I’m a huge fan of Tomb Raider since I was a child! You can tell by my nickname. Lara Croft took me to forbidden temples, dangerous rivers and several pyramids. I loved the way she explored those places, climbing and jumping, trying hard not to being killed by traps or animals.
I live in Olinda, Recife’s older sister, a city with a gorgeous historic center and the best carnival of the world. Tired of exploring the same places in both cities, I decided to invite some friends to go an event, a trail in Cabo de Santo Agostinho, near Recife. I saw an opportunity to explore new places just like Lara does. Getting there was the beginning of the adventure, because I had to take 3 buses and a metro. After taking forever to get in Gaibu beach, we started the trail with several other people. The landscape is stunning, with big rocks, beautiful beaches and lots of ruins. Right in the beginning of the path, I noticed that there was a fortress ruin and no one talked about it, neither Google Maps had anything in that location. I marked the place and continued the trail. We went to Calhetas beach, one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen, and then we reached the Casa do Faroleiro, an old house where a lighthouse keeper used to live. Being a Croft as always, I started climbing the walls and some people followed me. After taking a few photos and getting a rest, we continued our way. We quickly got to a small village where people sell delicious liqueurs. After trying some of them and taking a picture in front of a cemetery, we then started walking to the last part of the trail, the path to Suape beach. The view is simply incredible!
Fun fact: I don’t really like salty water. I like to appreciate the landscapes and take pictures, but I love to swim in rivers, waterfalls and lakes. My skin and hair keeps intact in freshwater and there is no danger with mysterious animals like sharks, piranhas and Krakens. I know about the Lake Ness Monster, but I live far from Scottland, so I feel safe here.
Well, then we went to the Ipojuca river mouth, where the water is brackish, not salty at all, and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon, swimming, taking pictures and flerting a little bit. After a world tour to get home, although I was super tired, I started looking for the places we had been in. It was the exact moment that I found out that there were some other places marked on Google Maps that we haven’t visited. I decided to visit the place once again in the following month with my friends to search for the mysterious rock, another fortress ruin in front of the sea and a “observatory” behind a church. We got there by ourselves, explored the new places and then took several other pictures.
From that day on, I started looking for some places that weren’t marked on Maps yet, and then paid them a visit, marked theposition and created the location as soon as I had internet connection. Me and my friends now reunite ourselves everytime we want to go on a Lara Croft mission, looking for forbidden places, temple ruins, new waterfalls among lots of trees and hidden churches. Our mission is to visit every single unusual place in Recife’s metro area, to take awesome pictures in unknown spots and to have fun inside the woods, where we are part of nature.
I want everyone to know these places and that’s why I do so. There are so many unknown and unusual attractions, and I’m sure there are lots of unusual visitors looking for places like these. The most empty beaches or waterfalls, ruins inside a forest or another observatory that only the local residents know about. Information should be shared to everybody and I’m always trying to help doing it.
