There is no way of getting to Corumbau from Cumuruxatiba (or anywhere else) except by private helicopter, private plane or local boat. So it was somewhat surprising to find there a thriving fishing village and a beautiful beach cafe. We were advised to order as soon as we arrived, because they had to go and find the cook and catch the fish. As usual, that took a couple of hours. Not a place to be in a hurry.
Our pousada owner arranged for us to meet up with a local man with a boat. According to Hans, the boatman wasn't exactly reliable, but knew the area well. As it turned out, we left on time with our fellow pousada guests, a family with two children, and were extremely glad we had a captain who had spent his life on the ocean in Cumuruxatiba. The town's name comes from the Indian word that describes a place where there is a large difference between low and high tide, an important fact when you're in a boat, because at low tide, the treacherous reefs are very much in evidence. When it's high tide, you just have to know the reefs are there. Charts of the area don't seem to exist. On our way back from Corumbau, even our experienced boatman couldn't find the way between the reefs and we ended up having to head way out to sea, through wind-whipped waves, before returning to dry land.
The captain obviously knew everyone in Corumbau, and introduced us to many people, or told us who lived in each of the houses. It's a curious village, with nothing but ocean between there and Africa. A large river joins the ocean at Corumbau and had, at some time in the fairly recent past, changed course, wiping out a whole row of houses closest to the water. So there's now a large flat sandy area between the village and the ocean that is rapidly becoming overgrown with mangrove. I'm used to associating the destruction of beach-front property with hurricanes and the like, but really bad weather rarely, if ever, happens in this part of Bahia. To destroy paradise, the river has to move.
On the way back, we passed a few resorts and private villas, with private planes quite visible. This is certainly the place to come if you don't want anyone to find you.
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