I've saved my favourite place in
Brazil for last, and on the way to it we stopped off at the market town of São José de Mipibu. It's not really a craft, touristy kind of market town, but it's a good
town to visit to get a glimpse of everyday Brazilian life.
My favourite place couldn't be as far removed from everyday life. It's paradise. I give you, Pipa. When we were there it was charming and sweet, even cheaper than Ponta
Negra as not many tourists went there so had yet to be "commercialised". (By Brazilian standards that means it's still really cheap.) Just after we got back from Brazil,
Vanity Fair's Travel edition waxed lyrical over Pipa as the place to go... If that's not testimony, I don't know what is.
As much as I loved Pipa, a scary thing did happen there. We walked away from the main bit to a quieter spot down the beach and we completely forgot to think about the tide... It was only our bellies that suggested we were feeling peckish so should head back. As we walked back towards the bars, the water was getting higher and wilder. We sped up a bit. Then with the bars still fifty metres away, we started to run whenever the tide went out.
Five metres away, the water was waist-high. Holding our bags above our heads we managed to climb up the rocks and escape the fierce Atlantic Ocean. I dread to think what would have happened if we had realised five minutes later, so always remember to watch out for tides! Despite this, Brazil was definitely one of my favourite holidays and a place I'd love to return to. Would you go? Or have you been already?
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