Chapada Diamantina – Tour 1

In Brazil, Chapada Diamantina, Diving & Snorkeling, Hiking/Trekking On  23/03/2013  No comments

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. Some people in the group did not go up because they were tired. I always like to go up to a high area to have a notion of where I am, to localize myself in the new region. The panoramic view from up there was incredible and the wild was blowing really strong.

Lapa Doce cava was our next stop. Our guide was Sérgio, a very friendly person, he told us about the 3 caves in the farm. One of them is 25km long, he said he had walked only 12km of it. We visited what they call Cave3, it is 7km long, but we waked only 1 or 2km. It was interesting to see the size o the cave, the stalactite and stalagmite.  The imagination was free to see the forms and shadows on the walls: dinosaur, turtle, owl, jellyfish… On the way out there was some people selling coconut water, refreshing.

Our last top was Gruta Azul (Blue) and Gruta da Pratinha (Silver). The Blue was crowed, a great amount of people was going down to see the “blue water, take a photo, and come up again. Different, in Pratinha, one can dive into the water and feel the cave from the inside. Feel the cold water, totally transparent; see the underwater rocks, the darkness, the silence/noise. It was worth the trip, it reminded me the dive at Abismo Anhumas cave in Bonito. For me, diving in caves it is like being in the moon, floating in another space…