Chapada Diamantina ~ Lençois, Capao, Vale do Pati, Andarai . . . Part 2

We participated in two separate 3 day treks to some nearby waterfalls and Vale do Pati, along with a one day excursion where we enjoyed a mountain climb, some caverns, and zip-line into a lake. In total, walking more than 90 kilometers, we regretted not having proper hiking shoes as we had to hike over long, rocky, and many times, muddy terrain. Equipped with nothing but our Havayanas (beach sandals)
and some old sneakers, we managed to do the job none-the-less. We ran into none other than "THE BOYZ" the day of our return, and enjoyed a one-day trip to some great treasures of the area. Just bonding with The Boyz, don't get any ideas...

Us holding Marcus like a baby?Sasha was in love with this little guy...
Evolution of men!?
A long walk through an old cavern and some interesting finds . . .

A view of the park Chapada Diamantina.

2nd Trek: This trek started with a great visit to Capao, a nearby village where people live very simply.mostly in communes, surviving off the fruit of their labor. This small village happened to have a Regional Forro (a great Brazilian dance) Party on the night we arrived where we danced the night away with some really happy people from the region. The next day, we started with a 25 kilometer hike through a gorgeous valley . . . whew.

The views were indescribable. During the hike, sometimes it rained lightly and sometimes it didn't, but the wind howled over the treeless valley...and at times I just had to stop and inhale this place. It was so amazing. We stayed at people's homes at night and had delicious home cookin'. In the mornings, we packed up and hit the road...

I think Sasha has a fruit addiction and desperately needs help. She can't be stopped...

"You're not eatin' that, are ya?

Gimme that fruit!"

This time, sleeping at peoples homes along the trek, we saw a side of the Chapada that many do not have a chance to encounter . . . untouched, uninhabited, and completely breathtaking. This trek ended in another small village, known for its diamond mining, where we regained our strength, ate a lot of great home-made ice-cream, and headed back to Lençois. Is was hard to leave a place where we knew most of the local faces and rhythms, but the Amazon was calling, and our time in Brazil was running out. And look what we have here . . .
A Brazilian take on wearing protection, interesting. Til' we meet again in the next blog...

Chapada Diamantina ~ Lencois . . . Part 1

I apologise for all the videos . . . I couldn´t help myself . . . so deal with it!

What started out as a brief side-trip before heading over to the Amazon ended up being a wonderful three-week excursion into the glorious heart of the National Park of Chapada Diamantina. (If you look close enough, you´ll see the both of us.)

The area was used for diamond-mining for many years until new settlers in the area demanded change. They pleaded with the government in order to preserve the many treasures the area had to offer and now you can visit and find peace in the endless mountain ranges, waterfalls, caverns, valleys, and rivers. (It is also important to mention that the water runs dark brown in the rivers by Lencois because of the vegetation as well as the kind of minerals found in the rocks, yet it is safe to drink and bathe in. . . and Mishka went head first!) We arrived in the early hours and luckily found a wonderful little place with the best hostess and cook of the best breakfast we've ever had in Brazil -- Lourdina. The best, most amazing, glorious laugh ever possessed of a human being lives in this warm, kind, plump woman, who was also the mother of our trek guide, Washington. Here is the view from our window (pretty sweet eh?)...Here are some highlights from Lencois, a magical little town surrounding one large square where many wonderful moments happened when we were just sitting around, eyes open in amazement, hearts open to life's little pleasures:

(For example . . . Mishka found a life-size chess board!!! You can´t imagine the excitement!)

You can walk out in search of the many local waterfalls surrounding the little town.
. . . or find some fellow travelers to share a war story or two . . . (This picture goes out to my sister´s blog . . . we should start a collection!)
At our small 'pousada', we met a man on vacation from Sao Paolo by the name of Marcus who proved to be a great spirit, a great guitar player, and an energizer bunny who seemed to never get tired.

This is a video of this great local kid knicknamed Dodo whistling with all his fingers. . . after which . . . Mishka responds.

Later on we happened to see his skills when his school performed capoeira in the main square... best capoeira show I have ever seen! Men, women, boys, girls . . . everyone performing their art in a great circle of respect, unity, and complete love.

As I mentioned earlier, Mishka and I spent about 3 days in a little café reading a book we came across by pure destiny. I read . . . he listened . . . and it was the most amazing few days we could have possibly had. . . sigh . . . Actually, I wrote the author a few days later, expressing my gratitude and respect for his work . . . he wrote back and thanked me for my kind words.-------------------------------------------------
1st Trek: This trek was supposed to go to Mixilla Waterfall, a cachoeira that had been available for tourists for only a year. This is a video of what all all-terrain-vehicles dream of :

Because of all the rain the area had experienced earlier, we were blocked by a raging river from our final destination . . . yet we enjoyed a lot of other waterfalls and sights while camping in a nearby cave during the night-time. . . falling asleep to Marcus playing some Brazilian and American tunes.
This was the first waterfall we saw and I have to say . . . for the first time in my life I saw two rainbows, one inside the other. I also saw the ENTIRE rainbow . . . the full circle. It was so amazing I couldn´t believe it!

Mishka´s response:


The second waterfall was loads of fun . . .

. . . and hidden treasures as well . . .
Mishka responds:

We had some great little sightings, a poisonous snake, a poisonous plant named ``rat´s tail´´, and two HUGE grasshoppers on top of each other . . . DON´T WORRY, I let Mishka play with the latter of the three ONLY.

All in all, good all wholesome fun, eh!?

On our last day, we saw this waterfall . . .

Mishka had no comment! No response! . . . but I did:)

. . . and that was the end of the mysterious Mixilla waterfall adventure. We went home . . .

Almost . . . on the way back, we had to cross a river and found a little suprise . . .


What a great time! And it was only the beginning . . .

A Special Mother's Day Hello from the Amazon

To Our Most Favorite (and only) Moms -- Mama Liza and Mama RayaMay you all understand where the sense of humor comes from!

Ladies, we have made a special little video for the both of you. Fact is, we're heading into the jungle for 4-5 days starting Sunday (don't worry Liza, I'm not going to let Misha play with the large friendly animals.) We couldn't be around to call but we figured we could still make you guys smile.
Watch, laugh, and enjoy. Have a wonderful day . . . we love you more than words can say . . . we promise to be there next year :)

(Also . . . look out for some extra mail heading your way!)

not so QUICK UPDATE ON THE CURRENT PAST (by the less efficient Mishka)

We are in Manaus, Amazonas State, Brazil. Do you know how long I have dreamed of seeing the Amazon River? A lot! Ever since I have been a weak, geeky kid reading books about Indians and white explorers crashing on the shore, with all the sailors dead, the one survivor befriending the Indians and learning their ways. I get flustered just thinking about it.
Just a quick update though. We said our goodbyes and gave our farewells in Lençois. It was hard to leave. The last 3 weeks there seemed magical. We've met the most kindest and interesting people there. Its funny how just being open and friendly puts you in the most interesting and rewarding situations. We sat on the bus and fell asleep. We arrived in Salvador in the morning and spent the next 24 hours either being in the airport or on a plane (which was not at all as bad as it sounds, it was actually great). And finally we arrived in Manaus.
We are in the wildest and possibly most undiscovered forest on Earth. Did you know that Brazilians have just 30 years ago, discovered an unknown Indian tribe? Yeah, they did. The sad thing is that about 14% of the forest has already been destroyed. We all heard about how incredible this place is: pink dolphins swimming next to "jammed up" flesh eating Pirhannas, and the medicinal qualities of the plants growing here. You know, they say if there's a cure for Cancer, it will be found here.
A new adventure begins...

Food for Thought . . .Why 143.5???

Interesting passage:

``I went to a train station today and learned that the distance between railway tracks is always 143.5 centimeters, or 4 feet 8 1/2 inches. Why this absurd measurement? ...well, when they build the first train carriages, they used the same tools as they had for building horse-drawn carriages. And why that distance between the wheels on carriages? Because that was the width of the old roads along which the carriages had to travel. And who decides that roads whould be that width?

Well, suddently, we are plunged back into the distant past. It was the Romans, the first great road builders, who decided to make their roads that width . And why? Because their war chariots were pulled by two horses, and when placed side by side, the horses they used at the time took up 143.5 centimeters.....so the distance between the tracks I saw today, used by our state-of-the-art high-speed trains, was determined by the Romans.

When people went to the United tates and started builing railways there, it didn´t occur to them to change the width and so it stayed as it was. This even affected the building of space shuttles. American engineers thought the fuel tanks should be wider, but the tanks were built in Utah and had to be transported by train to the Space Center in Florida, and the tunnels couldn´t take anything wider than guess what . . . 143.5 centimeters. And so they had to accept the measurent that the Romans had decided was the ideal. ´´