A Ceará to discover DISCOVER CEARÁ

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1 A Ceará to discover The tourist attractions of the State of Ceará are much more than the well-known beaches of Fortaleza, Aquiraz, Jericoacoara and Canoa Quebrada. The state has a broad cultural diversity, parks and waterfalls to be in contact with nature and handicraft trade centers. Lace and leather items, landscapes depicted within sand-filled bottles and homemade cachaça can be found in places such as the Central Market, the Ceará Tourist Center and in craftsmen fairs across the state. Those looking for good destinations to practice adventure sports also have a number of options in our State. Besides the beaches of the capital, the beaches of Cumbuco, Porto das Dunas and Jericoacoara are some of the favorite ones of those looking for the constant winds and waves of Ceará. There are also other destinations for those seeking adventure away from the sea, with locations ideal for hiking, climbing, abseiling and paragliding. The counties of Quixadá, Pacatuba, Baturité and Viçosa do Ceará are some of them. Visitors cannot get back home without tasting the typical seafood dishes or the baião de dois and tapioca, a great choice for either the evening or for breakfast. For dessert, the tip is to bet on rapadura, cocada or ice creams that help soften the 30ºC we have throughout the year. Also be sure to buy the famous cashew nuts for yourself and for your friends and family at home. DISCOVER CEARÁ Sports and Adventure The winds, the topography and the climate make up the ideal setting for the practice of adventure sports on the beach, in the mountains or in the semiarid region. Cumbuco and Jericoacoara are some of the most popular beaches among tourists. Business The Ceará Events Center (CEC) is able to host 44 events simultaneously. It has a total area of 176,899 square meters and a capacity to receive more than 30,000 people, with 3,200 parking spaces. The state also has trade infrastructures such as the Port of Pecém and the Industrial District. Sun and beaches Ceará has a temperature of 30ºC all year round, even during the rainy season, making it possible to enjoy the numerous beaches along the state s coastline at all times.

2 Food There are restaurants specializing in typical foods such as feijoada, baião de dois and moqueca, as well as many other contemporary and sophisticated restaurants. Science tourism The Eclipse Museum, in Ceará s northern region, tells the story of the eclipse observed in 1919 by Albert Einstein s team in Sobral, which helped them prove the theory of relativity. In the Cariri region you can visit the Araripe Geological Park and the Palaeontology Museum, which has 750 fossils of animals and plants of the Cretaceous period that narrate the prehistoric life of the Cariri region. Cultural Tourism Rich in handicrafts, Ceará produces crochet, wooden, clay, embroidery, rattan, straw, bamboo, knitting and lace items. Semi-precious stones are mined and used by our creative jewelry industry, especially in Quixadá and Quixeramobim. In Juazeiro, beyond the religious pilgrimages one can find the wooden items, decorative objects and home utensils made by local craftsmen. In Beberibe, colored sands are used in the production of sand-filled bottles depicting beautiful landscapes. In Fortaleza, the House of Jose de Alencar, the José de Alencar Theater, the Dragão do Mar Center of the Arts and Culture and the Metropolitan Cathedral are interesting spots to visit. Ecotourism The Baturité Ridge has waterfalls, a lot of green areas and trails where you can watch the birds, orchids and other natural marvels. The Ubajara National Park is one of the options for those visiting the Ibiapaba region. Additionally, the Central Semiarid has the Monumental Valley and the Cariri region has trails within the Araripe National Forest. In Fortaleza, the visitor can hike the Coco River Park. Religious Tourism Juazeiro do Norte, Canindé and Quixadá are the main pilgrimage destinations. -- More information: Assessoria de Comunicação da Secretaria do Turismo do Ceará (Setur) Yanna Guimarães + 55 (85) / (85)

3 SOME DESTINATIONS FORTALEZA Fortaleza is the perfect destination for those wanting to visit one of the most beautiful capitals in the country. Kiosks and restaurants offer dishes for all tastes at the Beira Mar Avenue. At the handicrafts fair, numerous stalls offer leather and lace items, jewelry and regional foods. Among Fortaleza s urban beaches, Praia do Futuro is one of the most popular, with restaurants all along the waterfront, each with its own musical style and decoration. The sunset at the English Bridge in Iracema Beach, also known as the Metallic Bridge, is a mandatory stop for everyone visiting the city. Nearby, the statue of Iracema refers to the Indian legend of the same name, portrayed in José de Alencar s novel. Mucuripe Beach has the Lighthouse Museum. Opened in 1846, the lighthouse was active for 111 years until it was decommissioned in In downtown Fortaleza we have Ceará's Tourist Center (Emcetur) at the old jailhouse building, with about 100 shops offering handicrafts of all kinds. This adds to the 300 stores of the nearby Central Market. Parking and snack bars are available and open every day at both sites. Another good place to visit is the Ceará Handicraft Center (CEART), located at the Luiza Távora square, where craftsmen from all over the state work in the production of Ceará s legitimate handicrafts. An important place for cultural activities, the Dragão do Mar Center for the Arts and Culture holds Ceará s Culture Memorial, the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Rubens de Azevedo Planetarium, as well as cinemas and theaters. Right next to it, a complex of old sheds and warehouses was restored for the operation of bars and restaurants with a wide choice of styles and night music shows. Fortaleza hosts one of the most famous alternative carnivals in the country, the Fortal, which is held each year by the end of July. With a brand new setting, this event has its own parking lot, bleachers, boxes and even a food court. It is a four-day long party with 1.5 million people having fun at the sound of the best live Axé music.

4 FLECHEIRAS Cozy Flecheiras Beach is one of the most recommended destinations in the west coast of Ceará. The beach is situated between palm trees and white sand dunes, 130 km from Fortaleza. This paradise of good winds and tide pools is more rustic and less explored than the other beaches in the state, but is a comfortable place to be nonetheless. Its eastern shore is protected by reefs, forming natural pools ideal for snorkeling. Divers with more experience and a spirit of adventure can take a raft to a coral reef 500 meters from the coast. The west shore faces the open sea, with strong waves ideal for surfing and sail sports. The winds are strong and provide the best conditions for wind and kitesurfing. What to do: Kitesurf, bathing in the clear, calm waters of the sea, snorkeling, diving, surfing, windsurfing, deep sea fishing, raft rides and walks on the beach during the low tide, ending with a swim at the coral reefs. During the low tide, the sand strip between the houses and the sea can reach up to 50 meters, while at night people can sit at the beach chairs offered by many hotels along with a bar service. Flecheiras is connected to the beaches of Lagoinha and Mundaú, which are just a few minutes drive away. A trip you do not want to lose. What to eat: The local food is based on fish and seafood and is offered by the numerous restaurants you will find in town. Make sure to make friends with a fisherman and get a fresh fish. Some hotels offer a kitchen to prepare the delicacies bought directly from the local fishermen.

5 JERICOACOARA The city of Jijoca de Jericoacoara, in the State of Ceará, is known for having one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, Jericoacoara, surrounded by dunes and palm trees and with blue, clear waters and pleasant temperatures, ideal for lovers of water sports. The strong winds can reach up to 40 knots. The Holed Stone, with an arch carved by the sea on the bare rock, and the Sunset Dune, an excellent lookout, are the main tourist attractions in town. Jericoacoara has about 130 lodging establishments, ranging from five-star hotels to the traditional inns that still maintain the looks of a fishing village. Attractions: The sunset dune; Paradise Lagoon; Blue Lagoon; Tatajuba; water sports like surf, stand-up paddle, windsurf and kitesurf; horse riding and walks to the holed stone. What to eat: Jericoacoara offers a very good quality of service and products. Local restaurants offer a myriad of styles, such as Mediterranean, regional, French, Italian, Indian-Vegetarian and Japanese, as well as cafes, creperies and homemade ice creams.

6 CANOA QUEBRADA Carved into the cliffs, a moon and star are the symbol of the town. In Canoa Quebrada the winds are ideal for water sports. Buggy rides through the dunes are ideal for those looking for excitement and a beautiful natural scenery. When the night falls, locals and tourists meet on the main street, the "Broadway". Canoa, as it is known in Ceará, still has the charm and simplicity of the time when it was a sleepy hippie hideaway. It is a magic place that surprises everyone with its excitement and paradisiacal views. Dunes, multicolored sand cliffs, sea and sun are an inexhaustible source of energy and inspiration. What to do: Sports like kitesurf and paragliding; at waters and constant winds; buggy, boat, raft and horse rides. What to eat: As a well-known tourist destination, Canoa Quebrada offers a wide variety of restaurants to choose from.

7 QUIXADÁ In Quixadá, a county in the central semiarid of Ceará, you will find strange rock formations (known as monoliths) in different forms that break the apparent monotony of the landscape. Quixadá is also known as a land of writers, like Jáder de Carvalho and Rachel de Queiroz. The latter, albeit born in Fortaleza, had a very strong relationship with the city. The Monoliths Lagoon and the Euripides Dam are some of Quixadá s main sights. The town is surrounded by a green park with restaurants, a boardwalk for cyclists and pedestrians, sports courts and off road, BMX and motocross tracks. The Chicken Stone, as one of those large monoliths is known, is the postcard of the city. Tourists can climb it hiking a trail of medium difficulty. Once there, they can watch over the city, the Cedar Dam, the other monoliths and the landscape of the semiarid. The Cedar Dam was one of the first major drought works carried out by the Brazilian government. The construction order was given by the emperor Dom Pedro II as a result of the harsh effects of the drought of Other attractions: Quixadá is known for its good paragliding conditions. At the Raquel de Queiroz Memorial, a national heritage building located on top of a monolith, you can learn about the history and the work of Ceará s best-known writer. How to get there: Quixadá is 160 km from Fortaleza (2:20 hours by highways BR-116 and BR-122).

8 JUAZEIRO DO NORTE Juazeiro is 491 km from Fortaleza and is the second largest city in the state. It is located in the Cariri region, in southern Ceará. Those wanting to meet the religiosity of the land of Padre Cicero ("Padim Ciço", as it is called by the locals, the most important spiritual leader of the people of the semiarid) can walk the "Path of the Pilgrims" and visit the Garden Hill, where all his life and work are shown in the local museum. The "Historical and Cultural Cariri" presents as well the cultural heritage and history of the semiarid. The garden is 3 km from Juazeiro and comprises the statue of Padre Cicero, the Padre Cicero Living Museum, the Church of the Good Lord Jesus of the Garden and an access trail to the Holy Sepulcher (2,650 meters). The Garden Hill gained prominence in Juazeiro s history because of the presence of Padre Cicero Romão Batista, the most important political and religious figure in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Today, devotion to Padre Cicero keeps attracting every year hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from all over Brazil, especially from the Northeast. The Araripe Plateau is a vast national forest, including an area of environmental protection and a geological park. The vegetation here is very diverse, with ecosystems known as Cerrado, Caatinga and Cerradão. There are lots of birds, mammals, reptiles and insects. Visitors to the Araripe National Forest can hike, ride a bike or just contemplate the nature of the Cariri region. Those preferring a scientific and educational trip, full of archeology, geology and paleontology, can take the "Unraveling Prehistory" path and find fossils up to 110 million years old at the Araripe Geological Park. Nature, adventure and ecology lovers can follow the footsteps of the "Chants and Charms of the Araripe Plateau" trail. How to get there: From Fortaleza, it takes about 7 hours to get there by car or just one hour by plane.