Ponta Negra beach, Natal, Brazil
You’d think that a grown woman with two kids and a lifetime’s experience of sunny holidays would have some clue how to avoid getting a painful sunburn the first day of a holiday.
Tragically, no. It’s been so long since we’ve been anywhere genuinely sizzling. And the equator is a few hundred miles north for goodness sake, you’d think we’d have borne in mind that the power of the sun was FAR stronger than we were used to. You’d think that we would have remembered that a refreshing sea breeze is the very devil of temptation, enticing you to stay out just a bit longer.
For some reason though, first day in the holiday that I catch some serious sun, I always burn. And then days of pain.
Moan, gripe, whinge; I sound like my eldest daughter.
Natal, Brazil is a laid-back resort, very peaceful right now and with a huge, practically deserted beach. The ocean is blue-green and WARM, lovely long waves that surfers can ride for ages before they wipe out. Very little undertow, so perfect for swimming too. And the beach vendors keep the caipirinhas and ice-creams flowing.
Therein lies my sunburn cure, by the way. I plan to spend the next day or two under the affluence of incohol, as my brother-in-law Paul says.
For purely medicinal purposes, naturally.