This past weekend I had the fortune to visit the amazing little town that is Itatiaia, known mostly for the 300km2 Parque Nacional do Itatiaia down the road. While most gringos head to Ilha Grande if they want to see nature in Brasil, Itatiaia is a relatively undiscovered paradise. Itatiaia is a tiny town of approximately 4k people in the far south of Rio state. Though many of the residents assured me that the town receives many foreign visitors, we encountered no other gringoes during our entire stay. One of the things that I think makes Itatiaia so special is how relatively isolated it is. Residents were unbelievably friendly. When our group of 8 showed up in the middle of the night in the pouring rain with no plans for accommodations (after having left 1 of our 2 tents on the bus), a Brazilian man and his family noticed our plight and walked with us for 40 minutes until we finally found a pousada that would take us in at a price we could all afford.
The pousada that we stayed at was beyond incredible. The owner gave us an incredible rate of only $R15 per person per night when every other place in town wanted to charge at least R$40. Our first morning, the owner walked us into town to the local bakery to buy bread and cheese for our hikes. The rest of the stay was filled with countless other little acts of kindness, even lending out her sandals to my friend. Although she doesn’t have a website, if anyone ever has a chance to go to Itatiaia I would definitely recommend staying at Pousada Itaúna (24) 3352-5879. By far the most incredible pousada owner I’ve ever encountered.
We hiked in the national park our first two days in Itatiaia. Though the entry fee of R$22 is a bit steep for poor students, it’s worth every penny. Each day we did well over 20km of hiking. The first day we hiked close to the summit of the Três Picos mountains, which are among the tallest in all of Southeastern Brazil. The hike that day was along a trail that hadn’t been maintained years and involved obstacles the entire way up. The trail had numerous points where a slight misstep would have resulted in falling off a steep face but luckily we got through unscathed. The trail finally concluded in an absolutely incredible waterfall at the top that produced a view of all of Itatiaia. We tried to continue to the summit, which we had been told was about another 40 minutes up but the trail turned out to be totally blocked and overgrown past the waterfall. We all emerged pretty beat up but I have to say it’s been one of the most fulfilling things I’ve done since getting here.
Forest By The Base Of The Park
Our second day in the park consisted of exploring some of the many waterfalls that dot the park. The hikes on the second day were exponentially easier than the day before and gave us all a chance to relax and make some pretty cool jumps. Our last day in Itatiaia was spent down by the river that runs through the park and into town. Knocking back beers by the bar and swimming in the river gave us a chance to relax and really take in the beauty that is Itatiaia.
Just One Of The Amazing Waterfalls We Encountered
Since coming back from Itatiaia I’ve just been going to class. While my Portuguese is coming along slowly, speaking remains my biggest difficulty. Today I learned two new tenses (out of the 18 that some verbs possess!) that I’m excited to start putting into action. Looking to find more Brazilians to practice with so that I can improve my pronunciation. It seems that living in New York these past three years has ruined me accent wise.
Tomorrow I’ll be going on a free trip to Petrópolis courtesy of PUC. Since coming to Rio I’ve heard a lot about the nearby mountain town and it’s history as the former summer residence of Brazil’s aristocracy when Rio was the capital from 1763-1960. Really looking forward to spending the day there.
Also coming up in under two weeks is my trip to Salvador and Itacaré, which I’ve been planning for over three months now. I’ll be gone for ten days from Feb 3rd to the 13th.
I’ll be sure to add some other pics from this trip soon but I guess that’s it for now!
Cheers,
Mike
