brazil 18 [eng]

hello dear friends

my last week here in brazil starts tomorrow, so today i would like to take you on a trip to one of the most beautiful places of this magical country, about a month ago we were in chapata diamantina, an incredible place.
have fun while reading!

Thanks to the dear Cathi for the beautiful photos!

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1DateA2pja57LOJoFK52BEGDuXJ0hwJzh&usp=sharing

18.2. - 24.2.

(so I do not have to keep writing it: bruno = car)

today it was time to get out of bed again, in good spirits we got into the taxi and were looking forward to finally leaving the big city behind us.

Together with Cathi, we bought the tickets at the bus station to Guarapari, a small town in the state of Esprito Santo, about 500 km from Rio, which said goodbye to us with a wonderful panorama of the bay and blessed us with sunshine.

we had breakfast and spent most of the day in the bus, which reached the bus terminal on the edge of guarapari in the early evening. From there, we got a taxi to the city center and we walked to the house of Joaquim, a nice young Brazilian, for whom I had worked about 4 months ago. just before I got more involved with the visa regulations and figured out that I have to leave brazil. By that time, I had just started touring by car, and then I asked Joaquim for a way to park the car near his house.

it was a happy reunion and cathi and I drove also quickly around the block, down to the beach, where we got a gigantic feeling of anticipation, because between here and my departure from brazil are still good 2 months, which I will spend living in this old car.

We started the day full of good humor with the classic café and cake. We also slept a bit longer and then we started to grab the stuff and put car together.

I collected all my stuff from Joaquim's house, because besides the car, I had deposited a lot of clothes and things with him before my departure at the end of October 2018.
joaquim had also bought a new old car some time ago and I would like to share the photo with you.

After we had said goodbye, we reached gas station, with the last drops of ethanol and then we visited the small peninsula. the slightly upstream of guarapari forms a relatively natural park in which you can stroll.
After a while we were back in the car and finally drove off.

our first stop is not far away, the capital of the state, vitoria, here I had agreed to meet isabelle, a friend, the lives here in the city.

unfortunately, her time was very tight and we just talked briefly while we ate something. We then accompanied her to the shop where she works and said goodbye.

after a little visit of the scenic praia da ilha do frade, we drove through a really hilly landscape until we reached a small beach village near sao matheus after the sunset. Since we were driving all day, I was very happy that the owner of a restaurant let us took a shower, before we prepared our bed in the car and then fell asleep after a wonderfully read "good night story".

The night was one of the worst I've ever spent, hoping that it would not be so stuffy, we left the rear side windows a bit open, which turned out to be a big mistake, as the mosquitos gratefully accepted the invitation and drank our sweet gringo blood.

after we went swimming in the cool Atlantic, after sunrise, we just wanted to start driving and make kilometers.

but, apparently bruno had spent a bad night also and for some reason unknown to me, he had trouble with getting started.
After some time, we tried to explore the surrounding, not very lush neighborhood. They then joined forces to push the car into the street and finally we all pushed together until it finally ran around again. with this little shock in the bones, the ride then continued on sandy paths.

finally we reached the border, into the state of bahia, about which i had already heard so much in the last months. here begins the official northeast of brazil, the days are getting shorter, the skins darker and the churches colored ... (to say it quite shitty)

Also, the landscape was a little hilly again and the most impressive thing that we passed today was the big mountain, which you can see in the background in this photo.

Eventually, after about 500 kilometers of motorway, we reached the small village of itaimbe, shortly after the sunset, where we then end the evening at the market place, with a delicious burger and cheap beer.

our sleeping place for this night, we found on the edge of an unlit country road. I sleep in the hammock today and leave the mosquitoes alone to mosquitoes, because with my integrated net, nobody can harm me.

This morning there were no problems, well rested, without start problems with bruno, we drove out of the small village and back to the BA-680.

we reached a gas station after a small breakfast shopping, where we could take a shower and then the road led us further into the bahian west, it went uphill and downhill, the sunshine and the good music made for a very good mood and even, when cathi had put us in the shade of a ditch and we barely slipped past a serious problem, that only briefly squeezed the mood. here are some impressions from the street ...

when the evening sunset set in, we were already close to the chapata diamantina, the destination of the whole tour. We approached the southern part of the National Park of the West and drove past some breathtaking views. in the half-dark we reached the eastern side.

here it was getting darker and as we fought down a terrible rocky road, we had no idea that we would soon find ourselves in the brazilian version of machu picchu.
the small diamond digging city of igatu is really a secret, but since it was already dark, we were only slightly aware of it.

After the obligatory evening beer and today's almost 600 km, we searched for our sleeping quarters, on a secluded side street, surrounded by large stone formations.

today was a very eventful day, we awoke drowsily in igatu and then immediately after we had packed the car again, on the way to cachoeira dos pombos, a very idyllic little waterfall only about 15 minutes walk from igatu.

After a bit of splashing and refreshing, we sat for a while near by and I collected some quartz crystals, which lay there so simply in the river bed ... really crazy.

then we ran back into the village with rain and started looking for a small breakfast and were absolutely overwhelmed when we could eat this wonderful meal under a mango and avocado tree grove.

At our beer yesterday evening and a small round of questions through the pousadas, it turned out that one can make a very special thing here in Igata. As Igatu used to be a city of diamond tombs, it is only natural that there is a mine nearby. the so-called gruta do brejo, online, there is little information about it and even on-site it was not easy to find out about the location or a guide. At some point, however, we ran following the right road, up a small hill and at the end of the rocky road, we were already waiting by man who lives here and offers a guide through the mine for 10 reales.

the first thing that struck us here is the mass of rocks from which his house was built and piled up on both sides of the path to the mine, large screes. The first part of the cave was filled with water and formed a kind of pond in which we bathed afterwards. very idyllic. then it went in and out into the cavities created partly by man, partly by nature. we followed with candles and flashlights that were lit by our guide. Surprising were the clay figures, which are here in great numbers laid out in the mine. Everyone looks different and represents the last generation of mine workers there. that was a bit scary ...

After we had reached the daylight, the pond and finally the car again, we left igatu and drove down a terrible road down the mountains, towards the cachoeira do segredo.

a waterfall, which is a bit hidden, surrounded by small caves and to which you have to walk about 30 minutes from the road.
also a very nice place.

Unfortunately, the dear Cathi, when collecting my clothes, was not so prudent and the inevitable happened, my scraped iphone fell on the rocky ground and was henceforth dumb and black ...
a problem that we will address in salvador.
After a refueling break with fanta, an extremely bumpy road took us over two hours to a place that already carried the magic in its name. the so-called poco encantado. A cave slightly away from the National Park, where crystal clear water collects, through a special mineral content in the water, it takes on the blue color and it is possible to look up to 70 meters deep on the bottom of the cave. a very special habitat for some species of fish and the best was with the guide we were three, so we were able to really record the quiet and unique energy of this place.

From there, one of the most terrifying roads I ever drove took us to a place in itaete, a very small village. On my offline map I had seen that it is possible to cross the river here, that was it, but not with a bridge, but with a hand-drawn ferry ...
Of course, Cathi and I were the only tourists who got lost in this area here, in months, maybe years. Cathi spoke to the girls who had risen from the car in front of us, they did not know Germany, only when cathi told them it’s in europa, very clearly, our approximate origin was clear to them.
Meanwhile, I struggled with the boys and after a few minutes, we had bruno on the other side and drove on over the sandways of hell in the bahian backland.

When it got dark, we reached the paved road and an hour later we finally got lencois, the tourist center of the region and a starting point for many trails and tours in the various beautiful corners of this wonderful park.
We refueled ourselfs with beer and ate a specialty, a skewer, with pieces of the tail of cattle and then we made a little shopping stroll through the various stone shops that are so here and cathi bought a few souvenirs.

We found our sleeping place just outside of lencois at the top of a hill, from where we would start walking tomorrow morning.

Waking up and with a slight muscle ache, we marched on to ribeirao do meio, a tip from dear schnilsi, who had also visited the region here a few months ago. we hardly ever met people on the way and then with two other people we were the first ones at this interesting "waterfall", it is more a kind of stone surface, which has a very steep angle and grows through the algae in the sun on the smooth surface , you can slide down into the pool like a water slide.

I later explored the upper part of the waterfall and climbed over the rock formations around which the river meandered. The rocks here are especially good for bouldering, because they have many handy spots and points where you can get great grip. we also collected a few more stones and chilled for a while in the natural pools, that form here everywhere when the water seeks its way through the rock.
when at some point after the breakfast time more and more tourists arrived, we made our way to the car and again in lencois, we treated ourselves with a delicious açaí and bought a few things to have sandwiches later. then we went back to a long drive to the so-called. cachoeira buracao, we had previously seen only a small photo in a prospectus, but since we wanted to leave early tomorrow for salvador, and the waterfall was almost on the way, we decided on early afternoon that we wanted to go there.

After endless sand roads we reached the entrance area to this breathtaking natural spectacle relatively late. From the parking lot we ran first in the wrong direction and met a group of men who were camping there. They told us that it is now (5pm) too late to visit the waterfall, as it is only possible with a guide and only available until 3pm. they were also very surprised that we had come so far without a guide ...
We thanked for this information and then we looked for the path to the waterfall. When we saw that it was a really very clear and well-worn path, we decided to try it and with my offline map on the phone we would always find the car ...

a 40-minute walk led us to the shoulder of the waterfall, the demolition, from where the water plunges 80 meters into the depths. from here it goes down ladders and over stony paths, to the basin where the water collects, cathi was a bit scared of the construction of the stairs and so she waited alone upstairs as i descended and past more waterfalls and through one small cave full of screaming bats, in the dark,i reached the bottom pond.
the walls are as you can see in the photos just incredible and the atmosphere of the place is very strong and I even went swimming in the black water, since no more light reached this low point.

the way back up to cathi was a lot harder then and i often hit my toes on the rocks, because now it was completely dark and i could feel more than see. which also led me to reach into a palm covered with spikes, which made me cry out and curse ...
At that moment, I heard Cathi's shouts from higher up and as we reunited and hugged, I realized how scared and upset she was. she must have heard some animal and then got scared.
The way back to the car was relaxed and easy to find, when we finally arrived I tried to convince her, to sleep here, to do a morning tour with guide, as this waterfall is definitely one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.
Cathi did not want to be convinced and so we drove on the bumpy roads until we arrived an hour later in the small village of bananeiras and pitched our night camp.

today we woke up with the sunrise and then drove very determined with small refuel and fanta stops to the capital of bahia, salvador. cathi would fly back to germany from here in two days. We arrived at the chaotic city at about 12 o'clock and then waited in front of the airbnb that she had booked. we waited for an answer from the owner. However, the woman did not answer and so we went with our dirty laundry on the search for a laundry, but because it was Sunday everything was closed and we then carried the dirty laundry back to the car.
the further waiting time i spent in a reading what i can experience on the future route and circling some stations and places red, in the guidebook. then the door to the apartment opened and we met bela, a brazilian lady who subleases some rooms of her apartment via airbnb.
Here we could also wash our things and then we ran to the pre carnival blocos in barra, which are celebrated here on the beach promenade.

However, the party was not so mega and it looked like so, so if there were more people who wanted to sell something than there were people to visit. a mighty chaos in any case.
Cathi and I summed up our trip together and watched the sunset behind the islands in the bay of Salvador.

We also tried a regional specialty, a kind of dough bag filled with sauces, vegetables and crabs. that was semi delicious.
our last joint beer for this trip, we drank on the way back to the apartment and to fall asleep we watched some episodes of breaking bad, on cathis laptop.

what an eventful time, really beautiful nature and hidden beauties ... until next time!

love
pauli

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