I took a short trip in the last days of 2023 and I'm going to post a little about my chosen destination in two parts.
I went to the town of Ouro Fino, in the state of Minas Gerais, a place that is about 3 hours' drive from the city where I live. This town is somewhat famous here, as it became popularly known thanks to a country song. That's right, a song called "Menino da Porteira". It's a rather sad song, which tells us that whenever a traveler passed by on the road to Ouro Fino, he saw a happy boy always asking him to play his berrante. Until one day the boy was no longer there because he had been killed by an ox. I really don't know if this story is true or not and there are many theories and versions about it. Some say that the composer of the song just let his creativity flow and thus created a classic of the national songbook and Brazilian culture. But some believe that the song, which was composed in the 1950s, actually tells a true story.
But I've only rambled on about all this to introduce the destination, because Ouro Fino, for me, turned out to be much more than this story.
I camped in the rural area of the town, in a place called Pedra do Itaguaçu, which is 1500 meters above sea level and from where you can see an inexplicable view. A clear horizon, with lots of mountains and a view of some of the towns in the region, including Ouro Fino.
It was possible to access the mountain with a 4X4 vehicle, which still pulled a small trailer, which is where I camped. After parking there, it was still possible to walk to the top of Pedra do Itaguaçu, from where the view is even more impressive. The ascent is approximately 100 meters uphill and is not suitable for those who are not used to hiking.
I myself had to stop at times to catch my breath on the steeper sections. However, the climb was well worth it, because the feeling of being up there is very special. Especially as my boyfriend and I were alone.
And so we were able to observe everything calmly, all the details of the viewpoint, the vegetation... He also took these photos of me from up there and I thought they turned out really nice.
At the top of the rock was this abandoned building and we didn't really understand what its purpose was or why it was there. Apparently the rock is on private farm property, but visitors can climb it without any problems.
We spent the night of New Year's Eve 2024 in this place completely alone and it was very magical when midnight struck and the fireworks started going off in all the towns in the region. As we were in a high place, we had the privilege of seeing this celebration happening simultaneously from several points and it was certainly a totally unprecedented sight for me.
In my next post I'll talk more about part 2 of this adventure.
See ya. 🌳