Porto de Galinhas means Port of Chickens; during the 18th century, when the traffic of slaves was forbidden, "chicken" was the code used to refer to the slaves. "There are new chickens in town" was the way to say that a ship loaded with slaves had arrived. Until a few years ago, Porto de Galinhas was an anonymous small village of fishermen; today, it's a famous small village of fishermen. Many of the locals still make a living out of the catches they get from the sea, the coconuts which abound in the palm tree plantations, the small commerce businesses. Porto de Galinhas is about 60 km south of Recife. Many tourists and residents of Recife are attracted by the night life of Porto. Our duplex apartment, however, is about 2 km away from downtown Porto de Galinhas. It is therefore very quiet, even in the high season. The beach line is 18 km long, all with white, fine grained, clean sand. There is a chain of reefs lining all along the coast. During the lower tide, the water trapped by the reefs forms several natural pools. There is also the possibility of renting horses to ride in the beach.

We are Joaquim and Luz Maria, a married couple who work as translators (Spanish, German, Italian and French) in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil. We are owners of this apartment together with our son (Andre) and his wife (Johanna), who live with their kids (5 and 8 year old) near Dallas (USA).