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Beaches to the South
On the beach at Mae Luisa, four kilometer's south of Natal, visitors have the rare opportunity to climb to the top of a lighthouse (open Sundays from 2 to 5 p.m.). In Ponta Negra, 10 kilometers further south, you can marvel at Morro do Careca, a 120-meter-high sand dune that is part of a unique landscape best toured in a dune buggy, which can be rented in Natal.
The next attraction south (28 kilometers), in Pirangi do Norte, is from the plant kingdom: O Cajueiro, a gigantic cashew tree which has as an appendage a large accessory fruit, the bitter cashew nut, which can only be eaten after being roasted. The crowns of these magnificent trees are estimated to measure about 7,000 square meters. Boat excursions that follow the coastline leave from the dock near the beach.
Destinations in Rio Grande do Norte
A perfect scuba-diving and surfing area awaits water-sports enthusiasts in nearby Buzios. Surfers will also be highly pleased with Barra da Tabatinga (at kilometer 40), an ideal place to ride the waves, situated as it is between cliffs and a reef. The coastal highway ends 50 kilometers south of Natal at Camurupim, where superb white sand dunes and natural swimming pools provide the perfect backdrop for a memorable beach holiday. This Edenic coastal environment is best explored in a dune buggy. Visitors can make the crossing to Tibau do Sul in a tiny ferry. Pipa, 90 kilometers from Natal, is a locale where the young, rich and beautiful frolic.
Genipabu - Beaches to the North
After traversing the broad mouth of the Rio Potenji, five kilometers west of Natal, you come to the beach, dunes and coral reef of Santa Rita, 11 kilometers beyond Redinha. Visitors without cars can take the ferry from the port at Rio Potenji in Natal.
Genipabu is a ten-minute ferry ride or a 24-kilometer drive from Praia da Redinha. The town is known for its exquisite lagoon surrounded by huge sand dunes and cashew trees. Boat excursions that depart right from the silky sands of the dunes are also available, as are sightseeing flights in ultralight aircraft. Farther to the north in the fishing village of Gra~andu visitors will find natural seawater pools to swim in, and snorkeling devotees will relish the scrumptiously colorful marine life in the lagoon Lagoa de Pitangui. Amidst the dunes and reefs of Jacuma, 50 kilometers north of Natal, both scuba divers and fishermen will find conditions well suited to their respective pursuits.
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Just under 300 kilometers north of Recife and a long 2,625 kilometers from Rio lies Natal (population 650,000), the capital of the state of Rio Grande do Norte. The city derives its name, as do so many others in Brazil, from the ecclesiastical calendar: it was founded in 1599 during Christmas, for which the Portuguese word is Natal. Visitors will find no religious art here: being at such a great distance from the center of colonial power kept the wealth enjoyed by other Brazilian cities at a distance as well.
Natal does nonetheless have several interesting sights to offer. The largest saltworks and cotton plantation in Brazil are located nearby; and rocket research is carried out 20 kilometers south of the city at Barreiro do Inferno (The Gates of Hell), so named owing to the reddish sand dunes near the facility, which visitors can tour on Wednesdays by prearrangement.
Natal has evolved from a riverine port on the Rio Potengi to a coastal harbor, and is no longer sandwiched between fresh and salt water. In 1598, the Portuguese built Forte dos Reis Magos (Fort of the Magi) at the northern tip of the city, naming it after the feast day in the ecclesiastical calendar (Epiphany; January 6) on which work was begun on it. The fort, built to a star-shaped plan, has five bastions and was erected as protection against the French. Today it is the city's biggest tourist attraction. A tour guide regales visitors with dramatic accounts of the taking of important prisoners, and of the 20-year-long siege of the fort by the Dutch.
Just under 300 kilometers north of Recife and a long 2,625 kilometers from Rio lies Natal (population 650,000), the capital of the state of Rio Grande do Norte. The city derives its name, as do so many others in Brazil, from the ecclesiastical calendar: it was founded in 1599 during Christmas, for which the Portuguese word is Natal. Visitors will find no religious art here: being at such a great distance from the center of colonial power kept the wealth enjoyed by other Brazilian cities at a distance as well.
Natal does nonetheless have several interesting sights to offer. The largest saltworks and cotton plantation in Brazil are located nearby; and rocket research is carried out 20 kilometers south of the city at Barreiro do Inferno (The Gates of Hell), so named owing to the reddish sand dunes near the facility, which visitors can tour on Wednesdays by prearrangement.
Natal has evolved from a riverine port on the Rio Potengi to a coastal harbor, and is no longer sandwiched between fresh and salt water. In 1598, the Portuguese built Forte dos Reis Magos (Fort of the Magi) at the northern tip of the city, naming it after the feast day in the ecclesiastical calendar (Epiphany; January 6) on which work was begun on it. The fort, built to a star-shaped plan, has five bastions and was erected as protection against the French. Today it is the city's biggest tourist attraction. A tour guide regales visitors with dramatic accounts of the taking of important prisoners, and of the 20-year-long siege of the fort by the Dutch.
Casa de Dentenqao, originally a prison, is now a tourist center featuring crafts shops, art galleries and restaurants. The city also has one museum that is worth a brief visit: the Camara Cascudo, in the Tirol district east of the upper part of the city, features anthropological and ethnological exhibits, as well as displays of religious art and a sugar mill. | |
