Cumuruxatiba – Corumbau – 35 km ^55
There are few things as idyllic as biking along a firm beach. Regrettably, our
euphoria didn’t last long. The beach soon reached a rocky outcrop forcing us to
return to the road. Once around the rocks, a sandy track soon spat us out on the
beach, but no sooner more rocky outcrops appeared. This time it took dragging the
bikes up a steep embankment and onto the road. Local knowledge told us to try the
beach again a few kilometres later. The sand soon became too soft, requiring
dragging the bikes quite a few kilometres.
Exasperated, we gave up, pulled the bikes up the embankment, and headed inland,
searching for a better road. Being an isolated area, only offering a sandy jeep track,
there wasn’t much one could do but walk the bikes along. I heard Amanda
mumbling: “We’ll most likely die of thirst, and no one will ever find us.” Even I
started thinking we might never reach civilisation. Exhausted, we came upon our
sandy and rutted path from the previous day.
A Brazilian chap on a motorbike confirmed it was, indeed, the right way and a long
detour was avoided leaving a mere 12 kilometres to Corumbau, our destination that
day. However, our cash situation was dire, and the area remote without any TV, cell
phone reception or banks. At Corumbau, a bungalow was located and, in limited
Portuguese, we explained our dilemma. We understood from the guesthouse owner
one bus a day ran to a nearby settlement and an ATM. We further understood the
bus departed at six in the morning and returned at around two-thirty.