From Cumbuco to Paracuru by buggy

buggy paracuru.JPG
Originally uploaded by activecumbuco.

Ah well, it is quiet in the area, great, not too many tourists in Cumbuco nowadays. So when the wind is OK, you have all the space that you need on the water. We're still enjoying our time here and having great lunches at the chicken place ,ACL taking the downwinder to the laguna or all the way to Paracuru via Taiba and Pecem a few times per week. And relaxing or finding some great parties in Fortaleza.

And for dinner, 3 days a week, 0031 is open, the others days we get our steaks at Gauchos.

I did manage to have a stupid accident with the kite in the waves, breaking some part of the sail, luckily I ran into Marco and got it fixed in just an hour. Check out his shop in the center of Cumbuco.

Life is not so bad in Cumbuco... :)
Enjoy and see you later.

Cumbuco lagoa de Cauipe

locals laguna cumbuco Originally uploaded by activecumbuco.

Last weeks have been great, w've spent a considerable amount of time on the water. With some locals we got a buggy from Vito and we spent the day at the Laguna. After the downwinder we discovered an almost empty laguna, yeaah.

After the first session we had a great lunch, freshly grilled fish with a salad and some fries and rice. Typical tourist meal, but good energy for the rest of the day.

After a quick shower and some reading we went for dinner to Roel and Janneke for a great dinner and some drinks in the Laranja Mecanica bar. A good night sleep and some relaxing for the days to come.

see ya.

the empty beaches of Cumbuco

seaview Originally uploaded by activecumbuco.

Just uploaded some pictures of Cumbuco in Ceara, Brazil. It's quiet at the moment, not too many tourists.. Great for relaxing though. I predict that the next season is gonna start early and generate more new visitors to the area. Found some new developments in the area as well. Will try to make a list of properties and prices in the last few years, let's see where the developments stop. Many people are predicting that the developments in this area will be similar to what happened in spain 15 years ago. Great, there is plenty or road ahead of us then..

Something different for now, we found this site, www.boardingbrasil.com as a great source for apartments, pousadas or hotels for rent in this area. It also describes restaurants and soon will list properties for sale. Take a quick look, it still seems under construction, or continuous improvement might be a better way of describing it.

Cheers.

Kitecamp cumbuco

kitecampcumbuco
Originally uploaded by activecumbuco.

We spent most of the time last week traveling to Fortaleza, making all the arrangements for our company, getting the visa done, etc.. sometimes frustrating but in the end worth the effort. The first thing you learn, patience. Keep your patience. Smile, be nice, and keep your patience. The warm weather helps a lot of course..

We were staying in Kitecamp Cumbuco, a really cool pousada which is owned by Patrick and Aurelie. Addictive to kitesurfing you can say for sure.

With them we took several downwinders to the laguna and a daytrip to Paracuru as well. Great.

At night we went for dinner at the ACL chicken grill and for drinks to Laranja Mecanica which is the bar above the 0031 restaurant. Life is not bad when you're around here. Ciao..

Building and buying in Cumbuco

under construction Originally uploaded by activecumbuco.

We've seen a lot, houses, land and apartments, it seems there is still plenty available. Although prices have increased in the last few years. But how much 20%? 100%? we cannot find the figures to make the proper calculations. Despite all, there are a lots of positive developments in this area.

If we look at the village itself, we've seen some great improvements in the type of restaurants that you will find here, 0031 is a great example of a European style restaurant with affordable prices.

And it's not only the kitesurfers that visit Cumbuco, the large projects that are being constructed at the moment, such as this Norwegian project or these projects from the UK. must attract more than only kiters.

Looking at the size and price of these apartments we cannot expect that the low-budget kite traveler are buying these. So there or more investors looking this way. Good, very good.

A golf course is planned and the construction of some larger resorts is under preparation as well. The quality of the existing pousadas are improving as well. Check out the Hotels/Houses that you find here.

The only concern that arises is that the construction is going to exceed the maximum height of the palm trees, some people are worried about this and started this weblog to get some more reactions on this topic.

The wind is picking up, w're back on the water. Ciao.

vende-se

for sale Originally uploaded by activecumbuco.

A sign that you will find on almost every corner of the streets in Cumbuco. We have been looking around to buy a house or apartment in Cumbuco and in the surrounding villages. There is a lot for sale, land, houses and apartments. But is this the best place to buy? (more about that later)

One thing is for sure, do your preparations thoroughly, make sure you are in touch with a good lawyer that can assist you with the legal part of purchasing property or a house. And don't forget that everybody pretends to be a real estate broker, better to take a look at the ones that are official and will assist you in getting all the necessary documents arranged. The lawyer can also help you with getting a CPF number and support you in getting permanent visas, if required. You might pay a little more by using such a large firm, but you can be assured that they deliver according to their promises. A little negotiating on the prices is always worth a try.

In the main street we ran into Don who has a pousada and is also active in real estate. He has married a Brazilian lady, so you can take a little advantage of the local knowledge as well. But then again, ask around, and don't commit yourself to soon. Robert and WIllem from Laranja Mecanica have been in Cumbuco for some years now, they are a good source for information and advice as well.

So we continue with our hunt for a great place, updates will follow soon.

a typical day in Cumbuco

sunset cumbuco
Originally uploaded by activecumbuco.

Waking up around 0700, after the shower we get to the breakfast table, either in the pousada where we are staying at the moment, or somewhere in any of the small restaurants that you can find in the Cumbuco village center. There are plenty, on this website you will find a lot of places where to go, pousadas included.

So after a healthy breakfast we check the wind, boring exercise because the wind is almost always great! So we pack our stuff, decide if we go for a tour or not, and then start pumping the kites.

Practicing some more tricks, make a small downwinder and get together with some friends for lunch. Afternoon, do some reading first, then another session around 1500 and watch the sun go down before heading back to the pousada.

And at night we eat and drink, :) sometimes we go to Fortaleza for some great adventure, Mucuripe is one of the nicer places to go to. European style and many different styles of music. It's worth the trip, and with a typical taxi it's only 40R$ to get back to Cumbuco. W'll post some of our dinner adventures tomorrow.

W're gonna look for land and houses this week, so stay tuned for more real estate info later this week.

Ciao.

Getting your kite fixed, Marco's kite repair shop

kiterepairshop Originally uploaded by activecumbuco.

Another great day of kiting in Cumbuco, but at the end of the day I crashed my kite a little too hard onto the water, tsggrhhii. I tore up a large part of the sail close to the leading edge. Ahumn, so much for good quality kites.. :) In the village I had already seen the sign, kite repair shop. So I went there, Marco is running this place, he is Italian and speaks English very well. After a quick look he said that he would fix it, ready tomorrow morning. Perfect, I think I am lucky that the high season is over at the moment and that he has some more time. I guess I was double lucky since he is closed normally during this time of the year. Anyway, for a few R$ I got it fixed, and he has done a great job repairing it. Will try it this afternoon and see if it flies just as good as before. We'll go for breakfast now, trying out this place which we saw last night, and they serve a complete breakfast as well. Start making some plans for the next weeks, any suggestions would be welcome. Ciao.

Dinner with a view, 0031 laranja mecanica

laranja mecanica
Originally uploaded by activecumbuco.

It's almost as if we are getting bored here.. but no, that's not true at all. Another great day at the laguna, we made a downwinder starting at KiteBrazil and we went in one straight way to the laguna. Well,.. we did enjoy some great wave-riding and had some fun in the bigger waves when you get closer to the laguna. For me it was also a great day to experience a new kite. Jamie from Hi-Life offered me to try the new Waroo from Best, wauw. I am not a pro, not at all, but this kite makes everything so much easier. You let go off the bar, or push it away a little and you get instant de-power. Pulling back the bar towards you gives you instant power. It's almost as if you're driving a motorcycle. And then there is this stopper ball, argh well enough for the commercial.. Just ask him and try one yourself.

Back in Cumbuco we went for some drinks in Laranja Mecanica and afterwards we had a nice dinner at the restaurant 0031, above Laranja Mecania. 0031 is a great restaurant, Roel and Janneke are the dutch owners who started it 5 months ago. The service and food is great, you will be surprised by anything that you pick from the menu and don't forget to ask for a special Caipifruta!!

The restaurant is a little different (in a positive way) from all the other places that you can find in Cumbuco, let's hope this is a new trend that has been set, welcoming more places like this to open in Cumbuco.

horsebackriding in Cumbuco dunes

horseback riding Originally uploaded by activecumbuco.

Another great day, after having spent some good quality time on the water we decided to chill out for an hour and get ready for the next great adventure. Together with the rest of the people from the pousada we rented some horses for some serious horseback riding. You will find the men with their horses on the beach all the time, and I can imagine it does not look very appealing if you see a heavy man riding a small horse up and down the beach. Don't worry, we did't go for that adventure. We rented the horses for one hour, starting around 1630, and we didn't went to the beach but the opposite direction towards the dunes. It's really nice to ride these horses on the roads that are close to the dunes, when you take the paths that are being used by the buggies, its great to go into the dunes as well. Full speed, all the horses behind each other, awesome. And the sunset, it's just perfect. The best horse to ride is chocolate, just ask one of the horse renting men. Everyone knows each other, and chocolate is the best horse around!! Have fun.

Cumbuco, an excellent investment?

buganvila Originally uploaded by activecumbuco.

When you drive through Cumbuco it is hard to miss these signs they are all over Cumbuco. Checking out their website it seems that they'll soon start selling apartments on the beach. It could be a nice investment.. Everybody is talking about the great upside potential that this area has, comparing it to Spain 10-15 years ago. But is that really the case? How about flights, reachability and the competition of other areas such as Pipa Brasil. When you do a quick search on the internet you will find many "excellent investment opportunities". So what are we waiting for? How easy is it to buy a property in Brazil, get it registered and sell it with a huge profit after 5 years? Let's find out and w'll post it later on this site. All suggestions are welcomed in the comments area.

Paracuru, another great spot

paracuru
Originally uploaded by activecumbuco.

Whenever you're gonna be in this area of Brasil, Ceara, Pecem, Taiba and/or Cumbuco, make sure you make a trip to Paracuru as well.

Please don't wait till the last day of your holiday, you'll regret it. Best is if you rent a car/buggy with driver. Check out Vito's Buggy tours for example. He'll bring you there, let you enjoy the great kitespot, and even better, he can take you out of the crowded area and bring you a few miles upwind so you can enjoy a great downwinder before getting some fresh lobster for lunch.

I saw this buggy as well, so there are much more options to get here.

Paracuru is great because of the reef that is a few hundred meters out from the beach. It means you get flat water just in front of the beach, and great waves just after the reef.

Watch out for the fishing nets on the left-hand-side, when things get more crowded. But as said before, it's a great option to go upwind a mile or so, and you will find the same conditions, and no other kiters!!

Enjoy.

lagoa de cauipe

lagoa de cauipe Originally uploaded by activecumbuco.

A few weeks ago we spent a great day at the Lagoa de Cauipe, it's perfect when there are not too many kiters. The best suggestion is to make a downwinder from Cumbuco, enjoy the waves, and drop into the fresh lagoon after the downwinder of about 40 minutes. There are plenty of taxis to get back with, we use Vito who can pick you up whenever you want. He is working with and actually part of the pousada Vento do Mar. He does more then only pickups from the lagoa, so check out his full offering and leave a review if you liked his service. Take into account that the left hand side, when facing the laguna, is used for lessons. Leave them alone to avoid problems with lines getting tangled together.. :) Enjoy!!

Real estate in Cumbuco seems hot!

kariri Brazilian real estate
Originally uploaded by activecumbuco.

Wauw, look at this, big developments are planned in Cumbuco. This Brazilian Real Estate company is from Norwegian owners and they are planning to build BIG! Check out the floor plans that you can find on their website it sure looks impressive.

The sales is taking of already, I think the construction is planned for mid 2007 to start. They seem to take advantage of the other developments that are happening in Cumbuco. The Golf restort being one of them...

Gauchos with big spare ribs

Gauchos with big spare ribs
Originally uploaded by activecumbuco.

Excellent food, lots of meat and fish. Gauchos is a great BBQ grill restaurant in Cumbuco. They serve large plates of food which you can easily share amongst a group of people. The place is not very expensive since the meals on the menu are at least for two persons.

We've enjoyed the great ostrich which I can highly recommend to all of you who go here, perfect, not too thick tender meat. I get a hungry feeling just by thinking about it. Love to be back soon...

Brunotti Windtown Hotel

Brunotti Windtown Hotel, originally uploaded by activecumbuco.

This Hotel is open since end of 2006, it is called the Brunotti Windtown Hotel Cumbuco and it's located right on the beach. The owners are a Dutch kitesurf champion, Suzette, and her boyfriend. The atmosphere is very relaxed, if you enjoy kitesurfing and hanging around the pool area, this is a great place to stay. The kiteschool is a part of the hotel and I am sure that they are organizing kitesurf adventure safari trips as well. The Hotel is located just outside the village centre but it's only a short walk home. I noticed that Suzette and her team are doing a lot of promotion with local travel agencies and have also organized a Kitechix trip to Brazil. Check out the pictures from their site.

going out in Cumbuco

It was some years ago that I was here for the last time. A lot of things have changed. The little village center has been "refurbished" and there are some new bars and restaurants that are open now. The bar from Willem looks great and is doing well. Willem is the Dutch guy that also rents out some apartments and is running www.cumbuco.nl.