I feel sorry for the next place that has to directly follow my amazing trip to the paradise island of Fernando de Noronha, although from what I have been told Jericoacoara 'Jeri' was also pretty special.

Jeri is not the easiest place to get to; as it involves a bus journey into the main town of Jijoca then you change from a bus to a 4x4 bus with wooden seats and a lack of suspension, which makes the next 2 hour journey across dirt tracks and beach a tad painful on the buttocks! The 4x4 journey was an amazing one, I passed some pretty poor looking shacks and the kids would wave as you drove passed, even with their distinct poverty - they were happy. You also travel through miles of deserted beaches, cross small rivers and encounter hundreds of donkeys just minding their own business on the beaches. The 2 hour journey flew passed and before I knew it I was approaching Jericoacoara.

Wow Jeri is amazing, it has a real small town chilled out vibe to it - if I was to compare the feel to any other place I have visited it would be Palolem in Goa. The beach itself was very flat and wide with the ocean shallow and warm, to the left hand side of the beach were the huge sand dunes and to the right were where the big waves came from for surfing. There are only 3 main roads that run down to the beach which are lined with pousadas, restaurants, bars and surf shops. The roads were not tarmac'ed, or even dirt tracks they were sand, just like the beach - pretty amazing if you ask me! I didn't have a room booked, but didn't matter in the slightest, there were plenty of pousadas to choose from - all wanting your business during off-peak times. I managed to book into a nice basic place right near the beach front called Ponta da Pedra for a good rate.

The first evening was a little overcast but despite this the whole place descended on the large sand dune overlooking the whole beach and ocean. On the dunes we met a local who was doing sand boarding lessons, so managed to get involved. The lesson wasn't very technical, it was just "put all your weight on the back foot" and then he gives you a massive shove and off you go (tumble) down the dune! Sand boarding was so much fun and was pretty difficult but not as tough as the trudge back up the dune when you made it to the bottom. As the sun was starting to set and with an obligatory Skol beer in hand we just chilled out on the dunes. As Jeri is quite close to the equator the sun sets into the distance and what seems to take forever to finally set. As you are elevated on the dunes and looking out to endless ocean this makes for what is the best sunset I have seen in Brazil to date.

After the sunset we decided to head to the caiprinha stands for the tasty but lethal Brazilian national cocktail but before this there was some capoeiro happening on the beach. Capoeiro is a Brazilian dance and also a form of martial art, I'm not sure of how it worked but everyone was in a circle and the capoeiro guys, 2 at a time would do a dance which is like simulating a martial art flight without actually making contact. Then one of the fighters would step back (as if he had lost) then another would take his place. Age, weight or height didn't seem to matter as sometimes you would get an older guy paired up with a small kid who is still in school.

The next day I had to be up reasonably early for my first ever surf lesson!!! Jeri is a surf resort, so a good place to give it a go. My surf instructor was a German woman who had been living on Jeri for years and she spoke perfect English. We started off on the beach with a drawn out surf board - so we can practice the moves to go from laying to standing on the board. Then time to catch my first wave, we paddled out to where the waves were breaking. Here in Jeri the waves run diagonally towards the beach, so the wave is intact for a long time which makes it a perfect place for beginners - apparently. So here goes I'm out waiting for my first wave, running through all the moves I had been taught...hands in line with your shoulders, push up like a press-up, bring my right leg as far up as possible, look up to see where I'm going whilst turning my torso and feet anti clockwise, then stand up and balance with my arms out - easy peasy! Well I got steps 1 and 2 fine but tried to stand up before fully turning myself, bad mistake - I wipe out!!! Something I'll become accustomed to in the next 45 minutes, I think I did every kind of wipe-out possible. Lee's turn, boom, steps 1,2,3,4 done and is standing first wave...pretty damn good as it's not easy and pretty much nailed most of the other waves until he started getting cocky and trying to bust in a turn...have some of that, face plant into the ocean! By the end of the lesson I managed to nail the moves and rode the waves standing up a couple of times, unfortunately that was our lesson over and the waves were starting to calm down. Surfing is awesome and would love to do it again one day.

That afternoon, I managed to get a good enough internet connection to call home again via Skype, which was good to update the family on my travels and to let them know I'm safe. I also Skyped Bodger and Parky, which was awesome to catch up with them both...mainly to rub in what an amazing time I'm having but oh well, I enjoyed it - seriously though it was so good to catch up.

Before tonight's sunset on the dunes, we had a 3 vs 3 Brazilian vs Rest of the World beach football match, on the "Rest of the World" 3 were Myself, Lee and a guy from America against 3 skilful, athletic Brazilians - I know who my money is on!!! Well the Brazilians started off keeping the ball nicely with a few nice touches of skills and soon went 2-0 up, right a new tactic was needed, tighter marking and a few heavy tackles...with us kicking them in the air they started to become less comfortable with the ball and we broke down their attacks with ease and counter attacked with 'pace' we managed to pull it back to 2-2...their rattled! I then trod on a stupid shell and cut my foot, so had to have it bandaged...so the game went down to a 2v2 match and the final victors were the home team "Brazil" 4-3 after a 'next goal wins' ruling.

I have loved Jericoacoara so much, everyone has been so friendly and the place is stunning, I would love to come back here, but before that I have plenty more travelling to do in a short time, so after a short 2 night stay, I head off to Belem near the Amazon delta. Getting there though is not that easy, a total of 36 hours, 4 buses from Jericoacoara to Camocim to Sobral then finally to Belem.