Woke up still a little wobbly, but didn’t want to remain a shut-in on my last day in the park. Received a call from the tour company at breakfast and agreed to go on their tour for a two-hour canoe trip followed by a short hike to (yes, another) waterfall. Feeling a little bummed I missed the tour the day before, I asked as we were pulling out if there was one of those I could go on. After a few transfers, I happily ended up on the one I wanted – can’t get what you want if you don’t ask for it!
As most of these things have been going, it’ a hike down the rocks to something water, then a hike back up. Unless it’s the other way around. So, along the way, I crossed a cute little bridge made with long, thin tree branches:
Down, down, to the Devil’s Hole, so named because long ago, when mining gems would wash down the river into this pool, slaves would be made to dive down for the lost treasure. The pool is actually quite deep and a number of slaves died in this process. However, today, it was merely a brisk swim around the pool and under the waterfall. The water was quite dark:
Back into the jeep to begin our tour (and it was much longer than 3 hours) of various caves. First, we checked out the landscape, which was just beautiful and carpeted with a vivid emerald green:
In case you don’t recognize them, those are the three brothers on your left. For a closer look:
And don’t ask me their names, for I’ve forgotten! Dave, what do you think about all that rock?
Next stop, hiking to the top of a kind of raised mesa (they call it a mountain, but I know better) for a great view of the Diamond Plateau (hey, Chapada Diamantina to us locals). Since I’ve already shown you those pictures, how about one of an unusual looking, glorious-smelling flower?:
Up at the top, we have a 360 degree view. And what’s this? The rivers that ran across these rocks millions of years ago were certainly artistic. What do you see by me here?
Awwwww. Scramble back down to the jeep for a ride further around the bend (and my children didn’t think there was any further for me to go!) to the little silver farm (I think, but sometimes I don’t understand the guide so well). Crystal clear water here – they said 60 meters visibility – so at the urging of my Finnish and Estonian travel partners, I donned on the snorkel and fins:
grabbed a flashlight and jumped into the brisk water once again. We snorkeled into the cave with incredibly clear water, and followed the guides deep under the rocks. Yes, there was quite a bit of space between the water’s surface and the cave ceiling. Would poke my head out of the water from time to time to check out the ceilings, which sometimes had cool recesses and different color minerals and sometimes just a few bats hanging around, squeaking about something or other. When we got all the way in, before we turned around, he had us all turn off our lights. It was so cool – like having your eyes closed at night in the dark, but they were open. Perfect for my next bedroom! Haha…
Then a hike up and around to see the blue cave (Gruta Azul). You can see the tricky path we navigated down:
However, the cave was less than impressive. Just kind of carved out into the rock with topaz-colored water pooled underneath. Back up the rocky dirt path again, and spent some hang time by a beautiful larger lake. I had tunes on and rested up before we hit the road again for Gruta Lapa Doce. This was an hour and a half jaunt underground with flashlights and eating a lot of dust. The cave is about 850 meters long, with various stalagtite and stalagmite formations. We had to stay within the marked boundaries and I got a real kick out of the entrance sign that said with icons: no smoking, no leaving trash and no pooping in the cave. Good one.
Here I am entering:
and Matty, you are so correct with your advice about carrying my headlamp with me at all times. I was quite proud to snap that puppy on and not use their lights! So, it was interesting and eerie. More batty friends, and various formations which they had already shown us in pictures so that we would recognize them or perhaps share our own interpretations when we saw them. Our guide showed us an incredible angel, the nativity scene, a jellyfish, a lion and a couple more:
a chandelier, and:
?????
An hour drive home through pouring rain (the first I’ve really experienced while here), then a quick dinner (there’s Joe and the British guys again…hit the former up for info n Glasonbury and some new bands to check out). Home to blog and start to pack for travel day tomorrow. Biff! Pow*