5 days

Recife/Olinda – Caruaru – Pesqueira – Sertânia - São João do Cariri – Recife/Olinda

The Sertão, diminutive of the word “desertão” (the great desert), is the vast arid region in the interior of the Northeast. This is the “caatinga” with its rare and badly distributed rains, vegetation of cacti and thorny bushes. In this hostile and sparsely populated universe, man lives by extensive animal breeding. Harshness of the environment, hardness of local life, frequent droughts and their consequences, particularly famines, have also brought about specific social and cultural phenomena : social banditry ("lampião” and the “cangaceiros”), abundant local literature (“cordel” literature) and of course the “Forró”.

You will love: the beauty of Olinda, classified as a World Heritage Site; the authenticity of the Caruaru fair; the wealth of handicrafts and talking to artisans; the vast arid stretches of the Sertão; the “Forró”; the friendly ambience of the fazenda; the culinary specialities of the Northeast.

Day 1: Welcome at the Recife airport, transfer to your hotel at Olinda . Afternoon and evening free.

Day 2: Recife

In the morning, guided tour of the historical parts of Recife (English speaking guide and private transport). A stop at the São José market, one of the most typical in Brazil, and the Golden Chapel is a must. Its interior is entirely in cedar wood covered with gold leaf. Lunch (not included) in a restaurant offering regional specialities. In the afternoon, visit the superb Musée de L´Homme showcasing the daily life of the Northeasterner in an interesting manner, his origins, culture and traditions. Night in a hotel at Olinda.

Day 3: Recife – Bezerros – Caruaru – Alto do Moura - Pesqueira

Leave your hotel at 8.00 am, by private transport, for Caruaru (135 km from Recife). On the way we will make a halt at Bezerros , birth place of the reputed poet and engraver Jota Borges, a master of cordel literature. We will visit the studio of Jota Miguel, son of Jota Borges , as well as the very interesting Pernambuco Handicrafts Museum (closed on Mondays). We will continue on our way to Caruaru where we will visit the famous Feira de Caruaru , the biggest open-air handicrafts market in the Northeast. After lunch (not included), we will visit the Forró Museum (closed on Mondays) dedicated to this extremely popular Northeast music and its “King”, Luis Gonzaga , and then go to Alto do Moura situated 5 km from Caruaru. This village is the birth place of Mestre Vitalino, renowned ceramist and sculptor célèbre of Northeast folk art, creator of terracotta figurines representing typical real life people of the Sertão or folklore characters of the Northeast (Maracatu, Bumba meu boi...). Mid-afternoon, we set out for Pesqueira (80 km) where we spend the night in a hotel. Dinner and evening free.

Day 4: Pesqueira – Cruzeiro do Nordeste – Sertânia – São João do Cariri

Leave the hotel at 10.00 am, by private transport, for Cruzeiro do Nordeste where the film by Walter Salles, Central do Brasil, was shot. After a lunch typical of the region (not included) at Arcoverde, we will head North towards São João do Cariri for 180 km through the Sertão and its typical landscapes of caatinga : cactus, dried up, leaden sky and scorching sun. On the way we will make a halt at Sertânia , tiny town lost in the middle of nowhere. We will visit the studio of Mestre Carlos Fernando, the highly talented woodworker who has an international reputation for his “running away” figurines of half-starved men and women fleeing from the drought in the Sertão in search of a better future in the favelas of big cities like Recife or São Paulo. This phase will end in a fazenda (Brazilian ranch) where, after dinner, the peasants of the region will improvise an evening around a camp fire or, better still, a Forró concert (for groups of minimum 10 persons).

Day 5: São João do Cariri – Campina Grande – Olinda

After a delicious sertanejo breakfast, we will visit places around the fazenda, on foot or on horseback, with a local guide. In the middle of the Sertão , Nature has sculpted huge rocks to give them the most bizarre shapes. Before the heat becomes unbearable, we will return to the fazenda for lunch (not included) and relax a bit by the poolside. Early afternoon, we will leave the fazenda to return to Olinda . On the way, if time permits, we will make a halt near Campina Grande to visit Pedra do Ingá, a rock covered with cave inscriptions whose meaning and origin have given rise to several controversies among the international scientific community. After lunch (not included), we will leave the highway to cross through a superb region of sugarcane plantations and reach your hotel in Olinda towards the end of the day.

Option: This tour can, if you wish, end at Natal instead of Recife/Olinda.

Prix du séjour : nous contacter

Included : All accommodation in hotels, pousada and fazenda-inns for a total of 4 nights; 4 breakfasts; air-conditioned vehicle with gas and chauffeur for the whole trip; English speaking guide, visits and excursions indicated in the programme.

Not included: Your return international flight; your local flights within Brazil; airport taxes (national and international), individual equipment; compulsory individual insurance; lunches and dinners mentioned as “not included” in the programme (calculate at the rate of 3 to 15 Euros/person/meal); visits not mentioned in the day-to-day programme; options .

Remark: Please note that this programme is an “off the beaten path” tour and there are no luxury hotels or restaurants in the places visited. So arrangements are made for accommodation for certain nights and meals in simple places where the services are good.

On request: list of accommodation; custom-made quotation, etc.

Possible Extensions of the Tour : Porto de Galinhas beach south of Recife; Pipa beach near Natal or Natal-Fortaleza in a buggy .