Mangue Seco

Mangue Seco sits on the last spit of Bahia before the Real River marks the Sergipe line, and it is reached the awkward way - drive to Pontal on the Sergipe side, take a small boat across, then cross the dunes by buggy or on foot, which is the reason the village has stayed a village. Behind the houses are high white dunes running to the sea, and between village and dunes there is mangrove and river channel. The place is known in Brazil because Jorge Amado set Tieta do Agreste here and the television adaptation was filmed on these dunes in 1989, which brought a wave of visitors that has since settled down. Fishing and coconut are still the local work, and the beach is long, open and often empty.

What you actually see

• High white dunes - the ridge between village and sea, crossed by buggy or on foot.
• A boat-only approach - the crossing from Pontal on the Sergipe side.
• Mangrove and river channel - the water behind the dune line.
• The Tieta location - the dunes filmed for the 1989 adaptation of Amado's novel.

When to go

September to March. Two days.

Honest expectations

There is no road in; everything arrives by boat. Facilities are simple pousadas and the electricity supply is not always steady. Cash is needed. Buggy drivers at the crossing set their own prices.

Nearby

Pontal and Indiaroba are across the river in Sergipe; Aracaju is north-west.