A week on the rocks

 

This week's blog comes courtesy of Chiropractors of Blackpool - this time a year ago my right knee wasn't working at all and I could hardly get up the stairs at home let alone go up a mountain! And now both my knees are pretty equal at weight bearing and I have a week of scrambling, climbing and trekking to report on… . I highly recommend Amie Bracey  who has transformed my life !  (Along with the wonderful physio Angela Davies from Fulwood Therapy Centre  who keeps my latent  sciatica at bay with regular appointments and exercise pointers )

In this blog I turn into a rock climber and amaze several local guides(and terrify my niece) with the fact that an older woman can do scrambles… I also uncover several new muscles in my legs and have to spend a day in a hammock rubbing deep heat into my legs while everyone else goes up another mountain… but that is to come !  

It's Friday 5th January when I'm writing this (though Sunday 7th when i'm publishing it) and it feels like ‘the morning after the night before’ - last night there was a big storm that took out the electricity across much of the city and I'm guessing by looking at people’s faces that everyone slept as badly as i did. There was lots of cheering in the streets yesterday when the lights came back on but each time it was only temporary and I walked home (up a big hill) in the dark and in torrential rain. 

I have been away for seven weeks and am discovering a few things . First, I need very few ‘possessions’ and will be happy to continue living out of a suitcase for a good while yet . Second , when I stop to think about it , I'm ecstatically happy that I got myself out of my ‘retirement project volunteering’ treadmill which was taking up ALL my time at home, and instead am able to go up mountains and on treks and eat gorgeous food and lie in hammocks with no particular purpose. I don't quite know ‘why I'm here’ yet but then does anyone !? And I’m having a VERY interesting time finding out.   Don't get me wrong, I loved all the projects I was doing over the last two years since I retired, and achieved a lot - but NOT doing them is very nice too.  

My lovely friend Agnieszka who I met on the ship from Tenerife has just set off from here (Lençóis)  to Salvador en route to Buenos Aires, and my niece Jen has gone off to explore the Vale do Capão, so it looks like after seven weeks I’m finally starting my ‘solo travels’.  Of course I’m not alone, I’ve moved to a beautiful house owned by the sister of one of the people who did the interpreting for the ‘Dom Bruno and the Amazon’ conference I organised last week, I have breakfast with my landlady and her sister each morning, and all is well!    I

Anyway here goes . 

So the day after the exhibition which I wrote about in the last entry,  was Christmas Eve, and Artur took us - Jen, Agnieszka, me and Mel - to a fabulous waterfall an hour's walk away, the Ribeirão do Meio,  where we had a picnic and then took it in turns to skid down the waterfall on our bums !

That evening Maiza had prepared the most beautiful Christmas supper of fish and vegetables with rice and a traditional Italian chocolate cake . The table was decorated with candles and the dining area - which is covered , but open to the elements - had fairy lights hanging at the end. As well as us, she had invited the other hotel guests , a family of three from Londrina in Parana state to join us.  (Londrina apparently was named after London because of British entrepreneurs who set up the rail transport links to help with coffee exports , we were told it has a roundabout that's  meant to be shaped like the union jack(!))

I had small gifts for everyone but Agnieszka pointed out that the 'British fair trade chocolate' that I'd asked Artur to bring back with him from the Lancaster Cohousing special shop probably started life in Brazil anyway .

The conversation was fascinating - mainly in Portuguese, so I got maybe half of it. (Though a couple of the guests translated sometimes). One of the guests was a lecturer specialising in mining and the environment, and we talked about how when the local National Park was set up in the 1980s the mining had to stop which is all very well for the wildlife and biodiversity but they hadn't taken into account finding alternative  jobs for those people who had to leave as there was no longer any work

Is there ever local consultation on these matters ? And where does it lead ? A good question for Cumbria at the moment I think. … 

The next day was Christmas day. Mel had wanted to meet some friends a couple of hours away for a capoeira roda but instead of following her intuition and getting the 5 am bus she waited as there was a possibility that Artur could get.hold.of a car and we could all go with her

So we tried all sorts of avenues to find a car but she and the rest of us just ended up  going down to the square in Lençóis with another friend , Rai-Luz . They started off recording some capoeira music on berimboim and voice ,  and invited me and Jen to join in on percussion . Maiza arrived and we all played. I hadn't realised but the recording was so that they could then play it back and do a capoeria Roda without having extra people to be musicians

and as each pair played with each other  (I don't know the correct verbs) the third one of them did percussion along with the recording - and Maiza and I continued to do percussion too . It looked amazing , Mel and Artur in particular were so spectacular. We didn't get a video  of their first time together but there was lots of walking backwards on hands for what seemed like ages ...

 

We then all went to the local river for a swim - a regular thing to cool down - it's ten minutes from where we are staying and absolutely gorgeous.  .

Artur is completely amazing ... We only found out one day earlier that he is about to move to near Rio de Janeiro, moving out of Bahia  state for the first time, following his heart to be with the Love of his Life. And he was  leaving Lençóis that evening on the 1030 pm bus! 

And yet he relaxedly went to the gallery with me that same evening ,  made a video of me talking about my aunt's art, found a print that my friend Gill wanted to buy, did some more things in the gallery for himself, and hung out there till about 9 pm! Then leisurely sauntered home , had supper, posed for a selfie with me and Jen 

 and finished packing ALL HIS THINGS to begin his epic move !

And off he went on the night bus to Salvador 

The next day Agnieszka Jen and I had arranged to go to the Sossego Waterfall with a local guide : 7 km each way. Jen joined us    On the way the guide showed us the picture of the rocks to try to frighten me off going ... But I carried on .. and yes , it was definitely the hardest thing I've ever done I think. Also since I had labyrinthitis last year my balance is pretty rubbish which isn't great for rock scrambling . But by the end the guide was pretty impressed and said that if I could do Sossego I could do everything …and you get such a fantastic reward when you arrive - the waterfall is amazing.

this one's mainly to commemorate the last journey of my formerly light green shorts

The next day we should really have had a ‘rest day’ because we’d booked on a three day trek the day after.  But  Agnieszka had a week off work and wanted to do as much as possible during that time, so she’d arranged for us  to go with a local driver  to the Poço do Diablo waterfalls and  Pai Ignacio, which is a fabulous place to watch the sunset after an hour’s climb. Agnieszka had found another woman to come with us and Jen said she'd come too. I was waiting for them in the centre of Lençóis and bumped into Rai-luz - and we ended up taking him, his gorgeous little four year old daughter and his friend Sonara too, and the seven of us had a gorgeous day out

 

Which takes us to our three day trek to the Vale de Pati!

 

The Chapada Diamantiina, the national park here, is absolutely incredible. I’d never heard of it before coming here, I only came because of Jen’s friend Maiza having a pousada (small hotel) here , but I would recommend it to anyone - there are treks and trails to keep a climber or walker happy for weeks.  

The Vale used to be a big diamond mining and coffee exporting area, but as I said above, when the national park was inaugurated most people who lived there had to leave, and there are only twelve families living there now.  And in recent years many of them have set up absolutely amazing resources for tourists - hostels with bunk rooms and more luxurious spaces, kitchens for the guides to cook in, purpose built bars and dining areas.   

The valley is completely remote and only accessible by a 14 km trek including a 250 m climb up a mountain, across a  plain,  down the other side and through the forest in the valley.    I have to admit that the  climb on the first day  was a bit of a triumph of hope over experience, and although I didn’t ASK my guide to carry my rucksack, and was a bit embarrassed that he insisted, I realised that it was very helpful that he did it. And I heard later from the other guides that he felt a lot safer with me just looking after myself and not having to carry my stuff too.   It was ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL, the most wonderful walk/climb/trek of my life I think (and I did the Inca Trail 40 years ago.  Well, maybe equal to that).   .

We arrived in the first place we stayed at about 5 pm, having set off at 8 in the morning, with a two hour drive in a jeep to get to the most local town. 

And the guides started to prepare a fabulous meal!  

this was actually the next morning's breakfast

Everything here has been brought by mule , or on the backs of men or groups of men.  Last  week apparently they were trying to bring an enormous container of water but had to turn back    I found out a lot about the locality on the second day - I have to admit that while everyone else on the trek was going up a second mountain, I backed out and lay in a hammock for most of the day, having discovered some brand new muscles in my legs that were loudly objecting to suddenly being used after years of neglect.   Which meant that I had lots of time to look around and take photos of the well appointed kitchens, bathrooms, and shop (reminder, everything has arrived on a 14 km trek up a mountain on a mule or a human's back.

and I had lots of time to chat to the Brigadistas from The Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation, which is part of the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment, whose job it is to put out fires in the national park - and they had their work cut out, with a big fire the next day in the Vale de Capao. . (Chico Mendes  was, as Wikipedia tells us, a Brazilian rubber tapper, trade union leader and environmentalist. He fought to preserve the Amazon rainforest, and advocated for the human rights of Brazilian peasants and Indigenous peoples. He was assassinated by a rancher on 22 December 1988, and I've seen his name alongside Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira, and Marielle Franco.  The Insititute was given its name in 2007, the last time that there was a Lula government - it certainly wasn't a Bolsonaro idea.   

Lucio, the brigadista on the left,  had  spent four years selling beer and drinks at the Sossego waterfal - where we’d been on the Monday - when he was 18-22. It was good work during the holidays but in the week sometimes he'd just sell one can - scrambling and walking and climbing  seven kilometers each way for the privilege! 

The kids from the Vale go to school in the nearest town , staying there in the week and coming home at weekends . It's holiday time now so they're helpful out with the hostel , bringing wood for the fire and other jobs. The family here run a well stocked shop ... (Again , everything has been carried over the mountains by mules or on people's backs or on their heads)

When the others came back from the mountain, we went off to another gorgeous well stocked valley hostel and our guides started making yet another fabulous five star supper - to go with the five star cooked breakfast we’d had that morning that they’d prepared.  It was incredible how they produced the amazing food, all from what they’d brought on their backs or bought in the village.   We sat round a camp fire on both evenings talking to the other walkers and looking at the amazing stars, trying to work out if the galaxy is different in the southern hemisphere (spoiler, it is, but some of the constellations can be seen in both).

 

On our last day Agnieszka decided to stay for a five day trek so I went back with Luzineu the guide on our own.  We walked for an hour and reached a beautiful waterfall with a gorgeous pool, but he said we had to go on to the second waterfall before we could swim.   In the meantime I was allowed to stare at it longingly for a 5 minute break. The path was reasonably tricky but not climbing for the first part (there was enough of that later to get out of the valley !!) At first it was just balancing on  rocks criss crossing the river ....

I can't actually see the scenery unless we stop because I have to stare at the next step cos of the balancing problem and I'm much more interested in keeping going than seeing at the moment , but it feels amazing . Dripping with sweat, nothing to do but walking all day , no responsibilities except to get myself safely back , no committees or meetings or things I've forgotten to do (ah except one report for scojec oops!!) And I can just Be which is pretty amazing

Each time we get.to another waterfall there appears to be no way out then we CLIMB up the side of it ! I have had to abandon my trusty STiCK but Lucineu has  promised I’ll find another one once we’re on the flat, but I need my hands for the outward climb… As well as using my hands, I have been doing a lot of descending on my bum this week - ruining my light green shorts on Monday  in the process.  The guide says it’s the ‘fifth limb’ (two arms, two legs and a bum, all essential for the climbing process). 

When we finally got back to the car after seven hours of walking/climbing/scrambling it felt AMAZING. I was exhausted but so exhilarated. 

 

me and my wonderful guide Luzineu (who is an artist as well as a guide)

Those underused  muscles came back (they’re just behind and above the knees, anyone know their name? Maybe they’re tendons… maybe I ought to get them checked out some time…) but they seem fine again after a day’s resting. 

I’ve been back in Lencois for a week, which has included a new year's eve party, another day trip, a lot of sitting around and eating and drinking.... and I've moved to another place here. Tomorrow another trip and another talk about my aunt's art, Tuesday packing, Wednesday back to Salvador on a 7 hour coach trip, Thursday is a 7 km walk* for the Bon Fim festival  (which links Catholic with Candomble religions - there seems to be quite a lot of that round here)

and next week I start my 3 week Portuguese Language class - which will be great. I need some structure, I am throwing words out but really don't know how to decline verbs, so I'm guessing a lot, eg, the third person plural imperfect -  I say an attempt at the correct word with a kind of question in my voice, and some people are very kind and understand me! (Some aren't so good at understanding me.  The woman in the pharmacy today didn't understand 'pie de atleta' for athlete's foot - she asked if I'd sprained my ankle, even though 'pie de atleta' is literally written on the spray she eventually found for me, and I got a Brazilian woman who I knew, who happened to be in the shop, to say it for me!)  

Onwards and, it seems, upwards!

love, Fiona xxxx 

Ps all correspondence to fionaistravelling@gmsil.com

*and possibly a 7 km walk back! we'll see.