Brazil - Off The Beaten Track, In The Mountains

Link to other threads on 'Shiney's Travels' http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/threads/shineys-travels.61299/

Most of the time on our travels we're usually able to get good deals and stay in middle to up-market accommodation - but not always!

We had booked to stay at a pousada which can be rather interesting. In Portugal they are unusual places that are either historic (castles etc.) or small places that have a lot of charm - a lot of the run by the government.

In Brazil it's slightly different. They tend to be more of the unusual B&B type places and a lot of them are on farms.

Ours was certainly different and was on what used to be a farm and is now a retreat type B&B (with optional evening meal). They had no accommodation for rent in the main building but it had the lounge and dining room - and we could use the kitchen whenever we wished. There were four chalets or you could camp out.

Access to the place was 7 kilometres along an unmade road that was mainly muddy track with slippery hills and lots of rocks. It also had four bridges over streams (raging torrents in heavy rain) and the bridges consisted of just wooden planks and no sides. We, naturally, drove very carefully. It took us about 25 minutes to do the drive. There were some level areas that were a relief to drive on



As there were four of us we had booked two rooms. So the owners, naturally, gave us the two chalets that were alongside each other and were on the banks of the small river. From the outside it looked an idyllic place. From the inside, it was basic with good linen and a floor that was still wet from the river coming in a few days before!

So we asked for some other rooms. They told us that they were quite a distance apart but we said that it didn't matter. The first place they showed us was quite attractive from the outside (compared to the last two) and was way above river level


It looked quite cosy - from the outside - and proved to be just that. Inside the four hundred bees that were happily crawling over the walls and up the chimney seemed to think so as well. The owner said that we didn't need to worry about the bees as they were very friendly. The thought of bees being very friendly with me didn't inspire confidence!

The owner said he would clear the bees out and our relations, who live in Brazil, said that they would take the room.

That left us with the deluxe chalet, which was on 'the island'. The island was exactly that and was a wooded area, about 500yds x 300yds, formed by the river splitting in two and then joining together lower down.

To reach the island we had to cross a wooden footbridge

 

So, to get to and from the 'deluxe' chalet we had to get over this.



Then through the woods - we didn't have to worry about going through there in the dark as he had installed lights through the trees. They were operated by a two way switch - one at each end. The switches were screwed to trees and had a little piece of plastic nailed above each to keep the rain off . Luckily we had a torch.

Once over the bridge, and the obstacle course, we just followed the path






To our chalet



This was the posh view!

 

And this is the view of the front door. Note part of the wall made from one litre plastic bottles.




The wall round the side had a bigger bottle section. These were the walls of our shower.

The front door opened directly into the bathroom - with the toilet directly opposite the door.

There was a large, open, shower and a bath tub made from a barrel. There were wooden steps made for access to the bath.


The rocks in the ground were part of the walls

 

The chalet had a patio overlooking the river with a rather precarious bench that was balanced on bottles. Actually, quite an ingenious idea.


Our room was 'deluxe' because we had a flat screen TV on the wall and a DVD. From the bathroom (stone and concrete floor) it was three steps down to the bedroom. This consisted of a creaky double bed, two bedside tables, an old settee and nothing else. No cupboards or shelves. So our case sat on the settee and we lived out of that.

Oh! I almost forgot , we also had fireflies. We didn't realise that until we turned the light off and then had these bright flashing lights all night!!!

It wasn't too bad crossing to and from the island but could be a problem if there was heavy rain.




The farmhouse was very comfortable and we spent the evenings there. The lounge was very large and had a lot of different types of seating and the dining area was like a refectory with three large tables with benches.

They do a lot of yoga retreats, with a lot of people camping and can have up to thirty people there.

They made their own butter, jams, cheeses, bread, cakes, biscuits, pickles, sauces, beer, wine etc. and their egg production was outside. Breakfast was included and plentiful. Evening meals were optional, but being in the middle of nowhere it was a good idea to book for dinner.

When we were there it was just the four of us and the owners and they asked us, in the morning, what we wanted to eat each evening. The dinners were excellent as Marcia was a very good cook.

Their cooker was home built


and the fuel came from the forest outside.
Anyone who was passing through the kitchen just moved the wood further into the fire as it burnt down


They had a handy utensil rack

 

The owners, Marcia and Forrest, were extremely hospitable and ate with us in the evenings (breakfasts were DIY with everything laid out on tables and we cooked the eggs ourselves).

The evenings were spent chatting, listening to music, playing music (Forrest did the playing) and singing. Forrest is a musician and songwriter, plays mainly guitar but also a lot of harmonica and made jazz recordings with George Benson. He also helped George Benson write his autobiography - which isn't published yet because of contractual circumstances. A very interesting read.

Mrs S with Marcia and Forrest. An excellent meal and very substantial. It was pan fried fish, caught that morning, chicken in an onion, tomato and herb sauce, salad, potatoes and rice. Dessert was an apple pie and home-made preserved fruits (yum yum).


The rest of the household didn't eat with us but were very laid back about it.

The boss (looks as though he's related to Sarafi)


and the troops (not particularly active guard dogs but they might lick you to death). They all sat with us in the evenings.

 

It was better built than the bridges we had to drive over!

 

Once we were able to drive out on to the 'main' road we could get to the shops that were dotted around. This is a large off licence. They sold an enormous range of booze and a few nibbles. Their main part of their range was for a whole variety of Cachaca.

Cachaca is the Brazilian equivalent of rum but is made from fresh sugar cane that is fermented and distilled. Rum is made from molasses - which is what is left after the crystal sugar has been extracted.

It comes in white or brown (similar to rum) and the quality varies depending on how long it has been aged and it what type of barrels. In this country you can pay from about £17 - £250 per bottle.

The word 'Paraiso' means paradise!


They weren't averse to taking the Mickey out of themselves.

 

Being a gardening forum I had better stick some flowers in here

 

What a coincidence! As your post popped up I had just finished typing this next sentence before posting a few pictures.

We toured around little villages and some small towns and found the people really friendly.

 

Being in the mountains there are a number of spa towns which get visits from lots of people from as far as 100 miles away. Very few foreign tourists turn up and at the restaurants where we ate they hadn't seen any Europeans for over a year.

Two of the spa towns we visited, Caxambu and Sao Lorenco, reminded me very much of spa towns in this country that were popular with the Victorians.

When we were there the towns were very quiet as it was a couple of weeks before Christmas and they were expecting to start the Christmas rush in a week's time. Apparently they then get extremely busy.

Santa Claus was already around.


All the time we were in that part of the mountains we had a mixture of rain and sunshine. The heat wasn't too bad as we were higher up and the rain cooled things down a bit.

The spa parks were quite attractive and had many things for families to do. They didn't look too good when we were there because they were only just getting going on tidying up for the holiday.

There were the typical horse drawn carriages where the drivers were the guides. As they weren't busy the drivers were sitting outside, at the café across the road, drinking coffee and playing cards.






Lots of pedalos on the lake but the hire shop wasn't open. They had started cleaning the pedalos but had a lot of work to do getting the park ready.

 

There's a charge for entry to the park and you can drink as much of the spa water as you like, but you can only take away a litre of it. The locals are allowed in free of charge and can collect up to 10 litres a day, and we saw a lot of them doing so.

The buildings varied very much in size, with the details of the healing properties and mineral content on notices at each one. They all tasted horrible to me although Mrs Shiney said some seemed OK to her.

There were a few buildings that were locked but you could get a guard to unlock it for you. I didn't get an understandable answer for that!


The main building, which included research facilities


Most of the others were quite small and you had to go down steps to the font.