Cambara do Sul Day 2

Our night in the car wasn't nearly as bad as the last time. Cambara is one of the higher areas in Brazil, so it was a cooler temperature making it easier to sleep.

We got up and went to the grocery store for some breakfast. We also picked up a couple of things for lunch since we will be at Fortaleza Canyon at lunchtime. When we got back to the tourist center, it was open so we went in to get some more information about the area. The woman working didn't speak English, so we took turns using Google translate. She was very kind and helpful. In the end, we spent almost an hour speaking to her about the town and the canyons. She also confirmed that the road to Fortaleza is paved which was a relief after last night!

We decided to eat our porridge when we got to the canyon, so we got in the car and drove about half an hour to the canyon. We got there around 9:30 and it was pretty dead. We ate our breakfast, put on sunscreen and bug spray, and started the trail.

As soon as the trail started we had some great views of the canyon. It was a very sunny day and not a lot of breeze, so for now the clouds were staying above the canyon. Our walk took us along the edge of the canyon for a few kilometers and then up over a small hill. We took a slight detour to a viewpoint of a waterfall where we saw people crossing over the top of it. We kept walking more inland now away from the edge of the canyon. We stayed on the path with all the warnings of snakes in the tall grass, instead of cutting across the field to go back the way we came. Good thing too because once we reached the end of the trail, we saw a shorter way back along the road, but also the trail that led to the waterfall.

We started the waterfall trail despite the slight rain that began to fall. It eased up after about ten minutes though which is about when we reached the top of the waterfall. Water was steadily flowing and there was no clear path across above the water. My PTSD from crossing the rivers on the W trek stopped me from even considering going across, but in true Allan fashion he had his shoes off in a jiffy and was ready to cross. I watched while he began walking through the water, but as he got close to the other side he seemed to struggle. I watched as he hiked up his shorts and waded through a pretty deep section. Thankfully, he got to the other side without issue and was dry. He explored more of the canyon edge before making the walk back. When he was safely back on my side of the waterfall, we walked back along the road to the visitor center again.

When we got back to the start, the clouds hadn't gone into the canyon yet like they typically do in the afternoon, so we made our way up a hill to a higher viewpoint of the canyon. It looks like you could also Zipline from that spot at one point. Not long after we got to the top, the clouds began rolling in. We watched as the wisps came from one side of the hill, up and over into the canyon. Content with our pictures we went back down to the visitor center and had our lunch before we got back in the car and drove back to Cambara.

When we got back to the tourist center, we popped back in to get some suggestions for the rest of our afternoon. The woman has also, kindly, written down some local sites for us in English. We used this list to make our plan for the evening.

Our first stop was a little waterfall on a farm. We were a bit confused at first about whether we were allowed to be there and we got lost, but we eventually found it. We also had a little Frenchie follow us on the walk which was nice. The waterfall was in a small forest. It dripped and slowly cascaded off the rocks into a small pool.

After the waterfall we walked back through the farm and the sheep and stopped at the cemetery across the street. It was an interesting cemetery because the people were buried in little houses and they were all very colorful. It was not a solemn feeling at all because of all of the colors. We continued down the road from the cemetery back into the town center and checked out the lunar sequoia (the seed for this tree had been brought to space before it was planted) and the church in the main square. Cambara doesn't have very much going on, and not many tourists so the square wasn't as manicured as other places we've been.

I was starting to feel pretty tired by now, and with grocery stores not having a wide selection, we looked at a couple of local places. Food was surprisingly expensive for the lack of tourists! We settled on a pub that served decent priced burgers called xis. The toppings of the burger are all the same for each one, but the meat is what changes. When they arrived, they also had a larger circumference than a standard burger. It was pretty funky to eat a burger with peas and corn on it, but it was nice to have a hot meal that filled our bellies after not eating much the last couple of days. We also took the opportunity to charge our phones because our portable chargers were dead and sleeping in the car again meant no electricity.

Phones revived, bellies full, we left the restaurant and went back to the tourist center. We got ourselves ready for bed. We've definitely gotten the hang of this whole car sleeping thing now.Læs mere