Circuit Tours of NE Brazil - SAPPHIRE Tour
8 Days / 7 Nights: Fortaleza, Canoa Quebrada, Natal, João Pessoa, Recife.

Day 1 - Fortaleza – Panoramic Tours and Cumbuco

Morning visit to the city including: the coast road with the Iracema Meireles and do Futuro beaches; the Art and Popular Culture Museum, Metropolitan Culture Centre, Fortaleza Nossa Senhora (XVII Century), the José de Alencar Theatre and the Tourism Centre, where it is not possible to resist the purchase of local artisan raft in wood, ceramic, and “fillet” and “labyrinth” lace work. The principal attraction of the Cumbuco beach is its dunes with their fine white sand. Here every body has a buggy trip and goes esquibunda, Ceará’s most popular sport, where one boards - seated or standing - down the dunes. The buggy trips can be “with or without excitement”, be prepared to negotiate dunes of up to 10 meters in height.

Day 2 - Fortaleza / Canoa Quebrada – Day Free on the beach

Morning visit to Canoa Quebrada with its dunes of very fine sand, colorful faults extending like a wall facing the sea and warm waves.A place that surprises for the paradisiacal beauty. In 1650, the Portuguese navigator Francisco Ayres of Cunha stagnated in the coast of Canoa Quebrada. When it arrived in earth gave his broken arm to master Sebastião. It was then that the name Canoa Quebrada appeared. Canoa Quebrada is a beach located in the coast east of the State of Ceará to 996 miles of Fortaleza. This is a beach for those seeking entertainment (Broadway Street). Lunch (optional) under canvas on the coast and after passing an unforgettable day on the beach, a great variety of attractions among bars, restaurants and nightclubs…

Day 3 - Canoa Quebrada / Natal – Galinhos

Morning trip to Galinhos, peninsula surrounded by dunes, salt-pan and river. In Galinhos the hinterland finds the sea. Visit of the outskirts to see the vegetation characteristic of the two regions. It has mangroves, salt mines and creation of shrimps. Fishing village since its foundation, the name appeared due the great amount of fish-rooster and the fishing agglomeration that was formed in the beach. Galinhos is only accessible from the sea or by buggy, becoming almost an island. It is well worth viewing the sea below from the heights, and, looking behind us, the immensity of the dunes. The river cutting through the mangroves is one of the most beautiful stretches of this littoral.

Day 4 - Natal – Panoramic Tour and Pirangi.

Natal is situated on the banks of the River Potengi, close to its estuary on the Atlantic Ocean, a sandy area, with dunes and coves protected by a cordon of reefs along the beach which follow the coast. In 1597 a fleet commanded by Jerônimo de Albuquerque arrived in the estuary, with the mission of founding a town and building a fort to secure Portugal’s possession. The Three Kings Fort was started in 1598. A town, which in 1599 was baptized Natal (Christmas) in honour of its foundation day, was constructed one league from the fort. The Tourist Centre, in the old gaol, contains artisan shops and a stage for folkloric spectacles. Visit to the largest Cashew tree in the world and Pirangi beach with the possibility of diving among the coral reefs.

Day 5 - Natal – Jacumã

Morning visit São Cristóvão, 138 miles from the capital Aracaju and fourth oldest city in Brazil. It was the first capital of Sergipe, a position which was lost when the then provincial president, Inácio Joaquim Barbosa, moved the capital to Aracaju. Registered as a National Heritage since 1939, São Cristóvão has developed according to the Portuguese urban model. The facades of the houses segregate the social divisions of colonial Brazil. We continue on to Mangue Seco, land of Tieta do Agreste, the unforgettable figure of Jorge Amado. The sand invading the coconut groves and the sea should not be missed. Overnight in Salvador.

Day 6 - Natal / João Pessoa – Historic Tour and Picãozinho.

Morning departure for the Paraiban capital, the third urban centre to be created in Brazil, João Pessoa registers in its history the presence of the French, Dutch and Portuguese. It is an important tourist centre in the Northeast, as besides having beautiful beaches, it is one of the cities with the most trees in the world. João Pessoa is the capital of the state of Paraíba. Ponta do Seixas, next to White Cape, on Tambaú beach you will find the most easterly point of South America. Among its many baroque monuments, the Franciscan complex, which was started in 1589, stands out. Cabedelo owes its name to the fine-sand dunes which form on its beaches. From the colonial past, the church of Our guiding Lady (XVI Cent) and the Santa Catarina Fort stand out.

Day 7 - João Pessoa / Recife – Igarassu and Tamaracá.

Established approximately in 1535 by the noble Duarte Coelho with the name Village of Santa Cruz and raised to the category of village in 1564, Igarassu preserves the fascinating church of the Saints Cosme and Damião, the oldest church in functioning (1535) and the third Franciscan Convent installed in Brazil, which keeps a fascinating set of panels spotted oil of century XVIII. Paintings tell us a little bit of the city’s history. People of Igarassu knew to keep its treasures of the past that today enthusiasm tourists, curious, historians and visitors from all the continents. Igarassu is located in the region where the first exploration during the Portuguese colonization took place. We will visit the famous Itamaracá Island and the Orange Fort, from where we can cross over to Coroa do Avião to enjoy bathing.

Day 8 - Historic Tour in Recife and Olinda.

Duarte Coelho found a strategically place to install, in the high hills, the village that became Olinda. In 1637, Maurício de Nassau assumes the government. Cult, Nassau leads a urbanity revolution in the city: streets and several bridges were constructed. We visit to the city, including the beach, Boa Viagem church, the Capibaribe and Beberibe Rivers and the Golden Chapel. Trip to the Five Points Fort, streets Sol and Aurora (Old Recife), Brum Fort, Pátio de St. Pedro, Campo das Princesas, the Maurício de Nassau Bridge (the oldest in Brazil). Visit to the city of Olinda - Historic and artistic monument (said title awarded by UNESCO), the Heights and church da Sé (1537), the old slave market, the steep streets and convent of St. Francisco (1585).

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