End of the Road: From Santo Andre to Belmonte

Once again, the day commenced with a long walk on a deserted beach with perfect blue skies.  The wind picked up from the northeast, ensuring another clear day.  Alison's pousada interview with owner, Hugo, encouraged us to take a trip along the road north, before going to a recommended restaurant on the ocean nearby for more peixe frito (fried fish).

I had looked at the map with some curiosity.  From Santo Andre, there is a 55 kilometer "yellow" road north.  That meant asphalt, albeit with irregular speed bumps in some most unexpected places.  According to the map, the road ends at a town called Belmonte, located where a large river meets the ocean. No towns or villages are marked in between.  Why is the road asphalt, when so many roads here are dirt and sand?  What else is up there?  Hugo enlightened us.  Belmonte used to be one of the largest coffee producing towns in Brazil--in the 19th century, and it was still a vibrant place until the 1940's, when a plague hit the coffee plantations.  The business never recovered.  But Belmonte is hardly a ghost town.  It's as if the original fishing village has just absorbed and encroached on the extraordinary colonial architecture.  Ruins of by-gone grandeur, some derelict, some painted in garish colors, stand side by side with fishermen's cottages, the squares and promenades curiously deserted. Between Belmonte and Santo Andre is lone long sandy beach, along which there is virtually no development. (We heard that the Nestle family still vacations there.)  Until CVC discovers this stretch of coast--unfortunately already beginning--this is the place to find certain solitude in a gorgeous setting.

On the way back, we stopped at Maria Nilze's restaurant, just a few kilometers north of our pousada.  The protocol here is to order, then lie on the beach or in a hammock, while your food is being prepared.  An hour or so later, you enjoy fresh fried fish and rice, this time prepared with succulent root vegetables.  Delicious, and enough to last us all day.  Prices are not cheap--about $25 per entree, but what most people know when they first come to Brazil is that portions are usually designed for two people sharing.  Tip:  bring a friend with the same culinary tastes.  I've been very careful with the water here (don't drink the tap water), but I've eaten everything, including salads, with no ill effects.  Perhaps I've just been lucky.