By Tamashin
Here is part 5 of Tamashin‘s article about Joćo Pessoa. To read the previous parts click the relevant links at the end of the article.
We didn't spend all our time in restaurants. In fact, we stayed in a self catering apartment which means we had to use the local supermarkets. The nearest to us was a Pćo de Aēucar, which I found to be incredibly expensive, not offset by the huge range of food available. I put this down to the fact that we were in the tourist area. However, I found two other "Pćos" and noted the 24 hour supermarket was even more expensive.
Nose to the ground, I found a Bom Preēo which advertised a comparable weekly shop as R$65 cheaper than Pao de Aēucar. It was indeed cheaper but it depended on what you were buying and of course it could be R$65 cheaper here in JP but how would it compare to our little town in Minas?
My own survey based on the staples of rice, beans, bread, ham, coffee and milk revealed all to be more expensive than in Minas. Ours is a small town and lots of things are brought in, so I am not sure why things are so much more expensive than in Minas. There wasn't a great difference in the Carrefour and Super Bom Preēo hypermarkets just a short distance away from the main centre. That said, fuel prices varied greatly even on the same road.
My good lady wife surveyed two of the biggest shopping malls, an arduous task but someone had to do it. She reported that there was little difference between the malls in Sćo Jose Dos Campos and those of JP. Both Manaira and Tambau shopping malls had excellent leisure facilities for children including very large play areas and cinemas, even a bowling alley in one.
We didn't try the city tour guides but we did go on some of the excursions that were advertised along the sea front. Amongst the many places we visited were Ilha de Areia Vermelha and Picaozinho. At both places you were able to wander freely amongst the coral to look at all the brightly coloured fish. The children loved it. The tour staff were very informative, good humoured and went to great pains to explain to you about preserving the environment, particularly not to drop litter. So it was really annoying to see people drop cans, plastic spoons and lolly wrappers on the sand. Some youngsters were running around picking it up but one young man threw his rubbish down right in front of me without so much as a by your leave. I was so incensed at this irresponsibility I picked it up and went after him. I asked him if he had any respect for his country at all, handing it back to him at the same time. He replied "Sorry" in English before going back to the boat having had a salutary lesson in litter-picking.
Excursions weren't restricted to JP, there were tourist attractions all around Paraiba from the natural stone formations in the Sertao and dinosaur valley etc to spending the day with the local Indians at Traitors Bay (Baia da Traiēao). There were also trips further afield to Natal, Recife and Praia da Galinhas.
We went to the zoo in JP which was a little run down but a brilliant opportunity for a private investor. Entrance fee was R$1 per adult, children free. Classically, the animals were in small cages and the wide open spaces were left to the people, when in fact the people should have been restricted to the footpaths and the animals left to roam in larger spaces. That said the children enjoyed the monkeys playing in their very generous island space as well as the jacares in their huge lake. Worth a visit even if to just ruminate on the possibilities.
We also went to see Jurandy play his sax as the sun set near Praia do Jacare. If you go there, don't go to the very first restaurant on the beach but walk along the little footpath with the shops and go to the original Jurandy restaurant where he sails right up to the jetty and plays to the patrons.
I wasn't able to comment about the airport (as John did), though frankly I would be more bothered about the plane and whether it could get me there in one piece. I wouldn't want to stay there any length of time anyway, there's too much to do in Paraiba! I understand, though, that a significant amount of redevelopment is going on there.
We were looking for a place to live so our research wasn't confined to being near the beach. There are good areas and better. There are bairros which seem to have nothing but high rises and those with anything but. Housing inland towards the city centre was cheaper than that closer to the beach areas. However, being closer to the tourist beaches was much more expensive than the isolated beaches. We were originally concerned about the earth roads in the north of the city but found out the city council have a massive road building and drainage scheme in hand for the area. Its really important to note that the electrical system is 220v only but transformers are widely available.
So that's it. A bit longwinded but hopefully a fair wind. Would I go back? Well we are already selling up in Minas to start a new life there. Would I recommend JP land to anyone else? I certainly would. There is a sense of opportunity there, a feeling that you are on the edge of something big, like the area is about to explode on to the rest of Brazil.
Being there makes you feel like you have been let in on a big secret.
Tamashin is a retired civil engineer who first came to Brazil in 1993 to help build a community centre for street children in Rio. He now lives in Minas Gerais with his Brazilian wife and children.
Previous articles by Tamashin:
Around Brazil: Joćo Pessoa Part 4
Around Brazil: Joćo Pessoa Part 3
Around Brazil: Joćo Pessoa Part 2
Around Brazil: Joćo Pessoa Part 1
Brazil: The Great North Road Part 6
Brazil: The Great North Road Part 5
Brazil: The Great North Road Part 4
Brazil: The Great North Road Part 3
Brazil: The Great North Road Part 2
Brazil: The Great North Road Part 1
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