Drop me off in any city and I will immediately start wandering around like a video game character—”Oh, let’s go this way, looks cool!” “Wall, must turn around.” “Let’s jump over this big water puddle.”

I can’t help it, I’m curious. I find it satisfying to find my way around and figure out a city.

Yet, in Natal, you will find me walking on the beach during the daytime and walking on exactly one street, the endless Avenida Engenheiro Roberto Freire, after the Nordeste’s 5 p.m. sunset, to go to the supermarket.

I’m not going to the historic centre of Natal, I’m not exploring side streets (except the steep ones that take me to the beach), and I’m not trying to make this an urban experience.

Natal is all about sand and water, salty or not.

Just like anyone else coming to Natal to walk barefoot in the sand, I’m staying in Ponta Negra, home to the eponymous beach, and the (non-climbable) Morro do Careca sand dune at the end.

I’m not exploring the city, I’m exploring the entire region.

I found out a while ago that I could sign up for day tours and share a van or a 4WD with perfect strangers to get to cool places. This is one of the reasons why I love going to the Nordeste when I’m travelling alone—there’s no need to rent a car to explore remote places or perfect beaches kilometres away; I can pay $20 or $30 to go with a group.

I know, I know, cruises and tours are my idea of hell but Brazilian “passeios” are very fun and low-pressure. You’re basically sharing transportation with a very small group.

In this corner of Brazil, 90% of tourists are Brazilians, the other 10% are Argentinians who apparently didn’t find Florianópolis on the map, so it’s also a cultural experience for me to travel with Brazilians for a day.

And lesson 1, a beach day starts early with Brazilians. Like 7:30 a.m.

Argh.

My first “passeio” took me to a Brazilian Space Agency rocket launch base, the world’s biggest cashew tree, a lagoon, a beach, another lagoon and on a thrilling sand dune sunset experience.