Downwinding to "Lençóis Maranhenses"

Air view of the Lençóis Maranhenses National Park - photo Lois Neubauer

...And that's what we had to look forward to: one of the most incredible places of the entire planet. And what's best; we kited to get there!


Joe, Betinho and Flavio - downwinding

That was, without a doubt, the ultimate expedition of Ybytucatu. We left Cumbuco early September and downwinded 90% of the way (except for the big river Delta in Parnaiba) to Maranhão state, home of "Lençóis Maranhenses". Took us 12days, kiting an average of 35km a day, crossing the entire coast of Ceará and Piauí


Joe and our friend "MacGuyver" dealing well with the "casuality"

There were many challenging situations on the water, but that was no comparison with the extreme situations we had to deal on land.
Traveling on wild areas, with no one around in many kilometers had to bring some surprises...


took us about four hours to get the car out of that... and some nerves for sure!

...Like quick sand in Maranhão...



Joe helping the locals to push the ferry that was getting out of track

...and insane currents on a River crossing in Ceará.

But there was no less good surprises...

Air View of Barra Grande - PI

...like kiting in Barra Grande, state of Piauí. A quiet village full of good people and great kitesurfing!


Getting in Atins - Maranhão

and enjoying the sunset before crossing the river to Atins, a unknown paradise on the border of the Lençóis Maranhenses National Park.

Felt like we reached the edge of the world.
It was all worthed and we can't wait to do it all over again!

Downwinder

We left Cumbuco after a great weekend, eager to explore the large extend of Ceara’s coastline, and all its potential to kitesurf...

in this picture: the beginning of our adventure. Crossing from Lagoinha to Guajiru folowing Joe and Stein in the water

(photo Flavia Vieira)

Cumbuco, Paracuru and Jeri are all very well known and are really great sites, but from Cumbuco to Jericoacoara we had more then 200km of amazing beaches, some completely unexplored.

this picture: Joe's styling! testing his new surfboard (photo Flavia Vieira)

So, there we went! We took with us Stein and Margrite, a Dutch couple we met in Cumbuco. Really fun people! Was such a pleasure traveling with them.

this picture: Stein and Margrit (sorry I know I'm spelling your names wrong), lovely folks from Holland

Our downwind started in “Lagoinha”, one of the most beautiful beaches in the coast and home of the famous “Lagoa do Jegue”, a flat water oasis 3km downwind of the beach entrance.

this picture: Lagoinha (photo Flavia Vieira)

We downwind to the “lagoa”, played there for a wile and, as the wind picked up and the tide got lower, we followed kiting to the next beach.

this picture: Stein kiting in Paradise

(photo Flavia Vieira)

"Guajiru” is a fishing village with no hotels or restaurants and, what is best, amazing waters for kitesurfing. We stoped there for some coconut water and followed to “Flexeiras”, where we could find some of the best seafood restaurants of the coast.

Guajiru 's beach with typical fishing boats called "jangadas" formatting a colorful background

(photo Flavia Vieira)

We stoped for an excellent meal and decided to drive on the beach to “Mundau”, 10km away. Just gorgeous! Some beautiful dunes and a river mouth formatted the perfect scenario for a breathtaking sunset.

sky on fire! Ceara is famous for its amazing sunsets (photo Flavia Vieira)

Ilha do guajiru . Perfect flat water! photo flavia Vieira

On day 2 our adventure would continue with a lot of other discoveries. “Baleia”, “Icarai” and “Ilha do Guajiru”, with some amazing flat waters and almost no other kiters but us…

variety of fresh seafood being presented on the table! photo Flavia Vieira

...And the same wonderful fresh seafood that we happily confirmed is all over the coastline.

a little incident in the thick sand... part of the fun!

As we approach “Jeri” (as is most commonly called Jericoacoara) we were really beginning an adventure full of surprises. Incredible river crossings and hard trails on thick sand are all worthed when we find ourselves in the middle of beautiful deserted beaches like “Almofala” and “Barrinha”.

a very particular kind of ferry - River crossing in Jeri

Just 10km downwind of Barrinha is “Preá”, where most of the kite resorts and schools are. From there, a nice little 12km dowinder and we find the village of Jericoacoara, on the very northern point of the state and in the middle of many kilometers of dunes and lagoons that only 4x4 vehicles can reach.

Stein in the downwind from Preá to Jeri photo Flavia Vieira

Jeri is famous and busy and now we know why. Beautiful and different, a charming little village where everything is built over sand, so the best way to walk around is barefoot, with lots of little restaurants and shops and a very lively nightlife full of a great mixture of people coming from all over Brazil and the world.

Magrit enjoying fresh coconut water! photo Flavia Vieira

Definitely the perfect ending for our trip!

Did I forget something?

kiter in Jericoacoara photo Flavia Vieira

Oh yes! That is good kitesurfing there as well…

Cumbuco - Ceará - Brazil

photos by Flavia Vieira

"Wind Machine" as the local kitesurfers like to call this hip little fishing village, just 30km west of Fortaleza, the capital of the state of Ceara, and head quarters of Ybytucatu Expeditions in 2008.

The season is up for sure! And the "Flexifoil Sick Air Kite Open" was the big opening. Lots of beautiful people gathered at Cumbuco beach to watch a great show. The conditions were perfect and the competitors inspired.

The very young brazilian kiters were the big atraction of the event.
The local kids of Cumbuco are a promise for the success of brazilian kitesurfing in the world scenario.

They are mostly sons of fishermen here in the village and learned with borrowed equipment after long days hangging out at the many kitesurf schools in Cumbuco.

Was really amazing seeing this boys in action!

Our team is now leaving Cumbuco for a week of adventure in the Ceara coast. We are going to be doing insane downwinders and visiting some undiscovered kite spots.

Stay tuned!

Ybytucatu in the U.S.

We are enjoying spring in the U.S., getting some airtime and checking out some gear and equipments... Just making sure we have everything we need for our season in Brazil.

Flying over Central Florida's wetlands

We haven't been at the coast very much but we sure have been in the air a whole lot. The main reason for that is Ybytucatu's brand new wing. A sweet "Wills Wing T2" (flying with me in the pic above) that soon will be flying in Brazilian skies.

Taking a passanger in a Tandem at Quest Air.