There and back again…

Around 3am there was a piercing noise that woke (almost) everyone up. I think it was Ian and Annie that slept through it. It took me a while in my comatose slumber to place the noise but it was a pneumatic tool for undoing truck wheel nuts. Apparently a truck had pulled in with two flats and got the guy at the 24hr service station to change them out. We woke up pretty early and put the tents away for the last time. We ate breakfast at the truck stop and then it was on our way to Ouro Preto. Waking up this morning I could feel the first signs that the infection in my voice box had started migrating into my ears. It was nowhere near as painful as it had been in Guatemala but I could feel the warning signs. Decided to start a course of antibiotics. Better to be safe than sorry and with flying out of Rio in a few days time I didn’t want to be grounded again.

On the drive today played a game with Webster and Maartje were we had to collectively write a song. One person would write one line of the song and then the next would have to write the next, but fitting in with the rhyming pattern, it was pretty funny. Then due to my new found sexy husky voice I was volunteered to sing it. Some how it morphed into a blues song. Made a mental note that I really need to learn to play the guitar when I get back home.

We got to Ouro Preto before lunch. Most of us had bought stuff for lunch at a supermarket that morning so we just made sandwiches when we got to the hostel. The a youth hostel we were staying at was on a hill next to a huge brooding church. The “evil church” as Maxine called it, was visible from the town and provided a good reference point. The views over the city from the hostel were stunning. Ouro Preto was such a picturesque town. First task was to clean the tents. The truck was parked at the top of the hill so we had to carry tents and poles down to the youth hostel. Then we cleaned up the tents so they would be ready for the next group. After this we had a spot of lunch and then Fi and I headed into town. Had a real good talk to Fi and it was great to be able to talk to a friend and get things off my chest. It’s strange how sometimes you know what has to happen but you just need someone else to say it.

We found an amazing chocolate shop on the high street. It was really expensive but really nice chocolates. We walked back up the hill to meet up with our guide who would take us to the gold mines the next day. We decided we would try to eat as a group so we walked back down the hill. There was a lot of walking up and down hills in Ouro Preto which is probably why there was hardly any obese people, well locals anyway!

It was more of a bar which did food than a restaurant. Which was great as the food was cheap. Most of us were drinking bramah beer but Fi was on the Caprioski (like a moito but with vodka instead of rum and no mint) and boy were they strong. I forget which drinking game we were playing but Fi introduced “international drinking rule”. This was to be her undoing. Double taps, no pointing with the fingers and drinking with the pinky extended. Add to this that her food was really late in coming and she was smashed. I’m not sure why but a tuneful rendition of “American Pie” was visited on the pub, mainly by Webster and Eugene. After talking to god in the toilets Eugene walked Fi home back up the hill. The final bill was actually really small. Considering we’d drunk well over a crate of litre bottles of beers, plus Fi’s six Caprioskis, various rum & cokes and all the food. I think the final bill was something like 30 R each. Obviously someone had not been counting our drinks properly. Charlotte, Maartje and Mirrka left, but Charlotte left her bag with her camera. Some dodgy photos where taken with it before Charlotte came back for it.

Even then I don’t think she realised that Donna was busy putting her camera back in her bag when she walked back through the door. After a few more drinks Donna and Dion left and finally the rest of us wandered back up the hill. We had a few more drinks back at the hostel and then got to bed.

Woke up early and got my stuff together for a long truck day. I wasn’t in a great mood today. I was feeling pretty low, so I put together a suitably depressing play list on the MP3 and just wallowed. I was glad when the day was over and I could draw a line under it.

Got Maartje to have a look at my throat and just check that there was no infection. She couldn’t see anything at the back of my throat so we agreed to leave of the antibiotics and see if my body can kick whatever is there by itself. We arrived at the final wild camp of the trip around 11pm. Again it was at a service station. It is interesting the Dragoman definition of a “wild camp”. For me a wild camp is somewhere in the middle of nowhere where you have to hike to get there and there is nobody for miles. Definitely not a dusty service station. We set up the tents and crashed out.

This was perhaps the one of the fullest and fun days of the trip so far. The group actually split into two. Ian, Annie, Dick, M and John decided that they would rather got with a guide to the valley of the moon and do another walk. The rest of us were up for a full on day of adventure – yee haa!

Marcello joined us after breakfast and we drove to a farm which was set up with various trails and hikes. Maxine, Maartje, Charlotte and Mirrka decided to head straight to the lake to sun bathe. The rest of us made our way to the canopy walk. This was a series of challenges set up high in the tree canopy. This was great fun, but I can imagine it you’re scared of height it wouldn’t be fun. Most of the challenges were about balancing on logs and ropes. You were tied on with a full harness though so even if you slipped you wouldn’t got anywhere. Dion went first and then Me and Fi. We zipped through the challenges quite fast but by far the most difficult was one with a series of horse stirrups that you had to walk through (10m up in the canopy).

The last challenge was a zip line. You could either sit down into the harness and take it gentle or run and throw yourself from the tower. Of course I had to do the run and jump…. yee haa!

A short walk back to the start to take of the harnesses and then we could head to the lake to catch up with the girls. The pool was a natural formation it was like a swimming pool. It’s actually deep enough to hold water polo competitions and every year there is a huge national championships held there. There was a cliff from which we could jump. It was probably about 4m from where you jump into the water. There was a tree with a rope swing next to where we could jump from. Marcello climbed up the tree ran along the branch and jumped into the water. It was amazing; the guy must be part monkey. Jepser and climbed back up and had a go at the rope. After this Marcello showed me where it was safe to dive in. Only from about 3m this time though. My technique isn’t good enough to dive from much higher than this though.

After drying out in the sun we walked back to the truck. From here we drove to the next farm where we split into two further groups. Those who wanted to do the horse riding and those that would take the jeep tour. Before setting of we had lunch. The previous day Fi’s group had prepared a pasta salad which made a nice change from either sandwiches or empanadas for lunch. Fed and watered we split into the two groups. The riders where Me, Fi, Maartje, Charlotte, Maxine and Mirrka. Though we started of walking and trotting it wasn’t too long before the group was cantering. The scenery was amazing and I really felt like I was in a western. I was having a great time. I think everyone was loving it. It was easily the best the days riding I’ve had.

We arrived at the next waterfall. This should have been the waterfall that we were originally going to abseil down. Unfortunately the guide who was to take us on this had broken his leg. This would have been a great way to see the waterfall but it wasn’t to be. We were there much sooner than the others. This surprised most people as they had expected that with the jeep and short walk they would have arrived before us. This would probably had been the case if we had walked or trotted, but cantering had eaten up the distance. The water was pretty cold though but I was beginning to wish that I hadn’t given Eugene my swim stuff to bring up in the jeep.

We weren’t waiting too long though. There was a natural rock formation, perfect for jumping. The platform was 10m. The highest I have ever jumped from. Marcello went first and then Maartje, Charlotte, Jesper and I went up to look. Jesper took some photos but said that he had done enough crazy things in his life already. That left me, Maartje and Charlotte. I made the mistake of standing on the edge too long and believe me it looked really high. I backed off and the Marcello came back up. He just said you have to go it. Actually he first said make sure you watch is on properly otherwise when you hit the water they tend to pop of. He goes diving around there collecting watches that people have lost from jumping in. With that he smiled and just jumped again. Maartje was then next to stand on the edge. She was saying “should I do it”. I was “Yes, but if you go then I will as well”. She then said “well how many times am I going to be able to do it”. With that she jumped. Eugene said later that as soon as she jumped he knew I’d be down next. He was right. No mistake this time. Step up to the edge and then straight into the air. Complete with the war cry of “England!” It was a really big rush, but to be honest if Maartje hadn’t done it I probably would not have done it.

Next up was Charlotte. As she jumped though she leaned slightly back so instead of her body following her legs she hit the water at an angle. Her arse got the full impact and her back. I was already into the water and was next to her when she came up. She was pretty winded and upset but she’s one tough cookie! I had to hold her hand so she could get her breath back and then she swam back to the edge. We had then planned to ride back to the last activity; the flying fox. Dion offered to ride there and I think he was hoping she would take the jeep back because we had had so much fun on the way out. But fair play she said she would ride.

The next bit of the ride was also great fun. Fi’s horse was a stallion like mine and there was obviously a bit of a rivalry going on. Fi’s horse would be sweating up and getting a bit jumpy. Fi was asking us all to walk for a bit but most of wanted to canter. The road opened up and then Fi set of initially at a canter. I was quick to follow. The next moment both horses are into full gallop. Fi is a great horsewoman and there was no way I would win this race. I was about half a length behind pretty quickly and each one of us racing down each side of the track. To be honest I thought if I come off here I will probably die. I slowed up my horse and Fi pulled up further up the hill. I don’t think I’ve seen Fi with such a big grin!

With a few more canters we made our way up to where the flying fox starts. The flying fox is an 850m zip line. The drop from one side to the other is 50m with a full drop into the canyon of over 150m at the deepest part. In theory it is possible to get up to 50kph. As our little horsy group got there first we were kitted up and ready for off before the others got there. I asked Marcello to take a group photo, meaning a group who had done the horse ride. Someone replied “that’s not the group, just Martin’s harem!”

Yet again I was first off Marcello pushed me back as far as he could and then I was off. I recorded a video down. The rush was amazing. By leaning back in the harness and pushing my feet forwards I was able to get a streamline position. I covered the 800m in just over one minute. The others said that just as I started a Tocan flew straight in front of me. Unfortunately I didn’t see it either in real life of recorded on the video my little camera took on the way down. Looking back at the video you can’t see the Tocan either, but you can get an idea of the speed as I approached the woods at the end. As I was at the bottom I was able to take photos of the rest of the group as they came down. By the funniest was Webster. Everyone else was grinning and smiling as they came down. Webster had a funny pained expression. Apparently the harness had trapped one of his balls! Not the best experience of his trip!

Once everyone had got down we drove back to the truck in the jeep. It had been a fantastic day. But it wasn’t over yet! The music festival at Vila Sao Jorge that had been taking place in the village we visited yesterday was finishing today. A few of us had decided to head to the festival. So we hired a bus to take us back to the village and pick us back up at 2:30am. We drove back to the posada and Ian’s group started preparing the BBQ. This was the first BBQ of the trip. At it would take a while Eugene and I headed into town to the bar with the Wi-Fi. The bar owner said that there would be a live band on at the pub that night. After booking my flights and hostels for Campo Grande and Rio we headed back for the BBQ. The bus turned up at 9:00pm and Sarah, Jesper, Maartje, Charlotte, Maxine and I jumped on. I was convinced at this point that I had lost my camera, or worse that it had been stolen. I was convinced that I had left it outside my tent and no matter how hard I looked I couldn’t find it. It turned my tent upside down. This didn’t put me in a great mood! Once in the minibus we called back to the place where we had done the zip lining as Maxine thought she had left something and then went to the festival.

I’m not sure how you would describe the music. Perhaps folk music would be the best way. But there was a definite “hippy” vibe. I wish I could say that I had a great time and there were times when the whole crowd was dancing in a large spiral that was fun. But to be honest my mind was elsewhere.

Looking back I was glad I went for the experience but at the same time I also wish that I had gone with the others to the bar in town. It was a shame to finish the day low, I guess it was my own fault and yet again I had just hoped for something that wasn’t going to happen. We left the festival at 2:00am. We got back and everyone went to bed. I stayed up and got the fire going again. Then Johnny Walker and I had a chat to try and get my head straight. I think I finally went to sleep around 3:30am.