Our second campsite
On January 19, 2012, we left work, stopped at Zona Sul to buy some tasty snacks, and set off on our trip to Visconde de Mauá. In the car, besides the snacks and us, there were our 2 backpacks, a camping tent, and an inflatable mattress. We left Zona Sul around 9 p.m. and, thanks to the horrendous traffic on the red line, we only arrived in Penedo around midnight.
The road from Penedo to Mauá is better, with fewer holes, but when we passed Mauá and headed towards Maringá (RJ) for the Camping Valley of the Waterfalls, the scenery changed. The road to the campsite is not paved and has many holes. It was pitch black, so we drove very slowly so as not to destroy the car, which was not a 4x4. We arrived at the campsite around 2 am and, despite there being no one to welcome us and only one tent set up (on a holiday, it's strange), we decided to stay there. We went to the bathroom, got ready and set up our tent + mattress near the river. What an excellent place. We fell asleep lulled by the sound of the river.
1st day – Friday (20/01/2012)
We woke up, got ready and talked to the owners of the camping to pay for the holiday. If I'm not mistaken, the couple cost R$100 for the entire holiday. They live in a really nice house inside the campsite and have a little son named Aquiles, who is very lively. He insisted on staying in the locker room while I was taking a shower, much to my embarrassment. After his father called him, he went on his way… \o/
We went out to see the waterfall Cliffside, which is very close to the campsite. We arrived at the waterfall parking lot in half an hour and started the trail. There are 9 waterfalls, including the main one. Each one has its own beauty…and the same cold water.
In the middle of the trail there is a cool viewpoint, super strategic for taking a quick breather. After some time climbing (I think more than 1 hour), we arrived at the main trail. What a beautiful place!
We spent some time there enjoying the waterfall and the view, which is also really cool. Then we started to go down and stopped at a waterfall (I confess I don't remember which one) to relax. After a while, we went all the way down and decided to go have lunch/dinner.
We drove to the town of Visconde de Mauá (which has nothing special) and ate at the restaurant Like with Like, recommended by my mother-in-law. The food was delicious! The restaurant was even full, considering it was around 5 pm.
We left there and went back to the camping, a little tired. We took a shower, got ready and went to our tent. We drank our entire bottle of wine and slept like rocks. Perfect! =D
2nd day – Saturday (21/01/2012)
We woke up a little late and tried to go to Maromba to visit the Escorrega waterfall. We tried, but we couldn't get past the entrance to Maromba because there was an absurd traffic jam.
We turned around and went to visit the city of Maringá (MG), which is lovely. We visited the store Candle House, which has so many beautiful things...it was worth it. We did some shopping and decided to look for a place to have lunch.
We stopped at the restaurant Beer Garden, which caught our attention because of its different design. What a great decision!! The food is divine, the service is good and the beers we had were wonderful.
We spent most of the afternoon there and when we left, we decided to go visit the Escorrega Waterfall and the Bridal Veil Waterfall. Since it had rained a lot, the Escorrega Waterfall had signs saying “Danger” because there was a lot of water and slipping from the top could be dangerous. I managed to convince my boyfriend not to disobey the sign, but I couldn’t stop him from entering the waterfall normally and going all the way to the waterfall. When he got close to the waterfall, he disappeared and only reappeared a few seconds later, about 10 meters after the fall. What a relief to see him okay, despite being scared by the force of the water.
Then we stopped at a waterfall where you can jump off a rock (Poçã Waterfallo) at a height of 7 meters. He jumped…I just watched and filmed =D
We left there and went to the Véu da Noiva waterfall, despite the light rain that was falling. I didn't think it was anything special, to be honest. We went back to the city and stopped at a kiosk to have a few beers. Too bad it was already closing. We went back to the campsite and had dinner there. The owner of the campsite made a wonderful meal, super affordable, and we slept really well afterwards.
3rd day – Sunday (21/01/2012)
We woke up and decided to go horseback riding. We drove around the area for a while and called the first sign we saw about this type of tour. We also saw signs for ATVs to rent, but the annoying thing is that the guide goes with us, so we don't have all the freedom in the world. We called the farm where you can go horseback riding and scheduled the tour for a short time later.
We took the road towards the farm and to our surprise, it was veeeery far away. For a while the road was just dirt, very, very bumpy, but it was nice because we could see several huge and well-kept farms, so the trip ended up being enjoyable.
After some time driving (I think more than 1 hour), we arrived at the farm and were greeted by a lonely and needy guinea fowl. We met the guy who spoke to us on the phone and went to mount our horses.
I loved the experience! Especially when we arrived at our campsite, which was in the middle of our route. We galloped and trotted a lot, much to my delight (and subsequent back pain). We stopped at a waterfall to take a bath (I don't remember the name). The whole tour must have lasted almost 2 hours...it was really cool. I recommend it, although I don't remember the name of the company we booked with.
We returned to the farm and the young man was super friendly and showed us 2 foals (1 1 day old and the other 15 days old).
We left there and went back to the campsite to get ready, after all we were tired…lol We put our things in the car and went to Maromba to have lunch. We stopped at the restaurant D'Corleone and we ate some good trout. Although we ordered one of the simplest dishes, we thought it was worth it.
We left there and bought some boxes of beer from the region and we hit the road back to Rio.
What a great trip with him 🙂
