Day 4 was promised to be a big day in nature, and the day delivered. 111 kilometers of kitesurfing through tidal flats, passing flying fish, turtles and arriving in Jericoacoara at the famous sunset dune during sunset.
As todays trip was a long one we had to start early from Ilha de Guajiru. But the wind had not picked up yet, so the kiting was pretty challenging: trying to find the most pressure in the kite to keep going. The first section was pretty amazing, passing several shallow water sections with only a few centimeters of water under the board. The first pit stop was on top of a sandbank that would normally be under water. Pretty surreal to be standing in the middel of the water with a buggy next to you with some water and snacks without anyone near for miles to see.
The next section passed many fishtraps which required some accurate navigation, because fishtraps do not only catch fish, but also kite surfers if you end up in the wrong section!
The second pitstop was next to a windmill park where the wind was slowly increasing.
Now we were getting close to the "business end" of todays ride: strong wind, some waves, large rocks (to be avoided) and an epic finish at the dune of Jericoacoara.
But first a big lunch at Prea: an amazing place which seemed to be the centre of kitesurfing in this area. A big beach club, with many sunbeds, cold fresh water showers, big acai bowls for lunch, a quite afternoon nap and a special briefing for the end game (the appraoch into Jeri needs some special attention as there is no wind behind the rock).
At 16:00 we set off again as one of the last groups. Now the waves were getting bigger as the swell was rolling in and the wind was starting to die down.
As we rounded the peak the small town of Jeri came into sight: many people on the beach welcoming all the kitesurfers riding into town. In Jeri many people walk out onto the large sand dune to watch the sun go down and take in the scenery. It made for a pretty special setting to ride into town with our group in such a way. It almost felt like we were famous!
