I recently rediscovered my idea of Paradise, its in a land far away but not inaccessible. I am having this rare euphoric moment where to continue to revel in this feeling I couldn’t resist to bring out the lap top and share my thoughts and feelings!
November 17th 2012
The sun has just risen, the water is warm and butter flat, the wind is light but the tide has switched. These dream sessions have to be worked for and that is where there magic stems!
Here in Barra Nova, Brazil the wind comes in, but it doesn’t often stick around all day. You have to wake up at the crack of dawn, in fact if you are from Europe you should come straight here and not even consider adjusting your clock. Wake up at 05.30 and rig up your kite. For the next couple of hours the wind will build while the light thrown over the mangroves intensifies! The water laps up over your feet and the delecatable water splashes up and into your face pulling you round from your dosy reverie.
This place is quiet. It seems there are not many people happy in the world with waking up at such time for their hobby but that is where the magic grows.
The early start rewards you 2 hours with a small crew of other hardcores to ride in the spacious lagoon picking your moments to take off either riding hard or just relaxing as you cruise in the early morning light.
By 8am you’ve laid down some tricks and fought the hunger too long and your energy levels slow. A pit stop is enforced but its no hardship. There is an array of fruits, fresh juices, eggs, bread, cheese, ham, jams, coffee – the works! You can find them on the table in your pousada just 1 minute from where you have dropped your kite.
To get my second session of the day it takes time and effort. The wind has dropped and the other kiters are still enjoying their breakfast. I can see the point where I want to ride, but it is a distance up wind as well as against the tide but I can see it is worth it. It takes 20 minutes of hard work and determination, but inches at a time you get closer, sometimes walking on a shallow section and sometimes riding over the deep. Just when you think you have gone far enough you have to stay committed and go a little further and there you find your pocket.
Until that point the wind is light, but tucked in behind the sandbar where the land bends and the mangrove begins the current makes a switch in direction and somehow defying the laws of kitesurfing it is still possible to ride powered.
Just one other fellow kitesurfer, Andy is game on for this mission, but like anything you work hard for in the end there is a true reward! We spent the next 90 minutes cruising in amongst the most beautiful view on earth. The wind is just right to work on a new trick and there you can do it until your heart is content! To me riding this alone is a shame. You need someone there to appreciate its beauty, to be feeling the warmth inside yourself as well as out.
Through years of traveling solo I have been lucky enough to find these rare moments and small corners - of course there are more yet for me to find, but I certainly know some. I’ve searched high and low and take note of the wind directions and the tides and now? Now its time to share! I have my inner peace with these places I have selfishly enjoyed them by myself or with one other and now although I still need the odd session alone I now want to share, I want to share these moments with a with a core group of committed kitesurfers.
On the evening of the 18th of November 6 people arrive from the UK. They have booked on the latest kitesurfing holiday – Brazil Surfari and Coaching. They don’t know this yet and it is too late for them to find out as they are on route to the airport. On arrival around midnight there was a little package on their cosy beds waiting excitedly. In it is a little note to let them know not to change their clock! At first light in the morning the fins will be taking the rightful place on the boards and we will seize the magic!
My goal is to show these committed souls the best places on earth and then for them to ride them! Over time together we will all become friends for life united in these special moments! I will enthusiastically coach them and watch their skills develop in such a magical place and selfishly I will continue to be content as they lap up the last moments of the wind and water before the magic begins the following day. Like me right now, from 18th - 22nd they will be finished for the day by 11am, but with 3-4 hours of unbeatable kitesurfing under their belts its time to relax, read a book, take a snooze and eat more delicious local foods!
Barra Nova is a delightful, gentle break in before we venture further up the coast to the more ‘popular spots’ of Brazil where the wind blows all day and you can afford the lie in’s, but for me – here in Barra Nova – you cannot beat it. This is ‘my’ paradise that I am happy to visit just occasionally in my life to remind myself that paradise always exists.
Search within yourself before you search the world – Paradise is a state of mind, not just a location!
Thank you to Dom Moore and Pousada Escape for these lovely photos
