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At eighteen I had completed my first two years of high-school and wanted to take a year off, before starting the third. I wanted to travel, learn new languages and train in windsurfing as much as I could. That’s why I booked a flight to Brazil and left Switzerland in the end of October 2010.

I first went to Jericoacoara. There I met and stayed with some Germans. We went surfing together almost every day, scoring some nice sessions on the spot and in the lagoons around Jeri. After some weeks of hard sailing we wanted a change and set up a road trip - nine people from five different nations: English, French, German, Dutch and Swiss. We looked for a way to get us all to Camocim, where we had heard that there was a river that offered flat water freestyle conditions. There were two ways to get there. The longer one was over the national road. A shorter route was straight along the coast itself, on the sand from Jeri all the way to Camocim - less driving but only passable at low tide. Unfortunately high tides meant we had to go round the long way!

We fixed 3-4 board bags on the top of our old car. Now this new adventure could start!

After two and a half hours of driving through sand dunes, trees and along the national road we finally arrived in Camocim, a typical Brazilian town. My first impression was that there were crazy drivers everywhere, on bikes, buggys, cars and buses. Clearly our own driver was used to it and he took us straight to a market in the centre near the river, where we all went for a fresh Abacati vitamin. The tastiest drink I had in Brazil - an avocado, milk and sugar mix.

After enjoying our drinks we drove on, to find the water. Soon we were all thinking the same thing - this was going to be amazing! Of course we’d all hoped for a nice freestyle spot, but it was certain on first sight that this would so exceed all our expectations. Coming out of the crowded town to the river you hope that there is maybe a little sandbank somewhere that would be good for windsurfing, but there is more than that… Suddenly you are surrounded by nature. To the right you have a lot of trees in the water, the trunks forming a long wall. Straight in front are huge dunes and a beautifully sandy beach. The beach continues all along the river for like two or three kilometres, with trees and sand dunes behind it as far as the eye can see. On the left, the river and sea come together to form a bay. The waves break far out making it flat calm. There are fishing boats all along the beach.

At that moment the wind was perfectly offshore all along, making us all think that we might have found an idyllic freestyle location! It was already blowing quite strong and the whole river was filled with whitecaps, so we were even more excited to go sailing!

After driving two minutes along the river the driver dropped us out at a pousada, just in front of the spot where we would stay for the next days. The pousada offers rooms for fair prices and the location is just perfect. After stocking our stuff in the rooms we started to get ready to go on the water. A few moments later some Brazilian kids came and watched us rigging our freestyle equipment. When we saw them taking their own old over-used and broken-up stuff out, we all felt a bit uncomfortable… We tried exchanged some Portuguese words with them to try to get to know them a bit.

After we were ready to go windsurf, we followed the kids to the water and jumped on our boards. At first sailing on the river of Camocim was a strange feeling, steering between all these fishing boats, but after one long tack I had already forgotten anything else other than having fun and enjoying the moment. This place has just something magic! Below you, you see all the ships and the town of Camocim. What a landscape! So we surfed on until the trees up to the river perhaps three kilometres in all and then a second long tack back to get on the other side of the river. The feeling and excitement while surfing here for the first time was something that I’ll never forget…

Once on the other side, it just got obvious that this was going to be a perfect place for freestyle! The wind blew constantly with 6 BFT offshore, and we could sail full power along the beach on totally flat water. Sailing with my friends and the local kids on that day was just awesome. At first I was mostly concentrated on my surroundings and just had fun with the others, but soon my focus changed. My attention went to those local kids, freestyling around without any fear, each of them with old crappy equipment! And then one particular kid took all my attention. After some while surfing alongside him, without really having noticed him, my eyes were now only following him. This small young local guy was nailing the same moves as windsurfing pros Tilo Eber and Julien Mas who were along for the trip. Not only SW Konos, but other new powerful freestyle moves too! It was just amazing to see this young kid for the first time, and never having heard about him before.

The time went too fast during this incredible session and it soon got dark, meaning we had to get out of the water. Even as I sat tired out and exhilarated this young local was still very much on my mind. I wanted to know more about him

But first we all really needed to fill our bellies! The first walk by night into the Brazilian town was great. Following the road along the river, passing all the fishing boats we reached the centre. Once arrived, we found a small restaurant that was making “Prata Feitos”, a famous dish consisting out of rice, spaghettis, beans and your choice of meat or fish. Usually you can eat this for 2-3 euros. I have to admit I ordered it quite a lot during my training in Brasil!

After eating, talking and having fun we were satisfied and went back to the pousada. On the way, we passed by the big supermarket which sits in front of the daily market. There we bought some water and some food for the next day’s windsurfing. After a 15 minute walk back along the river, we arrived in our pousada. Everybody was still super motivated for the next windsurfing day in this new and extraordinary place that we were discovering together, but we needed sleep.

The next days everything passed similarly. We communicated more and more with the local guys and surfed a lot with them. The challenge of speaking well with the kids pushed me to learn their language. From there on I bought a book and started to teach myself the basics.

Many of the kids there haven’t had the chance to go to school and learn English. Only the more affluent people can put their kids in private schools.

Amongst the kids there was always talk about this young talented guy. We heard that he was 14 years old and had been only practicing freestyle for eighteen months. This was really hard to believe when you consider the equipment he had: An old 5.4 Boxer sail with holes in it and a 75 Naish Freewave board, from which the nose was almost cut and has a 10 cm wide hole that was permanently sucking water.

Weighing in at only 57 kilos, it was also hard to understand how he still could surf in the strong winds that were up to 6-7 BFT everyday, improving every day. We guys were powered up on 4.2 sails, but the kid still went out on the water and trained and trained longer than everybody else. He never seemed to complain or give up. Even when he was crashing 20 times in a row, he persevered. To sail with him showed me how lucky I am and I’m sure I’ll never forget that. Seeing him sailing also made me realise that I’m still not training hard enough.

We all had an amazing trip to Camocim and enjoyed it a lot, but after four or five days it was the time to go back again to Jeri. In the following month I sailed a lot in Jeri and had some good sessions, but none of this could compare to Camocim. In Jeri I had always the feeling that I could be back in Camocim at the perfect spot instead at that moment and improve a lot more. After a while I took it into my head to go back! I searched for a transfer and managed to get back twice with different friends. Each short trip was a lot of fun. After my third time though, I picked up an infection from surfing without a harness and was out of commission for a couple of weeks - no surfing for me for a while!

After four days although it was time to go back to Jeri, but it didn’t feel right that I couldn’t train in my favourite place. Another reason to stay was improving my Portuguese by speaking with the kids. One of them was Jamilson, who was 17 years old and was one of the first kids who had started sailing in Camocin 3 years ago. We had become good friends during my visits. Because I wanted to stay longer, Jamilson suggested that I come live with him and his family. He told me that it wouldn’t be a problem for me to stay for some nights in his room.

When told my other friends, no one believed me that I was serious about staying on alone. But I was, and they took a transfer and went back to Jeri without me.

That’s how I went with my bag on the back of Jamilson’s bike and together we drove through the city to his house. It was the first time I had travelled through the whole town, seeing the streets and the many different houses. The town is quite crowded and there are a lot of buildings. His house was 15 minutes biking from the beach, located just behind Camocim airport. Once we had passed numerous streets, Jamilson finally stopped in front of his house. I met his mother, a really gentle woman that was always friendly to me. Jamilson has also an older brother and older sister, but both were living away. That meant there was enough place for me to stay and I could sleep in his brother’s bed.

No sooner had we arrived and his mother had proposed some chicken and rice for the evening meal. It was one of the tastiest chickens I have ever eaten! His mother certainly cooks well, but there was also the situation, to be so deep in Camocim and far away from everything else I knew, that made this chicken something so special for me. My experience living with these friendly people, learning Portuguese, and feeling so contented during this time, still motivates me a lot. I was ready to entertain any new adventures that came my way.

After the meal I went to my room and was so tired that I felt asleep quickly - while Jamilson went out to school. In Camocim, the free schools usually run for young guys from 8 to 12 in the morning, and for the older ones from 6 to 10 in the evening, 5 days a week. The next day the mother prepared a breakfast. They ate simply, some Tapioca (typical Brasilian food, based out of coconut, milk and flour), some bread, butter and as a drink café, milk or water.

After that it was time to go to the beach, what Jamilson usually does every day, whether there is wind or not. I was able to borrow his sister’s bike so we each had transport and making it much easier to get around. At the beach we met some friends, Jamilson talked and laughed a lot with them while explaining how I had settled into his house and going to live with him for a while. By around 12.30 at the latest the wind always starts to pick up, so the kids went out on the water again while I went in town to find n doctor. My infection had been getting worse. It was quite crowded, and I had to wait some hours until I finally got a prescription for antibiotics.

The days went on much like this. On the beach every day, passing some time in the internet café checking the web and keeping in touch with with friends. I was also exploring, travelling to the other side of the river on the small local ship that ferries cars to the other side of the river, and watching the kids training. Luckily for me it wasn’t windy everyday, helping me to rest and let the infection heal. During the windless days I went almost everywhere around the town with Jamilson speaking with his friends and just enjoying the time. We also went twice to the Lagao Seco, which is a very beautiful lagoon 20 minutes biking from Camocim. We swam a bit and had fun with the guys at the Italian windsurfing school that operates there. Although I was unable to surf, I heard much about it. Although slightly more gusty than in Camocim, it also offers good flatwater conditions. It’s certainly worth a visit if you have ever have the opportunity to be in and around Camocim! The idyllic lagoon is a relaxing stop-off and a windsurfing session there must be something incredible too. The crew of the surfstation were all very friendly and funny!

After another week my infection cleared up and it was finally the time for me to go on the water again! Surfing again completed my happiness and everything was just good and easy as before.

Some days later, the German friends with whom I was used to live with came back to Camocim and stayed for a short while. During the windless days I saw them with their camera taking some lifestyle shots. This made me realise that, other than the guys that had made the trip to Camocim, nobody knew much about what was going on around there. After spending this time living there my goal became clear: to somehow show a little bit of the life and the young talented freestylers that are living it. My camera was still in Jeri with the rest of my things, and I had to pick up all of my stuff before heading back to Switzerland. I had one month left, it was almost Christmas and my flight was at the end of January. I left with the Germans, driving straight back to Jeri. It was even more crowded there than before and I explained my plan to go back to Camocim and live there for my last month. I paid my bills packed up all my stuff, said my good byes and left.

On the next day I arrived with all my belongings in Camocim. The owner of the Pousada where the kids and me usually let our stuff rigged, let me store my boardbag in his secured garage. Now I had to find Jamilson, to see if was possible to stay longer with him. I walked into the town to where he usually hung out and found him. He explained that his sister was back home over Christmas and that the parents would prefer me to stay somewhere else. That’s how I came to meet Julio Ceasar, with whom I was going to live for the rest of the time in Brasil.

Ceasar lives close to the beach, perfectly located. Ceasar and his mother became my new family. I started to get to know all the guys around there better, making new friendships. The first few days back in Camocim were really windy so I was busy with training on the water. We filmed some of the action by taking turns as cameraman. After this, the wind dropped and didn’t show up again until New Year. It was also the first time that I didn’t celebrate Christmas with my own family. The people there don’t really celebrate it the same way, although some of them go to church or have dinner somewhere.

After Christmas each day held a new adventure. With Ceasar and others we always up to something, like going on the other side of the river to the beach, playing football or climbing the dunes. We have also been to the Lagao Seco for some relaxation. I had my camera with me to get some footage and we often thought about what to make part of the movie. On other days we went biking around the town, seeing some new places and enjoying the time. My Portuguese got better and I started to understand more and more of what the guys were talking about. I also was able to be more involved in the conversation. This motivated me again and I wanted to learn the language even more.

 Jamilson & Hugo the brasilian windsurf talents

On New Year’s Eve, the wind picked up again and we could surf all day long. I took my camera with me, and we got a lot of the action on tape. The day had begun perfectly but we had to rest up in the late afternoon, because the program for the night ahead was promisingly busy. In the evening our neighbours, the family of the young talented freestyler Hugo de Souza, invited us to have an evening meal with them. The food was delicious, with many typical dishes on the table. After having enjoying the meal and good company, we went home again and rested before taking our champagne and walking with our friends down to the river, where we had heard a lot of people were waiting to celebrate the New Year.

I couldn’t believe what I saw when we got there - it was crowded like I had never imagined! Most of the town must have been there. People were everywhere and more were arriving all the time. Although it was so crowded everything was calm and orderly. It was around 11.40 and it didn’t seem that it was going to be New Year in only 15 minutes – not like the fevered ambiance I had experienced elsewhere in the build-up to 12. But I soon forgot this comparison because when the people started to count down the seconds I could feel what was coming next. The excitement built quickly with everybody counting and then 3, 2, 1, ano novo!!! From then the only word to describe the situation was: FIESTA! Fireworks where flying into the air, music was playing so loud and everybody was just excited and happy to start a new year. Two different types of music filled the place, on one side you had the house party music, with young people dancing. On the other side they played Forro music, a typical Brazilian dance from the north of Brasil, where the majority of older people had their fun.

A very beautiful New Year’s night held on this night, at the river of Camocim with thousands of Brazilian people celebrating. This I’ll never forget.

In January life continued as usual, everyday out to the beach. When there was wind we were surfing and filming. As the wind wasn’t good in January, we couldn’t get that much action footage. In the windless days we always found something to do, most of the time we were on the other side at the beach. On each Friday night in January there were divers’ special events taking place. One of them was an open air party at the river with good music and a lot of people. The second was an open air concert from a famous Brazilian artist and for my last Friday - chilled out reggae.

For me it all too soon became time to fly back home. During my last days I enjoyed all that was there for a last time: climbing the sand dunes, watching the great landscape over the town, windsurfing with all the kids and having fun on the water, talking and joking with them at their houses and driving around with our bicycles. All this things are engraved in my mind and that is what I’m going to miss about this lovely place. I just hope that I’ll have the chance again to have a fresh avocado juice at the Camocim market with my Brazilian friends!

Valeu Galera!