Nordeste Tour Part IV - Fortaleza & Beach Park

At around five a.m. that morning I met with Barry at the Fortaleza rodoviária (bus terminal). We had previously agreed that we wanted to spend the day there and take another night bus the same evening to Natal, so we left our luggage at a guarda-volumes (checkroom). Both of us were pretty tired after the long bus trip and didn't really know much about the city and what to do, so we took a taxi to the famous beach of Praia Iracema. However, when we arrived there at about 6:30 or so there was not much going on yet, and the famous barracas were still closed. Yet, after a while, they started to open up and we ordered some egg, coffee and the compulsory suco de abacaxi (pineapple juice; I think we had it every single day of our trip - it's just delicious) for breakfast, when a guy selling freshly-caught delicious shrimp for 2$ or so, a welcome complement.
After hanging out and walking the beach for some time we decided to visit Beach Park, one of Brazil's largest water fun parks. Although it was somewhat tricky to get there, we arrived just upon opening and were not amused about the price ($35, a lot of money in Brazil), but once we were in it was great fun.
Among others, they have the supposedly highest water slide in the world (42m), and unlike Barry I dared to go down a couple of times, which was quite fun.

AS our bus didn't leave before 10 p.m. or so we strolled around Fortaleza downtown in the evening. It really doesn't have very much to offer. We saw its modern cathedral, a famous theater and some shopping streets around the main square in the center. A group of young actors performed a play against AIDS on the main square, so we watched them an chatted with them and some funny little girls selling chewing gum, before having dinner and then leaving the city for Natal.