Family Album

An itinerary never to be forgotten

Dunes, natural pools and no wi-fi: my unforgettable trip with three children on the Route of Emotions

By Alexandre Fonseca

With the tight schedules that my wife Eleonora and I have, both being doctors, we like to plan our trips very carefully to make the most of each day. I can say that traveling the Route of Emotions with our children – who were 14 (Enzo), 12 (Allegra) and 9 (Massimo) at the time – was one of the best choices we've ever made.

For those who have not linked the name to the location, the Route of Emotions is a stretch on the north coast of the country, between Maranhão and Ceará, comprising the Lençóis Maranhenses, the Parnaíba Delta and Barra Grande in Piauí, and Jericoacoara in Ceará.

There couldn’t be a more appropriate name: each day of our two-week journey had a different emotion, in the sky, the sea or on land. It’s a trip that my children remember fondly to this day, and one day in particular is part of our family’s history, at Lagoa do Gavião.

The trip took place in July 2019, which is the perfect time to enjoy the emerald lakes of the Lençóis Maranhenses and the perfect winds in the skies of Ceará, which are embellished by colorful kitesurfing.

We started in São Luis and then left for Lençóis Maranhenses. Immediately, it was a special adventure to remember forever: we traveled the long stretch from Barreirinhas to Atins on quad bikes – the five of us and the instructor with the adrenaline already pumping. In Atins, we stayed in a fantastic hotel, La Ferme de Georges, with chalets in the middle of the dunes and impeccable service. Even where there was no luxury, the goodwill and friendliness of the people compensated for any lack of infrastructure. And the conversations always produced real lessons about life.

We visited the amazing natural pools, but wanted to go further. That’s when the guide suggested we go to Lagoa do Gavião. It’s hard to describe in words but what happened that day is forever etched in our memory – and relived in the video I made after the trip. See the link at the end of this article. We had a day all to ourselves at Lagoa do Gavião, jumping off the dunes, diving, playing and seeing the happiness mirrored in each other’s eyes.

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From Lençóis, we headed to the Parnaíba Delta. From the green of the waters, we set off for the exuberant green of the trees, the red of the scarlet ibis and the gold of the incomparable sunset.

The knowledge of everyone we spoke to about the local nature was incredible, the importance of the delta, the life of the ibis and the unique position of this part of the country, with over 70 river islands. There is no class in school that can teach more than my children learned there, in the flesh.

And we were still rewarded by another gem of a hotel, the Casa de St. Antônio, a colonial mansion.

After bathing in almost untouched nature, we headed to Barra Grande, an important location for kitesurfing on the border between Piauí and Ceará, with a large presence of foreign tourists and a different climate. It was the perfect transition point to Jericoacoara, which put us back into a more cosmopolitan and somewhat faster paced atmosphere. But only a little. Jeri is busier, with bars, restaurants and that corner-of-the-world way of life – but it still manages to provide moments of simple tranquility and is surrounded by beauty. Or even new adventures, as when my children took their windsurfing lessons there.

The Route of Emotions requires careful planning, that’s why we asked Viajar com Crianças to help us. We made almost 30 transfers, between airports, SUVs, boats and quad bikes. Everything worked punctually and safely, even in the very remote environments, completely different from our year-round reality.

It was an immense surprise for all of us. My children, who are already well traveled even at such a young age, enjoyed each day. They did not miss the wi-fi – they only used it when we arrived at the hotel and even that seemed to be a different emotion.”

Alexandre Fonseca is a plastic surgeon in São Paulo. The family loves to travel on skiing vacations – but has frequently explored destinations within Brazil.

See the video he shared with us below.