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Where it is and how long it takes
Pilões is a small town in Paraíba's Brejo, next door to Areia, about 110 km from the João Pessoa seafront. By car it takes just under two hours, with the last stretch on hill roads.
It is the lesser-known side of the Brejo: fewer mansions and museums than Areia, more forest, rock and water. People who like trails tend to prefer it.
Ouricuri waterfall
This is the main attraction. It sits in the Serra do Espinho, inside a patch of Atlantic Forest, reached by a trail of about one kilometre with small bridges, bamboo handrails, climbs and descents. Difficulty is moderate: fine with older children, not with a pushchair.
At the bottom there are tables and a toilet, and at weekends snacks and feijoada. The river forms a string of falls and pools among the rocks — proper river swimming, in cold water.
Pedra do Cruzeiro: abseiling and viewpoint
It is a rock about a hundred metres high, with a cross and two chapels on top and views over the Borborema plateau. The drop is used for abseiling, and some people camp at the top by arrangement. For abseiling, go with an accredited operator — this is not something to improvise.
Cassava flour house, cocada and flowers
- Memorial Casa de Farinha: you can watch cassava flour being made and taste coloured tapioca prepared on the spot.
- Vila Pau D'Arco: a rural food village with regional cooking and music in the late afternoon. It is home to a small artisan cocada factory, with coconut, guava, pineapple and peanut flavours.
- Flowers: Pilões was where Paraíba's first greenhouse flowers were harvested, in 2005, and the growers' cooperative still produces every week.
- Igreja Matriz do Sagrado Coração de Jesus: its 48-step stairway is the postcard view of the town centre.
How to fit it in from the beach
A day trip works: leave at 7 am and return in the late afternoon — waterfall in the morning, regional lunch, then Pedra do Cruzeiro or the flour house in the afternoon. A higher car helps in the rural areas, especially after rain.
If you want to combine it with Areia, spend a night in the Brejo. Between July and September the Caminhos do Frio route passes through the region and the towns put on cultural events.
The seafront is waiting when you get back. Our apartments in João Pessoa have a full kitchen and air conditioning — and someone on the team to tell you the right time to leave so you avoid the hill roads at night.
