September 7th is Brazilian independence day, and naturally it’s a feriado. Since it’s a feriado all hotels up their prices, so what to do when you can’t pay for expensive hotels?A day trip!
In the end, on the feriado itself, we slept in and chilled out after what felt like the longest ever four day week. This turned out to be a good decision because by all accounts the traffic was insane on the feriado itself.
After having a slow Friday we got up early and went to the Serra on the Saturday, our destination was the Canyons das Bandeirinhas, right at the edge of the park. It’s 12km from the entrance, and the walk itself is easy. It’s a sandy path on the whole, which is flat the whole way there. There are a few streams to cross, and one river, but no hills to trek up and down, (unless you want to detour up to a view point). You can also rent bikes, which cuts down the amount of time drastically, but you have to cycle in sand and you don’t get to appreciate all the wildlife and scenery as much. Having said that, by the end of the hike to the Canyons I was tired, and about 3/4 of the way back to the gate I was dead on my feet.
The canyons themselves have pools to swim in, the bottom on was full of people, but when we scrambled up the rocks to the next one it was almost empty. Some people told us there were four pools in total, but we didn’t go past the second pool because Karel got quite badly stung by some insect.
By the time we headed back it was mid-afternoon, and mercifully not as hot, because the 12km felt like a lot longer. The golden hour light was something special, if I had had the energy I would have taken so many photos.
If you come to Belo Horizonte, going to the Serra do Cipó is a must. Just remember to bring a sunhat, mosquito repellent, sun screen and most importantly of all, water! We gave some water to a couple who hadn’t brought any with them, do not make that mistake.
Horizontes in Belo Horizonte 