31st July 2009 – Alto Paraiso
As part of the cook team I had to get up early, which was a bit of a struggle. ! In addition to the cold that I have my voice has now turned into a really deep husky tone. Barry White eat your heart out. We set up the breakfast so that people could also make sandwiches for lunch as well as the normal breakfast. The lady who owed the campsite also brought round a really nice bran/fruit loaf she had baked for us. I divided this up into twenty pieces for the group. Dion was fairly late to the table and had thought that everyone had eaten the cake. So he took what was left. Unfortunately this meant that Donna and Maxine missed out on a lovely cake! Oh well!
Our guide Marcello turned up and we drove out into the national park (Chapada dos Veadeiros). The plan for today was to go for a hike and see the waterfalls. It was a really hot day. I had almost 3 litres of water but some of the others only took a litre. The area we were walking through had a history of quartz mining. Until fairly recently the quartz crystal from this region had been used in electronics but now modern synthetic quartz was much better. Quartz is still mined in this region, but no longer in the national park. The amount of quartz crystals meant that the local town (Sao Jorge) had a distinct hippy feel. Lots of healing going on!
As we walked along we could see the hand dug old mine workings and crystals on the ground. Some of the crystal were so clear it looked more like glass that what I had previously seen as quartz. Marcello also pointed out the flora as we walked along. Much of this has adapted not only to the low water levels here, but also the frequency of fire. Natural fires are started in two ways. Lightning storms are fairly common, but also because of the prevalence of quartz crystals over time these become exposed and act like magnifying glasses. One of the trees, Quina, had a bark that protects the tree in fire. It is a very slow burning wood. The previous night at the fire pit we had some of this wood on the fire. We didn’t realise until Marcello pointed this out why the wood would not burn.
As we walked down to the first waterfall the view down the valley was amazing. The first waterfall was the highest though with the low water level it would be even more impressive in the wet season.
At the top of the waterfall was a small lake with another smaller waterfall. We went swimming here and it was such a great feeling to be in the cool water on such a hot day. So many people had come to the town for the music festival so the crowds here were amazing. That said, in there was plenty of space in the water itself. I was a bit disappointed that I had lost so much fitness since the last time I was able to swim in the pool in Cuba. We had some lunch and then I had another dip before leaving.
The next spot wasn’t waterfall as such as more a river with some minor waterfalls. When Marcello had originally described this I was thinking it would be similar to Aqua Clara in Mexico. But as I should know by now; every place, every experience is different. It was fun to play around in the waterfalls and although it wasn’t possible to swim against the current as it was too shallow. Sitting in the waterfalls was like getting a water jet massage. It was relaxing.
By this stage most people had used their water. I was carrying the chlorine tablets so I was able to dish these out so the group could get more drinking water.
By this stage it was mid afternoon and we walked back to the main entrance where we had left the truck. On the way back we drove back into the village. The girls were excited to do some more shopping. I stocked up on ice for the bar, which was the most expensive so far; almost half as much again as usual. I wandered back to meet up with the others. Fi was debating on whether to buy a bracelet so the guy made her a ring there on the spot. However she was mortified when the guy slipped it onto her wedding finger. Apparently its really bad luck!
We drove back to Alto Paraiso and I had some time to head into town to the local bar which had wi-fi. Ian joined me a bit later. When we got back to the compound dinner was well on. Fi and her group had prepared Chicken Fajitas. It was a really nice meal. Perhaps one of the best truck meals so far. Afterwards we retired to the fire pit and had some more drinks. The owners had a small kitten that came to join us. It kept trying to get into the tents and climbing up the outside. We christened it whisky as it kept trying to get it my shot glass. Eventually it settled in Maartje’s lap!