By Steven Mark

JERICOACOARA, Brazil — The ritual begins an hour or so before sunset. As the tropical Brazilian sun beats down still at this hour, a few trekkers begin to climb a sand dune that overlooks a remote, windswept beach.

Like ants discovering a fallen scoop of ice cream, the line of sun worshippers grows from a trickle to a stream. Soon a crowd has gathered on the lip of the dune. A couple of sandboarders swoop down the dune like snowboarders. For a tip, or maybe just for the fun of it, a local kid will do backflips down the steep face of the dune. A couple has a "From Here To Eternity" moment, rolling around in a passionate and sandy embrace.

Remote beach town of Jericoacoara, continued