The Pipa nightmare.
a weekend to remember in Pipa, Rio Grande do Norte 🇧🇷
it all started when one of my most fun friends (and now biz partner) suggested meeting in her hometown, Natal. with a short timeline to enjoy our trip through the northeast of Brazil and the Christmas season, we decided to stay in a place between João Pessoa and Natal: Praia de Pipa.
the trip to Pipa, from João Pessoa, takes about 2 hours by car and the roads are great. clean and very well maintained. getting there was a breeze, we arrived straight at Praia do Madeiro, one of the most beautiful and peaceful beaches I’ve seen on this trip, not counting the ones in João Pessoa. the only problem for us here was a group of locals trying to impose a parking fee in the public parking lot, like, what? lol. past that, we found a spot by the beach where we could use chairs, a table, and a big umbrella as long as we bought or drank something from the stands. a no-brainer, right?
we got some caipirinhas and coconut water 🥥 and enjoyed a lot of oysters on the beach, 15 oysters for USD $10.
after enjoying the breeze and chatting for a few hours, we went into the sea for a quick swim. the water was warm, and we could see dolphins swimming and playing just a few meters away. what an incredible experience! it was my first time seeing dolphins, and it was mind blowing to see them up close.
we also visited ‘Chapadão’, a big cliff near Praia do Madeiro, and chilled there for a while.
as night began to fall, it was a sign for us to head to our Airbnb. we did some grocery shopping and headed to our accommodation. after unsuccessfully trying to reach our host, we had to book another Airbnb, get settled, set up a churrasco (Brazilian BBQ), and enjoy the pool 🏊♀️.
overnight, something went sideways, and my partner and I got food poisoning. my friends also felt nauseous over the following couple of days. my main suspicion is that the ‘fresh’ oysters, who sat in our plates for hours, cooking in the sun, as we talked, drank, and laughed before even thinking of them, were to blame. the toilet felt like a war zone throughout the night.
as soon as the sun started to rise, we went back to João Pessoa, and continued to feel bad over the following days. still in recovery mode here as I got a cold and then a sore throat right after that, what a joke!
enjoy food. enjoy drinks. be careful with where you eat seafood 👀