Our First Brazilian National Park

We usually go to Moab around this time of Spring Break, but alas, that was a little tricky to manage this Spring, so  . . . .

Off to Penedo and Itatiatia National Park.  It is about a 2 hour drive north east from our home here in Brazil.  The drive was lovely.  The clouds were beautiful, the hills so green. 

When we got to our pousada (like a bed and breakfast) the kids saw the pool and wanted to go swimming.  It was dark.  The pool was cold.  And those crazy kids went swimming anyway.  Even Miles, who usually has blue lips after 10 minutes in a normal temperature pool.  But they had a great time. 

We had dinner at a pizza place that had a playground (I hope you know by now that we choose our restaurants based on playgrounds.  The US should REALLY adopt this idea!)  The pizza was great.  Back at the pousada we had 4 kids in one room and 1 on the couch cushions in our room and we were really cozy (since Jamison the Gecko Slayer and Ridder of Cockroachs was on duty (don't worry, he catches the geckos and releases them outside, but Gecko Catcher-and-Releaser doesn't have the same ring to it.)

The next morning we had a lovely breakfast here including Finnish Cinnamon Rolls (the town Penedo was settled by Finns).  Then we were on the road up to the Park.  I had heard some really good things about the Visitor Center at the National Park. 

I must say one thing though, it sure made me grateful for the infrastructure of our beloved Utah parks.  The road was crazy.  I think at one point it was paved, but it was difficult to tell now.   We laughed at the signs for speed bumps, because we weren't able to drive over 15 mphs on these roads. 

On our way to the visitor center we passed signs like "Caution, Squirrels."  And "Caution, Large Birds."  And finally, "Caution, Puma."  Which afterwards we had a lot of freaking out by the kids, Oliver summed it up, "Mom, you promised you would never take us to where Crocodiles could get us, and now we have Pumas!"  Plus lots of other screaming by Grace and Abby.  They didn't seem to have a problem with the "Caution, Squirrels" sign.

We finally got to the visitor center.  And as we got out of the car, we saw Leaf Cutter Ants!!!!  Right there at the parking lot.  It was awesome.  It is in our book and now we can see them in action.  All the ants walk along a line, the ones going away are empty "handed" the ones coming back all were carrying a piece of leaf.  It was fascinating to watch. 

Otherwise the center was a little underwhelming.  I guess I imagined the greatness of what was told to me, and also the amazing visitor centers we have been to in Capital Reef and Arches (getting ranger badges!)  They had some great photos of great animals of the forest (monkeys, ocelots, birds).  They had one room with a board turning thingy for kids.  Then they had some stuffed (taxidermied) animals.  That was interesting, but totally freaked Miles out.  "Why is the bunny just sitting there, Mom?"  "When it died they turned it to a statue."  It was a little weird if you keep staring at it. 

Then we came to the part of the visitor center that you should not see before you venture out on a hike in the Atlantic Coast Rain Forest.  The bugs. 

Yup, spiders as big as your hand.  Hornets as big as your thumb.  Not what you should have in mind as you go through the densely forested trees. 

We got to our first hike to a small waterfall.  We had lunch first, which we tried first to have outside, but apparently the smell of peanut butter and doritos really brings the bees (very persistent bees).  So we ate in the car.  The waterfall was great.  It was adventurous to take two 3 year olds that both need to hold a hand on the slippery rocks and mud.  But luckily we enjoyed ourselves and no one was left behind.  Perhaps it was the allure of the M&Ms I had brought with me that was dolled out a bit at a time. 

The 2nd waterfall was after a big bunch of stairs.  To the side of which was a snake in the trees.  I was the only one to see it.  And I kept the fact that there was a snake right next to the trail a secret.  No sense in alarming the masses if we can walk right past it right?  But it kept me very much on alert the rest of the hike.  It wasn't a big snake, just about as round as a quarter and also very silverly with a small head.  It would have been pretty if it wasn't so petrifying. 

The waterfall was amazing, it was called Bridal Veil.  It was super tall and gave off a great spray on us down below.  We had a great time.  Grace was asked to be in someone's picture because she was American.  Still famous in Brazil! 

The hike back was made easier by the kids imagining they were all from Lord of the Rings.  Somehow Jamison actually found a coin in the water and called it The Ring.  Oliver then became Aragorn and bore the ring since Frodo inexplicably died.  The twins were Merry and Pippin (like they cared) and Abby and Grace discussed the different girls.  I have no idea who they ended up being, but they were happy and hiking at a good pace so it was all good.

Jamison wanted to do another longer hike, and I didn't think the kids had it in them, so we sent him off into the rain forest on his own (there is probably a brochure somewhere saying NOT to do that) and I had to brave the Snake Trail back to the car with the kids.  Luckily we made it with no other sightings, I'm sure it was just in the trees watching us!

Jamison had a lovely hike.  He really didn't take long (we were at the car and had time for drinks and potty break and playing around a bit).  He said he would have been back sooner if he wasn't slowed down by the lady hiking in high heels in front of him. 

A picture of someone else's hiking shoes, but a nice place to add the picture with the story. 

We drove back to the visitor center and there was one more hike we wanted to do, Lago Azul (Blue Lake).  I imagined a pristine mountain lake with forest all around, so I wanted to check it out.  I didn't want Jamison to wait too long so I ran most of the trail that I could.  I also realized that it is super quiet and spooky without our gaggle of kids to hike with.  So I tried to run as LOUD as possible to keep the things rustling in the foliage away from me.  Later when I spoke with the lovely owner at the bed and breakfast, she said usually the monkeys come down at the sound of potato chip bags opening.  Luckily I didn't have any of those with me.  I made it to the "Lake" which was a lovely pool of water in the river with large rocks around it.  Oh well, I tried to run back up to the car, but I ended up hiking loudly instead.  But not loud enough to not hear Abby throwing a fit at the car, I couldn't believe I could hear it through all the dense jungle foliage.  I did try to go as fast as I could. 

We went back to the pousada for swimming, and back to the pizza place for food (this time I got Gnochi, which I think is spelled nhoque in Portuguese, and it was very good!)  We went to a little Finnish town and the kids played for a little bit and Grace and I window shopped, then found a great magnet that said, "E Agora, Macgyver?"  and I had to buy it.  A Macgyver reference in Brazil?  Awesome.  (It means, "And Now, Macgyver?)

The next day we had another lovely breakfast.  Then we went exploring in the forest around the inn.  Sorry I didn't bring the camera.  I just couldn't believe we were just wandering in the rain forest and my kids were making secret clubs.  We made it down to a river/creek and had fun until we had to go to the bathroom.  Back at the room we just hung out and relaxed and enjoyed life!  What a concept.  Not having to get your money's worth.  Not worrying about doing everything there is to do.  Jamison had a moment or two in the hammock.  (I thought that was MY job!)  The kids made a movie.  I will have to try and post it.  I played the longest ever game of (pardon the name) Egyptian Rat Screw which we have now named, Ultimate Card Battle, it took like an hour!  I will also have to post the rules on that.  We just had a good time together! 

A still life of a still life (staying in!)

We packed up and went to another waterfall just around town of Penedo.  It used to be called the Devil's Waterfall, but since they want a bit more tourists, it is now Cachoeira de Deus (God's Waterfall).  It was also great.  Abby did have to nature potty which was a little unnerving in a rain forest (bugs and all).  Oliver almost ran into a big black bird that made a huge squawk that scared us all!  Jamison said it sounded like a monkey.  But I saw part of it and it was a bird.  We were all happy to get back to the car. 

After that we decided to not to try the 90 minutes on a dirt road to get to the trail head of a 2 hour hike to see some cool rocks.  We had some tired cranky kids and Abby started with a pretty bad ear ache.  So we just hit the road.  We got home early and it was nice to have time to clean things up and be ready for a new week.