The red cliffs
Above the beach.
RonaldoMorais — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Rafa Tecchio — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Flavinharn — CC BY-SA 4.0 · C. R. Malaquias — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Otávio Nogueira — CC BY 2.0
Canoa Quebrada is a former fishing village in Aracati on the Ceará coast east of Fortaleza, famous for its red cliffs rising up to thirty metres above the sea and its dunes overlooking a long beach. French filmmakers discovered it in the 1960s, then hippies arrived in the 1970s, and some settled and married into local families. The village's emblem is a crescent moon and star carved into the cliff, with two local tales behind them: one credits the French, the other says a member of the film crew was a Moroccan Muslim who carved them to ask God's forgiveness after his companions' late nights. Visitors come to walk the clifftops, ride buggies over the dunes, paraglide along the coast and see the jangada rafts the fishermen still use. It is a long day trip from Fortaleza; better to stay a night.
Above the beach.
The village emblem.
Of the fishermen.
Aracati municipality, east of Fortaleza
One local tale credits French filmmakers; another says a Moroccan Muslim in their crew carved them into the cliff to ask God's forgiveness.