On Thursday night we went to book a quad tour with 'Trilhas & Dunas Jacaré' to two lagoons close to Jericoacoara. The girl at the quad place was really nice and told us, two other couples had booked the tour already and would be going with us. At that time she even spoke a bit English...
But when we arrived on Friday, we were the only ones to go on the tour, which was already a bit strange. So it would only be a guide on a motorcycle and the two of us on one quad. A guy explained to us how the thing worked (in Portuguese) and just before we took off the girl gave us protection glasses. Because of a little dispute between Thomas and me he refused to drive, so I had to (I should write about that later on ;-)) The guide took off on a motorcycle and we tried to follow...
After working out how to switch the gears etc. it went quite smoothly. We drove out of town, over the dunes and down to the beach. Our guide was speeding like crazy, showing off quite a bit, and we followed. Down at the beach we really had fun. The only problem was that the guide's motorcycle catapulted little stones right into out faces. So far this seemed the only problem and we enjoyed the ride - a lot! After some time on the beach we arrived at Prea, the next little village. We left the beach and followed our speeding guide on little county roads. etime we had to break for a cow, that was blocking our way. The road got narrower, then we went round one corner, another one - and suddenly the guide took another corner without giving us any signs. I tried to follow - and yep, landed us in a barbed wire fence. Or actually two.
From then on I don't remember much. The first thing I remember again was trying to get the water bottles out of my bag to wash off the blood from my face and eyes. The guide then grapped the bottle from me and I remember that I got into a kind of a panic that he would pour water over my camera which still was in my bag on the ground. I didn't feel any pain and couldn't remember what we where doing there. I had no idea in which place we were, how we had managed to go there, where we were staying... I asked Thomas lots of stupid questions. I only noticed from the look in his face that they must have been really stupid. At one time he told me about something that had happened the Sunday before which refreshed my mind a bit and made me very happy ;-) (Espero que voce vai leer isso - nao esqueci de voce ;-)) Somehow by then a group of people had arrived and took us to their home. They sat me down on some chairs and told us that somebody would drive us to the Posto de Sauda, the medical point. Our guide organized a doctor who turned out to be dentist but was young and nice and took good care of us. He closed the deep wound in my head with a couple of stiches, desinfected and cleaned all other wounds and gave me some antibiotics and painkillers. Somehow I had served as Thomas airbag, as he only had a few scratches and bruises. I only realized how bad I looked when Thomas showed me the pictures he had taken in front of the Posto de Saude. At that time I was still smiling and making faces as I didn't feel any pain whatsoever and didn't really realize what had happened.
Anyhow, after a couple of days in bed and in the hammock I finally feel better and we can continue our trip.
I am very greatfull to everybody at our pousada, the Pousada Ibiscus, as they offered all the help they could. They didn't complain about the bloody sheets and towels but gave us as much new ones as needed. They let us use the kitchen to make juice (the cuts in my face really hurt when eating solid food) and they even offered us a quieter room and gave me an ice bag to cool the bruises. I really felt at home there and therefore can recommend this place to everybody who's heading to Jeri. I hope, none of you will ever need the special assistance I got, but be assured, even without a hole in your head this Pousada is the perfect place to relax.
Not so perfect is the agency that organized the quad trip. We went there yesterday to talk to them and ask our money back. We explained why we thought they acted unprofession: first of all, our guide was going way to fast all the time, then he didn't make any signs where to go on time and last but not least, they didn't supply any protection. And even with protection, a narrow road fenced with rusty barbed wire doesn't sound like a good idea to any person not used to driving a quad!
But the owner of 'Trilhas & Dunas Jacaré' didn´t show any understanding or regret. He told us it was our responsability and we should have asked for protection, we should not have followed the guide's speed and we should not have taken this road. We were only waiting that he would say that it was our fault altogether to book this trip with him. Which in a way was true.
All the time that this guy was talking to us he was playing around with his... well, you can imagine. So before leaving Thomas patted his shoulders and told him in German to 'wash, don't scratch', which was really hilarious.
Anyhow, we will definately make sure to write about our experience in the Lonely Planet forum and others travel forums online. No idea if it will make a difference but maybe we can warn a couple of people of this unprofessional agency!
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