Off The Beaten Track

Today we head out to a place called Penha, another local bus trip that takes a 20 minutes to get to. We get off the bus and take a short 5 minute walk to a stunning waterfall. There is a huge boulder that has formed part ot the waterfall and people are queueing to slide down it into the pool below. It looks really dangerous so Mark and I climb a little further up and just watch as the young ones compete with each other for who can stay on their feet the longest . There is a young guy who is fantastic and as much as anyone tries , noone is beating him. We decide we ar going to give it a go aand climb down to point where the queue is. My heart is pounding and my knees knocking together( does my insurance cover me for this?) and i take my position on the rock. I am going for the easy route and going down on my backside , the young guy gives me a heling hand (not that i wanted it) and before i know it im in the pool at the bottom. It gave me a good adrenalin rush, but i wont be repeating it. there is a bar at the waterfall and we head over to take a small refreshment. The prices here are quite high so we opt to share a beer and grab a bite to eat later. There is a guy laying acoustic and the waterfalls in the backdro make this jungle setting perfect, but as the day goes on it becomes very busy. Mark and I take a brasilians advise and walk a little further down the road where there is just a random gate he tells us to go to. We enter and make a 10 minute trek down the path. We cant see a way through and I shout through to the family on the rock to ask how we get there. Im sure theyre dead chuffed (not)at the fact the gringos have found the hidden secret but we erch on the rock and start a very broken Portuguese chat. The Brazilians are such kind people and we joke about Mark drinking too much Cerveja, within seconds she returns with a can of ice cold beer for us both, absolutely perfect. We stay here for quite a few hours as you can just sit and watch and listen to the surrroundings. I then get some eye candy (this is allowed if we are wearing sun glasses) , and i just lie on my rock sunbathing (sunglasses on ) admiring the view and of course the waterfall. I knew how beautiful Brazil was from when I visited 8yrs ago but the best part is it never stops surprising me . They're are hidden treasures around every corner and it just keeps getting better and better.Read more