João Pessoa, Brazil

For the last month we chose to relax and recharge our batteries. My only requests were near a beach and away from the crowds and hype. Mission accomplished.

We found the lovely city of João Pessoa located on the most eastern tip of South America. A great laid back vibe, safe, and inexpensive.

Karen found us a great apartment a block and a half from the beach with a nice gym and a lovely pool. We managed to get into the pool twice, sometimes three times a day.

Admittedly we did not go out to explore the city. Our goal was to relax, and that we did. Starting each morning with a walk along the beachfront road or the beach itself depending on the tide. The weather here is very consistent. 26 – 30°C with 75 – 80% humidity every day. The pool really was wonderful.

Along the 2 km of beachfront by our place the municipality has installed about a dozen of these elevated pathways to allow easy access without trampling the natural vegetation.

Some of the old access pathways still exist. Though they give homage to the importance of turtles here.

The beach here is in the Intermares district and is known as an important nesting site for Hawksbill Turtles which lay their eggs here between December and May.

The local conservation group who monitor the nests announced a release on their Instagram page so we were able to attend. It was a bit of a gong show but did an amazing job of making people aware of how tough it is for the turtles, and for the people to witness some of the challenges. On the plus side, with so many people there, there wasn’t any birds swooping in and eating the little fellows as they scampered across the beach.

Karen toughed out the crowd and was able to enjoy a closer view.

The volunteers giving the public a closer view.

Apparently it is important that the babies cross the beach themselves. It has something to do with their being able to find their way back when it is time for them to lay eggs. Nature is incredible.

We enjoyed a few of the local restaurants. All the places we ate at ended up being tables and chairs outside or right by the windows. The weather is beautiful after dark. The two ladies that worked the front counter here were awesome. They spoke a bit of English and were so very patient with me both times we ate here. The food was delicious.