The Report

Our schedule was to leave Ygarapé at 8am, but when we arrived there we had to wait for 1/2h, and we believe the reason was that there was a big group leaving slightly later. We were about 40 people altogether doing the tour to the Cachoeiras do Rio do Peixe (Peixe River Waterfalls), including many who were at the youth hostel and in the rafting tour.

Rauthemar, another experienced guide, went with us and it took us one hour on the road to the Água Viva Farm. After everyone arrived and got divided in groups of 10 people, I think, we began the hike at around 10am. We went almost straight to the end of the trail, where is the Cachoeira do Luar (Moonlight Waterfall) - around 40min walking. Our only stop, besides some for observations on the way, was at the Cachoeira do Elefante (Elephant's Waterfall), named so due to the shape of its travertines, empty from the crowd.

Moonlight Waterfall is this farm's highest and most spread out fall, with many places for a natural hydromassage. Following a trail, we reach a narrow pool on which drops another fall. The more adventurous can jump from a height of about 4m into it, but I went down over the rocks.

Next to the pool there is also a small cave, one of the springs of that river, in which some people entered. I didn't go, because we have to crawl through a narrow opening - this is too much for me. I stayed by the waterfalls, by that time already crowded, taking pictures and chatting with other tourists. There were some pretty tiny butterflies and photographing them was a pacience test, as in general they kept their wings retreated. Besides the known trees, vegetation consisted of many low plants and some flowers.

The return to the farmhouse was at each one's pace. Ernani went back first, while Kátia and I stopped some few times - she to swim, I to photograph. Even the small falls are beautiful and the sun embellished the scenery even more. And imagine that Moacyr, as well as the previous owner, did not know about the existence of the falls when he bought the farm - at least, that is what he told us, but as he likes to tell some tales...

Lunch, in an annex building, was very varied, with a selection of salads, barbeque and many hot dishes. Some things were a little too spicy for my taste, but the chicken lasagna and cooked manioc were excelent. For dessert, hard milk sweet in cuts - pure, with coconut and with peanuts.

Later, we scattered around in the hammocks and chairs for a rest. I saw picture albums of the construction of the farmhouse and lunchroom, besides falls full of water - how different they look! On the other hand, it must not be so good for swimming. Moacyr told us stories from his life - certainly with overstatements. At 2:30pm I was ready to resume our walking and see the other falls, but nobody moved. Clouds that have appeared soon brought rain - it rained for about 20min.

By 3pm we finally left to the other falls, which are closer, following a trail at the backyard. I think there were two groups only - many people, especially the elderly ones, did not go. First we went to a pulley-jump, from which many jumped into the pool, some even repeating. Then we went to a pool with two falls. It was a bit chilly, but after we got accustomed, it was delicious. It is possible to stay under one of the falls and even dive under a whole through a rock. The other fall was a good massage - go away, cellulitis!

Back to the farmhouse, we waited for the snack that was served at 5pm. There was maize cake, sweet rice, canjica (a dessert made of corn and coconut), sugarcane juice, tea and coffee. We left at around 5:30pm, making a stop at Gruta do Mimoso (Mimoso Grotto) on the way back, another grotto with a blue lake, but in this one people can go diving.

Rauthemar encouraged us to go also to Bodoquena, but we did not manage to convince Ernani to face the dirt road... Rauthemar, besides answering our countless questions about Bonito's nature, told us about the guide's training. Mos of the practicing guides belong to their association, but many only did the course and gave up. A new course is to be offered soon, and in it they learn about geology, fauna and flora, besides first aid and techniques for dealing with tourists and taking care of them. At the end, they have a probation stage in the many tour sites, in order to learn the singuralities of each one.

I went shopping at night (t-shirts and magnets), besides writing down some postcards. We had pizza at La Boca Pizzeria, which had been recommended. I ordered four cheese, it was good, nothing exceptional though.

Day 7 - "Today was a rush, as we took three tours in just one day."

There we were again, leaving Ygarapé at 8am towards Fazenda Ceita Corê (Ceita Corê Farm), on the road to Bodoquena, further away than Água Viva Farm. Ceita Corê means "land of our children" in guarani and the farm had been opened for tourism for only a few months. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by Rufino, who is in charge of the farm, and by Marina, the farm's owner (if I am not wrong, in fact her father-in-law is the owner, but she and her husband are ahead of the business).

After serving ourselves with cheese bread, we waited for the other people who were coming for the tour, one of them bringing the guide Donizete, who did not know we would be there for the tour. A bit of confusion is natural. The other tourists were three couples, one of which, Daniel and Jennifer, from Campinas, we had already met at the agency.

We left for the tour itself at 10am, first by car through one of the farm's roads, crossing about five gates until we reached the trailhead. The first of the six waterfalls, all yet unnamed, is close and we stopped there to swim. It was sunny and pleasant.

The falls are on Xapeninha River, a tributary of Xapenão River, whose spring is in the farm. The trail is good, with platforms in many points and some viewpoints. At some falls we only stopped to look. On the way there is a suspension bridge and a small grotto. We stopped a second time to swim and it was delicious. I tried to get closer to the waterfall, but I didn't manage to beat the current!

After over 2h hiking, we reached the last pool, but it was already time for us to leave. Donizete explained us the way back to the car. We crossed a sort of canyon, almost without vegetation, and I believe this is the area that is called Paredão (High Wall). I found the waterfalls in this tour more beautiful than those of Peixe River, but the latter was better for swimming. Unfortunately we did not try the food, as we had another tour in the afternoon. On the way back, cows and horses blocked the road and Kátia bravely chased them away by yelling.

Another formation that is characteristic of the rivers in this region are the travertines, formed by the accumulation of leaves and sediments carried by the water when it flows on limestone. During the draught season, these leaves and sediments form a solid cement. Each year, they grow further, forming little dams in some areas or "dripping" formations that resemble those of caverns in others, I don't know how to describe it well. The photo beside maybe gives an idea. Elephant Waterfall, in the previous day report, is also an example.

We arrived back in town at around 2pm. While Ernani and Kátia went somewhere to have a snack, I had some crackers while waiting for Socó at Ygarapé. He is a real estate dealer that is also involved with the development of a tourist attraction at Bodoquena, the Fazenda Boca da Onça (Jaguar's Mouth Farm), scheduled to open later this year. It has many waterfalls, the highest with an impressive 148m fall. I was relieved to know that the government did not accept the construction of a cable car on the site. It seems that this is a beautiful place and if so it will be successful, as it is closer to the famous Pantanal and with an access almost exclusively on paved road. Despite not being open, Socó told us we could go there and visit it, but Ernani was not yet convinced and so we decided to repeat Rio da Prata.

We headed then for the next tour, the buoy-cross, which departs from a campground right at the start of the road that leads to the Town Balneary. There we met Carijó, who took us and a couple 1800m downriver, on huge buoys. We passed some rapids, nothing too exciting because the water is calm when the river level is low. We move by using our arms, which is very tiring. I turned upside down in one rapid and Kátia help me climb back to my buoy. At least my disposable camera remained in the bottom of the buoy! We saw a beautiful dark blue bird called udu or juruva, which has a funny tail feather. The tour is quick and we returned to the campground on a truck and arrived back in town at 4pm.

I had to walk a lot to buy flashlight batteries for the night tour - it's an absurd that they are not included in the tour price! Night tour? That's right, we did the Sucuri River flotation tour again, this time at night, under a magnificent moonlight. Ernani did not want to do it, but managed to get a ride on the support boat. By that time I was already hungry and decided to repeat the baked icecream. At the icecream shop we met Demócrito, one of the people we had met at Rio do Peixe tour. He had done the rappel tour at Abismo Anhumas (Anhumas Abyss) and enjoyed it a lot. Like us, his group had been at the Youth Hostel but decided to move downtown. They were at Hotel Bonanza, which had been recommended to us and looked really nice. He said breakfast there was excelent.

We left Ygarapé at 6pm again with Rauthemar, assigned at the last minute. When we arrived, our tour companions were already there, all three of them from São Paulo, so was the other guide (the night tour has two guides). The trail is skipped and we go straight to the boat. It is a very distinct sensation to do this tour at night. Many times I turned off the flashlight and let the moonlight illuminate the river and its margins. Cool. The novelty was the periwinkles and tiny shrimps. Rauthemar called our attention to a cayman at one margin, which I didn't see, and to a piranha, which I am not sure I saw. The other guys made a lot of noise while swimming and many times they collided with us, without much control of their flotation. They ended up disturbing our tour, as this surely keep the animals away - anaconda, no chance. Back to the reception what a deception! It was closed and no sign of that delicious hot chocolate. And it was so chilly...

We had dinner at Casarão, in its temporary settlement while its house is under renovation. Following a hint we were given, whe had picanha (a tender meat cut, barbecued), very well served.

Day 8 - "Today was the beginning of our goodbye."

Luggage in the car, at 8am we left Yagarapé for the last time, a relief for the two Anas and Amauri, who certainly were fed up with our constant presence at the agency... We followed the guide Taís, who went in another car with a couple from Curitiba, Marcos and Alessandra. The day was gorgeous. On the way, we had to stop to let a herd of cattle pass by, it was calmly coming, occupying the whole road, kept by a few men.

When we arrived, Maria greeted us saying that she was surprised when she saw our names again in the reservation list. We waited a while for the previous group to begin their tour before picking up our gear and begin ours. We left just past 10am. There were more flies this time, but also more animals, which suprised me, as they tend to be more quiet when it's hot. We saw many cappuchin monkeys, including a mother with her little cub held fast on her back, very cute. There was also a couple of mutuns, a bird circa 60cm high and with a very smooth chirp for its size, it was funny. Moreover, we saw a family of queixadas, a kind of ill-tempered peccary that can sometimes charge at people, so we must be careful when finding it. We observed them at a certain distance and passed by without any problems.

Eventually we arrived at the main spring. With the sun, it was even better to swim there by all that fish. I was soon in the water and it was great, because I was alone with the fish while the others were getting ready by the platform, so I was able to observe them without hush. I saw curimbatás feeding while tiny fish remaind near it, catching the leftovers. It was very good.

Nothing new downriver, except for the higher luminosity in water. The group before us was a bit too slow and sometimes we had to stop a while to make some distance between them and us - which was not all bad, except in areas where mosquitos were devouring us. I looked for an anaconda, but all in vain.

The stop at the volcano was even more interesting with the sun. Taís left the river with Alessandra, who was feeling cold, slightly before we reached Prata River. Turbidity has not gotten any better, but at least the sunrays caused a very interesting effect inside the water and also allowed us to view more of the riverbed.

At the end of the tour, there were countless butterflies of many colours at the margin were we had left our stuff - a feast for my camera. Once again, the group that arrived after us had seen an anaconda. I didn't believe, how frustrating!

We were back to the farmhouse at about 2pm. The food was almost the same of the other day and I waited a bit for a warm sopa paraguaia. I wrote my diary, passing time before "attacking" the milk sweet. We stayed there the whole afternoon, relaxing and chatting, enjoying our last touring day.

From there we went to Jardim, now traveling only on paved road. We spent the night there at Novo Hotel and had dinner at Baby Lanches, which we found quite uninteresting. What was really good was the icecream at Zero Grau. The owner, who was there, prepares them herself. There are many flavours and all those we tried were very good. Despite the chilly wind, I would not resist...

Day 9 - "Ah, how good it is to sleep on my own bed!"

Food from the previous night caused me digestive problems and I needed tablets. We left Jardim at about 9am, arriving at Campo Grande 3 1/2 h later. I was sleepy for most of the trip. We had a very good meal at Cantina Romana, where I had riccota and ham caneloni with cream sauce. We went to the shopping center, where I had my last disposable camera processed and Kátia bought CDs of local music. We returned the car at the airport and took off at the end of the afternoon.

But fun was not over yet for me. On the following day I would be going to Chapada Diamantina. But this is another story.