TRAVEL: Bernard O’Shea gets swept up in the beauty of Brazil
Once you set foot on Brazil’s gorgeous north-east coast, you may never want to leave. Bernard O’Shea falls for its charms.
Iwent to Brazil and fell in love with Barbara. Her allure was magnetic, the attraction instantaneous. My friends Diana and Zora felt it too. We all agreed that Barbara was one of the best things that happened to us on our Brazilian holiday. Barbara is a pousada (guest house) at Praia da Pipa, one of the most revered beaches on Brazil’s north-east coast. We’d hired a driver in the city of João Pessoa to take us there – a 146km journey – and he dropped us off in a little square down by the beachfront. We looked around, nervous strangers in a new place, wondering where we should stay, and there she was, nestling under a thick canopy of trees, beckoning us.
She was colourful and pretty. Her 14 rooms looked onto a secluded courtyard; each had a different-coloured hammock on its verandah, and the doors and window frames of each room were painted to match its hammock. We were allocated the creamy-orange suite. In the courtyard were an inviting open-air dining room and lounge, and a swimming pool partially shaded by a bright red bougainvillea bush that occasionally sprinkled its flowers over the surface, as if it were preparing you an exotic perfumed bath.
Sometimes on a holiday you need a place like this: a haven where you can relax and be gloriously idle. We’d been whizzing around Brazil for weeks, taking in the sights of
Rio de Janeiro, Iguaçu Falls and the Amazon jungle. Now it was time to hang out in hammocks and soak in water. Brazil’s north-east region, which has 3350km of tropical coastline, is a great place to do it. Barbara probably felt the same when she arrived on holiday from Germany decades ago. She fell in love with the place and stayed put. Thus Pousada Barbara was born. Sadly, German Barbara is no longer there, but her legacy lives on.
Pipa is about 30km off highway 101, which connects the region’s major cities – you turn off at Goianinha. It lies on a hilly, forested headland and to get to it you pass a wide arc of coastline decorated with pink cliffs, reddish dunes and lookout points. The last stop before Pipa is The Bay of Dolphins, the best place in Brazil to see them. Pipa’s beach is sheltered by rocky reefs close to shore. At low tide you can stroll or soak in the shallow pools; high tide is good for bathing. In between, we chilled on the sun loungers by Barbara’s pool, where we developed a special exercise regime: lifting our eyelids (good for vision); groping for our drinks (stretch class); lifting glasses to our lips, holding them up for refills (biceps, triceps); rolling over into a different position (good for abs and obliques); shut eye (good for the soul). Orishas Resto Bar, on the tip of the headland, is the place to watch the sun set over cocktails. Round the corner, where the coast faces east, you’ll find the secluded Praia do Amor (the Beach of Love).
When it was time to leave, Zora and Diana mutinied, refusing to budge, even though we had already paid for accommodation further up the coast. “We want to stay another night – the next place can’t be as nice as this, surely.” I had to agree. Barbara’s conquest was complete.
More information at pousadabarbara.com and visitbrasil.com.