Categoria / Category Hiking/Trekking

3-days trekking at Vale do Pati

I had visited the Chapada Diamantina about 7 times since I moved to Salvador, Bahia. However, I have never made the trekking of  Vale do Pati, this time, I decided to face it. I would go with a friend who could not make it because of work, so I left alone with the guide. Our plan was to enter through Guiné, to go to Morro do Castelo on the second day and on the third day leave through Vale do Capão.

I was a little apprehensive because, lately, my right knee was hurting, but nothing very strong. So I talked to the guide André (Chapada Soul) to go slow. Since I was the only person in the group, the pace would be my own. Perfect.

We went up a rather steep trail to a plain where we walked towards the “Mirante” (a top hill view point). On the way, we crossed a small river that was a bit dry, did not motivate us to dive in. Then, we arrive at the famous Mirante do Vale do Pati, an incredible place, surrounded by valleys and mountains. There we stayed for about two hours enjoying the la...

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Chapada Diamantina – Tour 1

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On my first day at Chapada Diamantina I decided to take a tour to get a broad sense of the place. It was “Roteiro1”(Mucugezinho, Poço do Diabo, Gruta da Lapa, Gruta da Pratinha, Gruta Azul, Morro do Pai Inácio) and Mel was our guide. The first stoop was at Rio Mucugezinho where we went hiking to appreciate the river landscape. We followed the trail for about 15 minutes until we arrived at Poço do Diabo, a beautiful waterfall; there we had our first bath of the day. The water was cold but nos freezing as I imagine it would be. And after the walk under the sun, it was exactly what I was waiting for. The waterfall is big, a great shower of transparent water. Stay under the fall was easy, but the stones were slippery, so one has to be careful. The water was wonderful, invigorating as any waterfall.

After Mucugezinho, we climbed up Morro do Pai Inácio in order to see the landscape of the region. The trail is easy, but steep...

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Chapada Diamantina

Fotos Arquivo Karla BrunetChapada da Diamantina is one of the great places for eco-tourism in Brazil, it reminded me Bonito (MS) or Brotas (SP), maybe because of the waterfall. In terms of ecotourism, Brazil is not behind any place. In general, places like this are organized, hotels and guesthouses are good, people are friendly and the tours are well structured. I’m proud of our ecotourism; it is not so disorganized as in Bolivia (Pampas) or Ecuador (Rio Bamba), at the same time it is not ultra organized that look like Disneyland as in Australia. And the most important, there is always (even if shallow) an ecological concern in preserving the place.

This is not my first time in Chapada Diamantina and won’t be the last. The first time was in 2007 when I took a trip with my Yoga group to Capão, on the way back to Salvador, I stayed alone in Lençóis for some more days visiting the region. After that I returned to Chapada a few other times. Now in 2013 I decided to go to places I haven’t been yet...

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Praia de Pipa

On my arrival in Pipa I was welcome by the people from the hotel. They advised me to go for a walk to Praia do Amor and showed me the path. I walked to the beach and sat down in a bar on the shore. The day was beautiful, sun, sea, beach, fruit juices… Since my knee was hurting and swollen, I stayed there for a while. After, I walked on Praia dos Afogados to the Chapadão, and, from there, to the city where I had lunch looking at the ocean.

On my second day, I left early morning for a walk to Tibau do Sul (about 7km). In the hotel I had seen the tide table of that day and I would have plenty of time to get there before it was high tide and I could not go through the rocks. I started my walk on Praia Principal. Since it was early, there was not many people around, they were all waking up. There were many fishermen and parents with small kids. Further on I saw a group playing soccer on the beach. They were organized in teams with uniforms...

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Fernando de Noronha

This was the second time I visited the island. In order to remember everything, I did a buggy tour with Cinara, Carlos Alberto and José Carlos, who I met in the flight from Recife. Our guide, Bruno, showed us the most important tourist attractions of the island. We started on a tip called AirFrance, which, according to Bruno, was the place where an aircraft from that company landed. Nearby we visited “Buraco da Raquel”and “Enseada da Caieira”. Then we went to Baia do Sueste, where we did snorkeling. The place is known for having sea turtles, besides, of course, many small fishes. We saw three turtles. When we were already swimming back to the shore, the guide pinched me to show a small shark beside us. When I turn to look, he was swimming away from us.

After the snorkeling, we walked on the trails of Baia dos Golfinhos, Baia do Sancho and Baia dos Porcos. From up there we can have a great view from the Dois Irmãos islands, a postcard picture from Fernando de Noronha...

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Aparados da Serra: Itainbezinho, trail of Rio do Boi and Fortaleza

Sorry, this entry is only available in Português.

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Rio do Peixe


At the arrival at Rio do Peixe we met Moacyr, the owner of the farm. After forming grups of 12 we left for a walk on the woods. Once in a while we stopped for a waterfall bath. The place was beautiful, clean water and lots of green. The trail ended in a whole in the rock. We climbed up and jumped in the water. We came back a small part by the river.

Back to the farm house, Moacyr and his wife waited us for lunch. It was lots of regional food. What I liked the most was a “sopa paraguaia”, hat it is not a soup, it is a sort of dough made with corn flour and cheese. Delicious. After lunch we took a nap on leather hammocks produced in the region.

In the afternoon we did another trail. We passed by some waterfalls, bathed and end up at a part of the river where there was a reel. We used it to jump in the water. It was interesting to see people from different ages become child again.

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Gruta do Lago Azul and Bonito Aventura

After a 24h trip I got in Bonito really tired. I spent the afternoon in the pool sunbathing, something that becomes precious when you live in Europe.

On my second day I went to visit the “Gruta do Lago Azul”, 18km from town. I got Edson’s moto-taxi to get there. These taxi by motorcycle are very popular in Bonito. In the cave I met a group of students from Dourados, a city in Mato Grosso do Sul. I thought it was funny their curiosity towards me. I think all of them asked me where I came from. Some would get impressed.

The cave is beautiful. After going down about 400 meters we arrived at the “Blue Lake”. The clear water made possible to see the stones on the bottom. I liked to observe everybody wispering: “How beautiful!” or “It is really blue!”, “The water is so clear!”

The afternoon tour was Bonito Aventura, about 4 km from town. There I met the manager, Janaina, who explained me the tour. We tried on the wet suit and sandals...

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Machu Picchu

Since the arrival on Machu Picchu was disappointing, a cloudy day, I couldn’t see too much. I decided not to photograph, only feel the place and come back next day to work. I left my camera bag in a looker so I wouldn’t change my mind.

First we did a guided tour with some explanation of the place. The group was divided in English and Spanish tour. I joined the Uruguayans in the Spanish one. The tour was a little vague, since nobody know exactly what was the place, there are only guesses or interpretations. After we walked, rested, laughed and enjoyed the landscape. We were cheering every time the clouds would move a little. The sun could show up any time, after all it was the solstice day. No, the sun didn’t show up.

The next day I walk up early an saw it was a cloudy day. I slept again and only left to Machu Picchu at 9 am. This time the weather was better. I went up the highest point and sat down to wait for the sun...

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Inca trail guide – Peru

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