Today we were able to get a bit of a later start and the group enjoyed a nice, leisurely breakfast at the hotel. At 11:00 we met up in front of the hotel and piled in the back of jeeps for our local waterfall tour. We went further into the interior and much higher into the large, rainforest covered mountains that loom over the sea. The waterfalls themselves were very similar to those in the mountains of North Carolina. The first one actually reminded me a bit of a smaller version of Hebron Rock Colony in Blowing Rock, NC. The water there was absolutely freezing and I could not make myself go in more that waist deep while some of the other, braver, souls jumped all the way in from a rock ledge. We spent about 40 minutes at the waterfall before hiking back to the jeeps to go tour a cachaçaria, or cachaça distillery. Cachaça is similar to rum in that it is made from sugar cane. At the distillery we were able to try many different types of cachaça that they produced; chocolate, sweet corn, cinnamon, and fruit flavors.
Our second waterfall was higher up into the mountains. It was very similar to Sliding Rock in NC. The water flowed thinly over a large, relatively smooth boulder face and we could all slide down it in to a pool of freezing water. When we arrived there was a local guy who was showing off his skills by surfing down the rock standing up! It was insane and cool at the same time. We spent less time at this waterfall so that we would have time left over in the afternoon to visit another local beach.
We arrived back at the hotel in order to switch to our charter bus and were then off to the beach! We got there a bit late in the day but it was perfect because we still had the sun and there was almost no one else there! We settled down for a late lunch at an open air restaurant on the beach and ordered one of the local specialties, Moqueca, which is a type of fish stew. While we were waiting we ordered fresh caipirinhas and walked down the beach admiring the general splendor of the mountains and sea. When our food arrived we all dug in, and it was amazing! The ingredients were all fresh and local and the fish stew over rice was perfect. After we watched the sun set we all piled back on the bus and went for a shower and rest at the hotel.
Later in the evening most of our group decided to meet up for the last weekend of the local Festa Junina celebration. It was at one of the ocean front churches that we had seen on our tour the day before. We got there around 9:00 just as the festival was really beginning. After waiting in line for our food tickets we walked around sampling the fair foods for dinner. I got an Italian sausage dog, chocolate covered strawberries and vinho quente. Unlike at the last festival, we arrived in time to watch the quadrilla, and wow it was a marathon of a quadrilla… The dance mimics a country dance and loosely tells the story of a country wedding, but what we did not know was that the dance can go on for more than an hour, as this one did. I had thought that the little quadrilla that our Portuguese class learned was somewhat long and complicated but I have been corrected! This dance was much more intricate and about four times as long as ours was!
After the dance finally ended our large group broke up as we walked around the town looking for fun. We ended up heading towards a little restaurant/club that our guides had recommended. It looked very fun from the outside and several in our group were looking for something fun and different to do so we decided to go in. Andrew, Elliot, Roxanne, Molly and I made up the fun dance team. For the first 40 minutes as the club was filling up they played a very good variety of fun club dance music and our group decided that we were going to be ‘those crazy Americans’ and we were the first ones out dancing. However, around 12:00 a live band came out and we got excited thinking that we were about to hear some good Brazilian music. This was not the case, we were in for an 80’s night…it was hilarious, the band was good but the music they were playing was a really weird choice. It was all English, not all exactly dancing music, and all from the 70’s and 80’s we got Journey, Bon Jovi, Pink Floyd and friends. I do not think that anyone in the club was expecting this music because they all seemed a bit put out, but our groups decided to roll with it and have an 80’s dance party. I think we had the most fun in the entire club, we danced ourselves silly for 3 hours and did not care who was watching. At the end of the night we all walked back along the canal again enjoying seeing the stars for the first time in weeks.
A view of the mountains from the trail to the waterfall
Our afternoon beach time!
Enjoying the sun!
What a jam packed day! Jungle hiking, icy waterfalls, distillery tour (cachaça sounds like an interesting drink), crazy sliding rock surfer dude, beach visit, local fish stew, marathon quadrilla, and hours of night clubbing to Pink Floyd and Bon Jovi! Only a young person fueled by adrenaline and drink could keep that kind of schedule!
ReplyDeleteWas the quadrilla at the little white church you posted a picture in an earlier entry?
It's a good thing you have a long drive back to SP, I think that bus is going to be filled with snoring students!