the water perfectly flat
with nice sets of waves rolling smoothly towards the beach. We kited until 5pm and then headed back to Fortaleza, where the promenade was packed with joggers,
tourists, and beautiful ladies everywhere. It was time for a night out!
The next day Cris took us to Icarai (Lagoa da Barra) a small lagoon half
way between Fortaleza and Cumbuco, some 23 kms. Here we met a German group of kiters who actually lived in the apartment next to us. The wind was blowing 24
knots with the water perfectly flat. This spot proved to be the right option after a night spent on the town! We rode this lagoon for a week after which Cris
declared his plans to open a pousada-kite station right in front of this lagoon so he kite right out of his front door everyday.
Click on photo for more pics of Brazil Photo by Juan Ferrero
Some of the other spots we rode include Pecem, a wave paradise. Not to be missed. Iguape is east from Fortaleza and is as good as Pecem with the exception
that the wind tends to go down 4-6 knots in the afternoon. East of Fortaleza some 130km is Embuaca, a place where the wind blows up to 30 knots and produces
powerful waves. In Mundau, which is 10km west from Embuaca, kiters can ride the flat water on the river or play in the waves on the ocean. While we were
here, the wind was a bit gutsy.
We found Lagoinha to be the most beautiful place of all. The wind was blowing 27-30 knots on side shore. We headed downwind to Almecegas Sangradour, 5km
east of Paracuru. The placed was called Praia do Buraco and it had 27-30 knots side shore wind and flat water on the inside and waves on the reef. Since
there were 10 kiters already there and we were spoiled from spending the week kiting just by ourselves, we bailed.
Fortunately, Cris had the idea
to bring us to the most surprising spot of all. We
drove all the way back to Fortaleza, stopped in
front of a building at the Port, whereupon Cris went
upstairs for 20 minutes. He came back with a
smile on his face and accompanied by Rodolfo, the
representative of the owner of the Harbour of
Fortaleza. He is a writer and was working on
his new book about the expedition that brought the Spanish sailers (the Pinzones) to
Brazil before
Alvarez Cabral announced the discovery of the country
for the Portuguese crown.
We crossed the port facility at the harbour's entrance and once inside, we made our way between
containers and heavy machinery, to reach the oddest
spot of our vacation, the Praia Mansa. It's a round tiny
island of white sand and blue turquoise water situated
on the inside part of the wave breaker of the harbour.
Conditions: 25 kts, offshore. Water: the most perfect and
broadest extension of flat water my eyes have ever
seen. We pumped and set our kites frantically and hit the water. This was
definitely the perfect end to our kite days in
Fortaleza. The cherry on top of the cake!
Unfortunately for Cris, he could not join us as he
had to drive the car out of the port facilities and
was waiting for us, some three hours later at the downwind
beach, Iracema.
To put it in few words, we all were amazed by what we
saw here. The spots, the beautiful endless beaches,
the perfect wind, waves and flat water conditions, the
incredibly friendly and peaceful people, the beautiful
and friendly girls, the great food, and of course, the marvelous
fruit juices.
We plan to come back and are saving money to buy a piece of land by the sea. Once you have discovered a place like Fortaleza, its difficult to get
it out of your mind.
Thanks go to Cris for all the
advice, help and for sharing of all the beauty.
And, thanks also for the samba-bossa
performances on the guitar. I think I am going to buy
myself one too.
Editor's Note: To learn more about kiteboarding Fortaleza, Brazil, check out www.kitefortaleza.com
