The streets of Salvador rivet with live music from the countless CD stores blaring the latest releases. It is also the home of the fascinating Afro-Brazilian Candomble cults. I was cleansed by a possessed 80-year-old cigar-smoking woman pai (high priestess) at a candomble terreiro (place of ritual) ceremony with coconut palms. But now, the costumes of Carnaval and the street bands of Salvador seem a long way away.

Actually, they are. Brazil is huge. It's a two-hour plane ride to Fortaleza and three and a half more by bus to this village above the beach on the sand dunes of the northeast coast of the state of Ceara. It might as well be half a world away.

It's Canoa Quebrada. And it is the off season.

"Broadway," the main drag of Canoa Quebrada

I hop off the bus onto the main drag, which is called broadway. It is about as different from New York as can be. The dirt road filled with potholes and puddles winds through pousadas, shops, restaurants, bars and all the other staples of a beach town. It is quiet because it is late March and the season is over.

Travel in the off season to Brazil's beaches has negatives and positives. If you are a party ninja, you will be disappointed. If, however, you like easy and cheaper accommodations and a relaxed atmosphere, it's the time to go. The weather is still great although it rains about every day. But when the rain comes, it tends to be a relief and a welcome change.

The road leads to the sandstone dune dropoff to the beach. The view of the miles of deserted coastline in both directions is stunning. Below, within a few hundred meters, are various bars and restaurants. You can take steps down or be adventurous and slide/walk the sand embankments between the sandstone.

Canoa Quebrada beach restaurant, Marley sailboat, and city symbol

An old football knee injury makes my decision an easy one. At the bottom I have a few déjà vus - Jamaica and Ko Pha Ngan, Thailand. Jamaica because there is reggae playing everywhere and a sailboat with a huge picture of Bob Marley on the sail. Ko Pha Ngan because I immediately think of what a great place this would be for a full moon party. It is debatable whether that would indeed be a good thing.

The symbol of the city is a crescent moon with a star inside. This symbol is painted on the sandstone walls several places along the beach. It is also on the earrings, necklaces and pierce jewelry on sale by the countless crafts hawkers who look like they really miss the Grateful Dead concerts. These guys are the same around the world and I wonder, do they ever make a sale?

The ocean is wonderful. Though most of the women are beautiful, the water of many of the beaches of Rio and Salvador is far from it, and the surf is downright dangerous at Ipanema. I spend the afternoon bodysurfing along with Brazilian children and a few young hotties in what I call morse code bikinis - two dots and a dash - which tends to be the norm in Brazil.

I ride the surf and walk the beach. I inquire about renting a dune buggy to drive myself and learn this is not possible. I discover why. I bargain and finally rent a buggy with a driver for four hours for 100 reals, about 30 dollars. We speed out to the sands and head southeast. We stop along the way for water at small streams which flow right out of the sandstone into the ocean. We ride up numerous hills for spectacular views and thrilling steep descents. We pass many small fishing communitites where it seems time stands still. Mothers wash their small naked children right in the beach showers and I chuckle to myself at what reaction that would bring in America.

We pass sections of deserted beach with palm trees which I think would be great campsites. Anyone looking to really get away could do worse than to hire a buggy driver to bring them out here and then pick them up in a few days. We stop at a restaurant and get a huge plate of shrimp and fish along with rice and salad for 20 reals. It's a great change after the concrete jungles of a few weeks. The day of leisure, though, provides a jolt on the return trip towards Canoa.

Yours truly on dunes with the buggy in a trench

Those little streams from the sandstone can cut some wicked ditches through the sand. We are cruising at about 80 kilometers an hour when suddenly a ditch appears and we go into it headlong. The driver swerves to try to miss it which has the unpleasant effect of rolling the buggy - towards my side! At this moment I am quite sure we are going over on top of me and no kidding, I had the strangest thought - I'm glad I bought that travel insurance! Luckily the buggy bounces when the right front tire hits a wave of sand and water flies over us. The buggy somehow stays upright although it stalls the engine. We are now stuck in the sand with the tide coming in, but I am glad that I am in one piece. This is not my problem. Help arrives, the buggy starts and we return.

The day ends with the sunset from the top of the dunes on the outskirts of town. I meet a Sao Paulo couple who are attending English school and are most eager to practice. I have no good answer when she asks, "Why you say sun set? Why you no say sun drop? I think set is past tense sit."

So I set down at a bar and watch a live Bob Marley video, with my backside a little sore from the encounter with the ditch that afternoon.

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