Igarassu, Itamaracá in Brazil

Some 39 km north of Recife on the road to João Pessoa, Igarassu has the first church built in Brazil,

(1535) and the convent of

, a beautiful baroque building with some very fine gilt work and

.

North of Igarassu the road passes through coconut plantations to

, where there is a bridge to

island. According to the locals, this is where Adam and Eve spent their holidays (so does everyone else on Sunday now). It has the old Dutch

, built in 1631; an interesting penal settlement with gift shops, built round the 1747 sugar estate buildings of Engenho São João, which still have much of the old machinery, charming villages and colonial churches, as well as some fine, wide beaches. At one of them,

,

has a centre for the study and preservation of manatees,

or

.

There are pleasant trips by

from Praia do Forte Orange to

, a recently formed sandy island, which has rustic beach bars and a research station for the development of wildlife and migratory birds. The beaches of

and

also have some bars but are quiet and relatively undiscovered. The crossing is 3 km north of Itamaracá town; recommended for sun worshippers.

Further north again, two hours from Recife by bus, is

, an old fishing village with a nice beach, lots of bars and opportunities for fishing and diving.

At the Pernambuco-Paraíba border, a 27-km dirt road goes to the fishing village of

, with

, surf fishing, lobster fishing and lobster-pot making. There are no tourist facilities but camping is possible and food is available from

. To get here, take a bus from Goiana, US$1.