North Brazil on top of its game with friendly locals

Get out of your office, think big and act local – like me in the City of the Sun

NATAL, RIO GRANDE DO NORTE: Brazil is always at the top of its game and the people are always a great pleasure and fun to meet. After another visit to Rio de Janeiro and all the samba music, it´s time to the state Rio Grande do Norte. Heading to North Brazil,  visiting the city of Natal, in the fifth largest nation on earth. Brazil feels more than an incomplete planet than a very big country.

Almost everywhere I observed that the economy is booming, from the twinkling clusters of offshore drilling platforms I saw as my plane slide down, to the exclusive fashion at a celebrity party in Natal, was among few things I noticed after my touch down.

No problem in the North

Brazilians are making their smiles and many of them have a lot to smile about. Of course some things still don’t work and the reputation for crime is still there. But compare with other part of the world they are happily far away from political instability. Brazil doesn’t have war, civil uproar, not any huge protesters and demonstrators taking to the streets, no human bombers by al-Qaeda and more or less no problem. Even Vladimir Putin appear to be far away and a not so dangerous figure.

All the beaches

Rio de Janeiro is still the best place to party, Ipanema the best party-beach and Copacabana has the largest concentration of small scale robbers, but if you like to visit some real beaches, the ones with miles of white sands next to the warm Atlantic sea under the most comfortable climate and stabile weather, head north to beaches that no one outside Brazil has heard of.

I don’t know how some magazines in the US and Europe each and every year publish the same list of the word’s best beaches. However, I am pretty sure they haven’t put their feet on any of the beaches north of Brazil. I think they publish well-paid rankings from offices in New York, London, Paris and Berlin.

Here is no lack of beaches. Jenipabu is located in Extremoz, which is the first city north of Natal and close enough to easily visit. Grab a driver and let him take you on a wild dune ride – it’s an experience not to be missed. Eat at Restaurante 21 and have an amazing view.

The food

I sat next to the sea in beautiful Ponta Negra beach eating prawns, oysters, tartar with red peppercorns. Another day, Bacalhau croquettes made of salt cod, helped down by cold local beer and white wine, followed by a pâté of sea urchin. Or Moqueca of simmering prawns, mussels, oysters, squid and the tenderest octopus. Well, I didn´t eat all at my first visit, but throughout a two weeks stay.

Hotels by the coast

It´s hard to find hotels listed on several travel awards as the World´s Best Hotels. Most likely of the same reason as for lack of knowledge about the beaches. Here most of the hotels are found next to the sea, by dune-backed beaches, guaranteed your first choice for scenery.

Praia Mar Hotel is on the Ponta Negra beach, only 8km to downtown Natal and Hotel Esmeraldais also situated on the coast. If you don’t want to walk far to your sun lounger, you have no problem finding a beach-side hotel in one of Natal’s beach hotels. Natal has guesthouses dotted all around the city and I can recommend renting an apartment at Buzios Beach Club.

Meet the locals

Near Arena das Dunas, home of local football clubs, you will find options for eating and drinking. Try Mangai for food, and Bar Original for drinking and football. But Ponta Negra, south of the city, is the most popular place to go – a beach promenade with lots of bars.

Forget samba

In Natal it’s all about Capoeira and the forrò music. Capoeira is a mixture of dance, martial arts, and sports, developed by Brazilians in the northeast. It was developed many years ago by slaves brought over from Africa. An attempt to train themselves to fight in way that their masters wouldn’t realize what it was. For those watching, Capoeira looks like an elaborate dance ritual. For those in the dance, the movements are sharp, deliberate, and deadly upon contact.

Think big. The best way to understand the most influential nation in Latin America is to think of Brazil as a slideshow of ever-changing view – an overload of cultures and racial identities. Get out of your office, think big and act local – like me in the City of the Sun.

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