Country Article / Postcards
Dune Buggy Beachfront
Date: 09/28/2006International Living Postcards--your daily escape
Thursday, Sept. 28, 2006
Canoa Quebrada, Brazil
Early morning in the center of this small coastal village, and we piled into two dune buggies parked in front of our hostel. Augusto hits the button installed where the ignition switch used to be, and the 1964 Volkswagen engine roars to life. We wheel through town to the water, and head north on a wide, sandy beach bordered by vacant land and dunes on one side, and the crystal-clear blue ocean on the other.
This is the only way to see property, I think to myself. (Although the fact that we have a dune buggy doesn’t bode well for the condition of the access roads.)
Canoa Quebrada means “broken canoe” in Portuguese. This town got its name when Portuguese navigator Francisco Ayres da Cunha shipwrecked his boat here in 1650. He donated the canoe to a local boat builder named Mestre Sebastão. The master named this section of coast and village in honor of the broken canoe.
The beaches at Canoa Quebrada are mostly wide and white, with a few sections of almost-orange sand bordered by small cliffs about 75 feet back from the water. An open-air café on the beach allows you to enjoy the view of a handful of jangadas, the small sailing rafts used for lobster fishing by the local fishermen. The people here claim that this beach is the most beautiful in the state of Ceará--which has almost 360 miles of beaches--and they may well be right.
But what really makes Canoa Quebrada unique is the village itself. It’s clean, cheerful, and well cared-for, with cobblestoned streets, shops, boutiques, and small hotels. The main drag is pedestrians only, and has at least a dozen nice restaurants along its length. If you’re thinking of buying property along the coast here, I’d consider this town to be a major draw.
Speaking of buying property, we took a ride (via the dune buggies) to the site of a beachfront condo project that is slated for construction about a mile outside the village, accessible from the beachfront road. The beach here is wide and beautiful, and the condos start at $58,000 for a two-bedroom, one-bath unit.
If you’re thinking of buying property on the north coast of Brazil (or becoming a resident), my preferred legal contact is Rui Farias, in Fortaleza. He does extensive work on property transactions, and is an expert on immigration and taxes. He also speaks perfect English. You can write to him at ruifarias@secrel.com.br, or visit his website (and sign up for his newsletter) at http://www.albuquerque.adv.br.
Lee Harrison
Roving Latin America Editor, International Living
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