Parque do Cachoeira Falls

January 19  Monday




Sunrise from the front door

Clothes dryer

I got up early today to get a head start on the laundry.  We never know if and when it is going to rain, so timing our laundry day is an interesting challenge.  I did a batch of whites and hung them on our inside drying rack to be placed on the front balcony while we are gone.  You will notice our new clothes dryer.  After washing a batch of dark clothes, Merl hung them on the outside clothes line - we were taking a chance with that because rain was forecasted, and we were going to be gone most of the day. 



Traveling group for the day

Today we planned a trip to Parque do Cachoeira Falls in the area called Passo do Inferno (Step to Hell).  David didn't know why the area was called that, it was breathtakingly beautiful, but rugged.  The Copas came with their car, and Aristeu and Meri (with Natalia) came with there car.  Plenty of room for all of us this trip.  Meri's grandmother had lived in the area where we were going, so Meri had spent a lot of time there.  http://www.parquedacachoeira.com.br/

 


The dirt/gravel road wound around through the mountains.  At one point, the road had been scraped leaving a pile of dirt and rocks in the middle.  We weren't sure which side we should drive on - passing back and forth over the pile.  We eventually came to the road grader that was turning around to come back to move the pile from the road.

Posso do Inferno overlook

We stopped at an overlook to see the river that eventually would become the falls.  Zoomed in to get this picture - the canyon was really deep.  At the top was a father and his two sons (Paulo, Cleiton, Kauã).  They had been on the road for six hours and had moto (motorcycle) problems.  The boys were hungry - fortunately, Meri had packed a lunch and shared sandwiches and a drink with them.

View of bridge from above

 

Several kilometers later, we came to the bridge crossing the river to the park.  Steel arched grid work supports the wooden planks below.  After crossing the bridge, we walked back across the planks for a view of the area, the river, and the falls.  Even knowing that the wooden planks carried the weight of big log trucks, it was a bit unnerving being able to see through them to the river below - and the bridge looks REALLY old.


This park includes beautiful hiking trails, the falls, camping areas, cabins, small cafes, fresh river water swimming pools (mud settling pools), ecological trails, and aerial cab.  There is an area with cement tables and cooking stoves called "piquenique." (pronounced pee-kay-nee-kay = picnic).

We walked to the picnic area that had a shallow spot that we could wade in.  The cool water felt so good!  I don't think they have cold water here anywhere.  We hiked over to the falls passing the toboágua (water slide) going into the swimming pool.  It is okay to wade in this water, but I'm not so sure about swimming in it.

The falls was beautiful, falling into a pool that is 26 feet deep.  Other adventures for the area is bunging jumping from the bridge, rappelling down the falls, zip lining across the canyon (or riding in the hanging basket), dropping/rappelling down a rope from the basket.  No adventurous ones in our group today.

We enjoyed just hiking around, climbing on the rocks, and splashing in the water.
Some water was being diverted above the falls into a series of holding tanks located on the hillside.  The tanks were used for fish and aquaculture.  Grape vines were taking advantage of all the water so readily available.


We rested in the shade and had sandwiches and apple juice until it was time to go back to Canela.  While we had been resting, we could hear loud noises that turned out to be wooden planks being thrown down onto the bridge.  Men were working on replacing some of the worn beams.  We drove across the bridge and headed back up out of the canyon.  The road grater had finished the job of smoothing the road again, leaving a giant rock in the middle of the road.  Merl hopped out of the car and rolled the big boulder off to the side. 

After arriving back at the apartment, Ann and invited everyone to stay for an early dinner of spaghetti, garlic bread (was so delicious), and a cabbage/carrot/apple/orange salad (also delicious). 

You can see what kind of day it had been.  Totally worn out!  After dinner, Meri and Aristeu washed most of the dishes (thank you!) and all the company went home.  I was the only one who didn't take a nap, so I walked to town still looking for a top to wear with my new skirt - finally found one that will work, but I will keep my eyes open for the perfect blue I am looking I woud like.  I bought a big cup of gelato (four small scoops - pineapple, grape, strawberry, watermelon) and ate it all by myself.  Walked home, skyped with Amber and Curtis, and went to bed.  Great day!