Best Western Shalimar Praia Hotel Porto Seguro

We took 3 days out of Salvador to go inland to trek through the hills of Chapada Diamantina, enjoy waterfalls, go swimming and just get away from city life. This area wasn't on our agenda originally but the Brazilian lady with whom we trekked Machu Picchu highly recommended the place. So we thought we’d try it out. We left our big packs at the pousada, and found the right bus for a journey out into the country.

The national park area of Chapada Diamantina ...

What an incredible place. I spent three days there, the latter two on a two-day trek to various waterfalls. It was perfect to recharge my batteries after the excesses of big cities. Highly, highly recommended.

Hint: The treks are a bit expensive. If you want to save some money, walk back to Lencois (if that's where you're based) instead of getting the 4x4

Following a recommendation from people we met in Paraty, we decided to take a detour from our original itinerary.

We headed 600km west from Salvador to a town called Lencois, which is the base for exploring the Chapada Diamantina National Park.

We had an action packed 3 days in the most stunning landscapes (some parts reminded us ...

... falta dos legumes e verduras que comia todo dia e que, por aqui, não há. Ou que, quando tem, não me atrevo a comer. Em compensação, tem feijão de corda, farinha e pimenta a vontade nesta terra! "Eita que eu me acabo!"

O povo é que mais me encanta por aqui. Uma gente simples, trabalhadora e amigável. Todos são muito simpáticos! Sorriem, com os poucos dentes que lhes restam na boca, e cumprimentam a todos aqueles que passam pela rua ...

... of fish, and a sea turtle. And I got to hold a (very) spikey sea urchin. I was gonna hold the sea turtle, but he had already been held out of the water for like 15 minutes, so I figured just let him go. The guide ended up taking him out to the ocean so he wouldn't get caught on the coral when the tide came back in. It was a long walk out to a tidal pool where the guide let us feed the fish. Then there ...

... because good hardwood is highly sought after for home heating in Glens Falls. So they equated that with stealing from me(and I thanked them profusely for that) So I took several afternoons and one full day off from work to cut the trees into 16-18" sections, then split and stack it. When I finally got to the trees, there were 35 feet of usable trunk left from the base to where people had stopped stealing wood. From that point to the edge of the road ...

... pictures).



I talked to the guy trying to get people to ride the banana boat or go para-sailing. He wanted $100Reals. I talked him down to $85Reals, the equivalent of about $50USD. So he grabs me a lifejacket and sends me swimming out to the boat. I hop on the boat and the guy driving grabs me a harness. But this harness is made for smaller Brazilian bodies. I can't hardly fit the leg straps around my ...

... trail from the town, then bouldering up and across the river before finally reaching it some 3 hours later. Back down near the town, there is another great waterfall that I went sliding down. I spent a couple hours here! The area is a hiking mecca. There are many hikes, ranging from one day up to seven. I could only go on single hikes/tours as I had only 3 days there. One of the most popular hikes is 3 days into the city of Capao.

... br>
Pictures here:
www.pbase.com/cile/brazil