LOCAL AGENT / HOST - ANDY NEILL

55.85.3246.0626 and cell: 55.85.8891.4359

Let us be your host in Fortaleza, Brazil.

Andy´s Fortaleza Adventure is here to assist you with your visit to Fortaleza, Brazil.

You don't even need to speak Portuguese!

First, Let Me Tell You A Little About Fortaleza, Brazil!

Fortaleza Past

It has, for well over a century, been the major commercial centre of the northern half of the Northeast. In the past twenty years or so, it has poured resources into expanding its tourist trade, lining the fine city beaches with gleaming luxury hotels and developing the city centre.

Fortaleza Present

These days, Fortaleza has somewhat the same atmosphere as Rio, particularly when it comes to the good things in life. One of Brazil's most beautiful cities, it has a relatively safe, relaxed atmosphere, and the nightlife is excellent.

Fortaleza is an excellent place for shopping. Clothes are plentiful and cheap, there are also good locally made products to be had, especially lace and leather. Fortaleza is the largest centre for the manufacture and sale of hammocks in Brazil.

Everyone's Favorite Topic...Beaches!

The main city beaches are the Praia de Iracema and the adjacent Praia do Meireles, the main focus for Fortaleza’s nightlife. The water is not as clean as it could be, due to the proximity of docks both east and west: the further away from the centre, the better for swimming. That said, both beaches are good for sunset watching, the seafront boulevard is well laid out, punctuated by clumps of palm trees, and there is no shortage of watering holes. By day there are surfers on the waves and beach parties at the barracas (pronounced ba-ha-kas), and in the early evening it seems everyone in the city turns out to stroll, jog, run or rollerblade down the boulevard, which has replaced the city’s squares as the favored meeting place.

If you’re a beach devotee, cleaner water and better seafood are to be had further out past Mucuripe at Praia do Futuro. The beach barracas here are very good: the fried fish is fresh and comes in enormous portions. The ultimate surfing beaches, however, are 6km beyond the Praia do Futuro, at Porto das Dunas and Prainha, 11km in combined length. Porto das Dunas also boasts an aquatic theme park called Beach Park, the largest of its kind in Brazil, indeed in all of Latin America.

Ceará Beaches

The beaches of Ceará in Brazil are what attract most visitors, and both east and west of Fortaleza they stretch unbroken for hundreds of kilometres. They are invariably superb, a mixture of mountainous sand dunes, palm trees and Atlantic breakers, wilder than the sheltered reef beaches of the southern states of the Northeast. Even some of the most remote beaches have been “discovered” by tourists, but there is no need to scorn them on that account: Brazil's Northeast coastline is more than big enough to swallow large numbers of property developers and visitors without getting crowded. Any description of the beaches becomes repetitive: they are all stunning. Travelling along the coast, while often leisurely, is not difficult.

Fortaleza is also the jumping-off point for one of Ceará’s better-known and most fashionable beaches, Canoa Quebrada, half an hour from Aracati, which is two hours from Fortaleza. Canoa Quebrada is popular with foreigners and young Brazilians alike, the atmosphere is relaxed, and it’s really lively at night, particularly Saturday nights in “high season”. Backpacking and tie-dyed bandanas are alive and well here.

Questions about Fortaleza

Now, About Us!

Our services include everything from pickup and drop-off at Fortaleza's International Airport to accommodation, either short or long term, renting vehicles such as cars or dune buggies, touring area beaches (Ceará has one of the top ten beaches in the World, Jericocoara, as rated by the Washington Post and New York Times) and enjoying Fortaleza's plentiful nightlife. It can also include obtaining documents such as CPF cards, contacts for purchasing property or beginning a business in Fortaleza.

More About Us!

We can put visitors in touch with other ex-pats who live here full time and some who have businesses here so that they can benefit from first-hand experience.

We can introduce them to spots where ex-pats tend to gather so that visitors feel a little more at home.
Fortaleza Adventure will introduce visitors to the best shopping in the area as well as helping them avoid paying tourist prices for EVERYTHING!

And STILL More About Us

We can even set them up with Portuguese lessons from an American teacher who speaks both languages fluently!

Our service is dedicated to assisting English speaking visitors and making sure they don't "re-invent the Wheel"...having to learn by experience!

Come Visit Us Soon

Contact Us now for more information.

To read Contrasts in Fortaleza Click Here.

To check out Andy´s "Brazil or Bust" Blog, Click Here.

To read "Brazilian Real Estate...Buyer Beware!" Click Here.

To check out the beaches of Fortaleza, Click Here.

August 8, 2006