Jeep tour - cachaca & waterfalls

Picked up by Felipe our driver, plus Eugene & Fatima, a lovely older couple from Sao Paulo and off we drove in our Jeep.

First stop = cachaca (pronounced ca-sha-sa) distillery. Quick tour in Portuguese so no wiser how it's made but had plenty of tasters - yum! Bought a small bottle of chocolate chili - amazing!

Then onto some waterfalls, climbed up the side and went in a deep natural pool, sat under the waterfall and got pummeled by the water, then jumped off a big rock into a pool.

After another rum tasting stop and a quick detour to the garage to fix the jeep, we went to Toboggan waterfall which is a huge smooth rock you can slide down. I wimped out for fear for my coccyx but Anna slid down 3 times and loved it. We walked up through the trees and across a dodgy swing bridge to see Tarzan waterfall. Also saw a church perched on top of a huge rock. There are random huge boulders everywhere here - no idea how they got there.

One more rum stop and we went to a restaurant where Anna and I ordered, yes, rum! Trying to save pennies, we weren't planning to eat but Eugene & Fatima insisted we share their rice, beans, beef & chips - to Be fair there was mountains of it - and insisted on paying for our drinks. Lovely people :) With their limited English and google translator they taught us lots of Portuguese and have offered us a lift to Sao Paulo tomorrow as they are going home. Awesome!

Tour was supposed to cost 60R but Felipe only took 50R for some reason. The more popular Paraty Tours were charging 80 knocked down from 90 for low season so we got a bargain and their groups were much bigger. They likely spoke English but where's the fun in that?! I'm not sure England would ever be allowed to sell a tour where they ply you with alcohol and then lead you across slippery rocks.

We were too full for any dinner but did stumble across the churro van so had to try one - fat churro filled with chocolate & caramel sauce then the end dipped in choc sprinkles = greasy heaven! (R3.5).Read more