It is the first and charming scenario that opens the doors to the "Dolphin's Coast". Who goes to Tibau do Sul and Pipa, will pass by its waters, coconut trees and mangroves.

It is the first and charming scenario that opens the doors to the "Dolphin's Coast". Who goes to Tibau do Sul and Pipa, will pass by its waters, coconut trees and mangroves. It also prevails in the landscape of Senador Georgino Avelino, Arêz and Goianinha.

The nature contributed to the vastness of the Lake of Guaraíras (it's about 7km long and 3km wide). Note that, before the lake was huge and connected to the sea, it was hidden, but the sea covered the isthmus that linked the beaches of Malembá and Tibau do Sul. The advance of the water threatened a small community that was forced to move to a higher ground, which is now the town of Tibau do Sul.

Besides beauty, Guaraíras has a very important economic activity for the four cities that surrounds it, with the creation of shrimp and fishing with handcraft canoes. In tourism, the focus is for long boat trips, jet-skies, sport-fishing, kite-surfing and banana-boats. It would be an injustice not to mention the sunset that fills the Guaraíras' quiet and calm waters of silver or gold colors, depending on the time. Dolphins and Porpoises are often seen swimming and playing along with the boats.

About the Porpoises, writer Hélio Galvão recalls that one Indian of the village of Guaraíra, in time of emotional return to wildlife, forgot the lessons he received and killed and ate a child. People and relatives of the minor victim, strongly reacted and intentionally sacrificed the cultural tradition of anthropophagi that erupted, threatening the culture unusually white, European.

A priest interfered and told him to stay in the waters until they decided to judge him. But later on, when they went after him again, he was not found. In the next days, a kind of Manatee started showing up in the waters of the lagoon, going from one place to another. during night times, they could hear a horrific, unforgettable and painful groan coming from the salty waters of the lagoon.

Nowadays, Guaraíras appears much silted, with some depths less than 1m in their internal waters, making it hard for the navigation. Also, the large amount of shrimp farms work as dikes, retaining a considerable volume of water, causing a decrease in the river discharge.

In the Lake of Guaraíras, there is the island of Flamengo, a scenario of a great struggle between Dutch and Portuguese, for the conquest of the Brazilian coast. It has that name, due to the presence of Dutch, between 1633 and 1654, when they dominated the captaincy of Rio Grande do Norte, from the capital Natal, which was called New Amsterdam.

On the island, they built a small fortress, where they kept wood and other riches for shipment to ports in Europe. Whoever goes to this island will find old stones and walls that remained from the building. According to historians, during the Dutch domination, the island and its fortress suffered a strong attack from Portuguese troops, aided by natives and under the command of Henrique Dias, the Governor of the black.

The soldiers of Henrique Dias spent the battle with only water and the fight was intense. From the Dutch people, only five or six managed to escape and the others were killed. From the Portugal-Brazilian side, there was a low of three soldiers, many injured and a balance of a good pillage.

There are two ways to reach the island, one with the high tide from Tibau do Sul and Senator Georgino Avelino, a tour that runs through most of the lake Guaraíras and the other, with the low tide, by canoe, from the district of Patané.

Translation: Flávio Pinho (SCN)