Branching out
Trip Start
Dec 29, 2010
1
14
21
Trip End
Ongoing
Natal, State of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
Monday, February 21, 2011
I stayed in the town of Pirangi do Norte, about 12km south of Natal through most of the carnival period, taking advantage of the fact that the hostel I stayed in, unlike seemingly every other place in the country, did not increase their prices by five or six times. The South African guy, Ivan, who'd been running the hostel for a year or so kept a good house but was clearly struggling with getting the place full - it has around 40 beds but, for the first few days, there was only me and an Irish chap, Akash. Still, for the price, a house right next to a beautifully clean beach and freedom to play whatever music we liked was pretty welcome. This "jukebox" included, of course, all your regular beach tunes - Lydia Lunch, Morphine etc. On top of this, Ivan actually enjoyed cooking for his guests, having previously had a beach-side restaurant - so I was frequently surprised to be presented with restaurant quality food in recompense for a tough day spent reading on the beach.
Pirangi is home to the largest cashew tree in the world, replete with "exit" and "no smoking" signs, and an elevated path amongst the boughs resembling the queuing platform for a theme park ride. Tragically, the town is this moment facing a provincial planning crisis as the branches are encroaching on the main road. They must now either relocate the road or prevent the tree's further expansion, thereby handing this glamourous title to a small Venezuelan town with its own colossal tree. Perhaps in sympathy with their plight, I also took the opportunity to get the first hair cut of my travels which, although unlikely to claim the world title, had grown to such a length that would beat the majority of competitors in Venezuela and Brazil.
The best excursion I did from here was a buggy ride through the incredible sand dunes and beaches north of Natal. I won't claim that I wasn't a little nervous, as our crazy driver spent a good proportion of the time hanging out of the side of the vehicle whilst driving at impossible angles and even in reverse down some of the steepest inclines. Still, a few capirinhas in and somehow hanging off the back of the car whilst swinging to the classic rock tracks blasting from his radio seemed absolutely, indisputably secure.
Since Natal (famously within Brazil) doesn't really "do" carnival, many people travel out to Pirangi for the festivities. The town is completely different at this time - noisy and with more people than would have seemed possible the week before. Naturally, the hostel also had it's fair share of guests passing through, including a 50 year-old Texan missionary living in Brazilia and travelling with his dance partner. The first night this guy opened up to me and admitted he was in love with this woman - unfortunately for him, I think every person in town had to fight off her advances through the week (with considerable force). These conversations with him were somewhat awkward, given the level of his infatuation and the obvious hopelessness of the situation. Diversifying the conversation was rarely anything but a dangerous option (Texan pastor), although I was on one occasion helpfully tipped that the most effective aphrodisiac for a woman is a man's pursuit of God.
I suppose I should mention carnival, that big party for which not only does the country stop for a week but apparently spends a whole year slowing down for. Mentioned. I still have the inane carnival songs scarred upon my brain but, on the other hand, I have to admit the euphoria of the event and I had a great time. Make of that what you will.
