G'day
Following on from the adventure of Day 1 the trek today was going to be only 10km, however it involved a very steep 2h climb up a rocky mountain - Morro do Castello - the reward at the end being the kind of majestic postcard views that bought you here in begin with.
I wanted a nice picture in my thumbnail, so here is some of the best views that we were trekking to reach, atop the Morro do Castello, one of the trails in visable along the mountain ridge, we're atop a mountain similiar to what you see in the distance
Ok, back to the beginning. We woke up early in one of the 11 houses of locals within the Valley. During the night i saw fireflies for the first time in my life, amazing insects! There were bugs, geckos and even a frog in our room that night, not a problem for me however I was on frog removal duty before bedtime for the other. There was no wifi, solar electricity and cold showers - It's great to get away from modern conveniences for a few days huh?
Breakfast was prepared by our guide in the kitchen over open fire, the locally grown terra bananas were a standout here; the flesh is more orange from that of a normal banana, he simply boiled the banana and cut it in small segments. I never thought to boil a banana, but it was delicious. What we didn't eat was packed away for lunch atop the mountain.
The Pousada where we had spent the night was right in the heart of the Valley, by the river; so therefore we were at the lowest point and had to climb from zero to hero.
The girl goofing around at the Pousada after the first day 1, hammocks are amazing after a hike!
An example of the type of vegetation low down inside the valley, as we ascended towards the mountain, Vou pointed out to us many different species of plant life, what you could eat etc. We found fruits, wild coffee and various herbs
The hike started getting very intense after 30 mins. The trails are not at all marked. I wouldn't recommend you try these hikes without a guide in order to save money. (I do have suspicions that the guides purposes don't mark the trails in order to keep their value relevant). At some points there was no path at all, we were jumping across boulders, climbing vertical rock walls and swinging off tree branches across gaps in the mountain.
Me discovering my roots, shortly after this area we had descended down into a fissure, which lead to a cave. The cave was rather interesting because the earthen ground was hollow. You could hear the echo below when you jumped. Our guide explained it was the old water table when this was once the Atlantic ocean
2 hours later we got to the top of the Morro do Castallo. As if on cue the clouds drifted up the canyon, off towards the surrounding desert and the sky opened up revealing a perfect blue sky with the rain forest nestled in the valley below.
I had some epic dangerous seflies on the edge of rocks, but they were on my stolen phone. So these will suffice
Wrapping things up, lunch a top the mountain was followed by a descent the same way we had come. We headed to a new Pousada that night which had a few other trekkers and guides staying other than us (the first night was just us). So it was nice to share stories and have a drink. The Pousada was a lot larger than the first, it even had it's own Church.
Relaxing in the hammock after the trek, Pousada building in the background
Tomorrow will bring Day 3 and the last day of the adventure. The trekking is mainly flat, but once again the scenery changes and the diversity of the Chapada reveals itself again.