|
 What matters is that you're going to die. I don't know how,
but you're going to and the… I'll marry a widower.
That's all. A very natural, serious thing,
a woman marrying a widower.
By Brazzil Magazine
PENEDO
Finnish immigrants, led by Toivo Uuskallio, settled Penedo in 1929. If the beautiful
Scandinavian woodwork doesn't convince you of this, the number of saunas will. The Finns
planted citrus groves along the banks of the Rio das Pedras, but when this enterprise
failed, they turned to preparing Finnish jams and jellies, homemade liqueurs and sauces.
Apart from jungle and waterfalls, Penedo has few attractions. The Museu Kahvila, at
Travessa da Fazenda 45, is a lanchonete which also displays Finnish clothing, books
and photographs.
Things to See & Do
There are three waterfalls worth visiting: Três Cachoeiras (near Tião), the
very pretty Cachoeira do Roman (which is on private grounds, 10 minutes' walk
uphill from the Pousada Challenge) and Cachoeira do Diabo (right near the Pousada
Challenge).
About 40 minutes of uphill hiking from Hans Camping takes you into very dense jungle,
although there are trails inside. Hopefully you will run into the large bands of big
monkeys and steer clear of the wildcats. At the point where Penedo's main asphalt road turns
to dirt, you can hire horses ($3 per hour) or a horse and carriage ($6 per hour).
Dances
There is now only a sprinkling of Finns among the assortment of Brazilian people, but
they all get together for polkas, mazurkas, and letkiss and jenkiss dances
every Saturday night at the Clube Finlandês. From 9 pm to 2 am, the Finnish dancers put
on Old World togs and do traditional dances.
Saunas
Next door and across the street from the Clube Finlândia are the Sauna Bar and Sauna
Finlandesa. These sweat shops are open to the public from early afternoon until 10 pm
(later if enough people are interested).
For Places to Stay and Places to Eat read the book.
Things to Buy
Penedo's many small craft shops specialize in jellies, honey, chutneys and preserves,
chocolates, cakes and candles. Casa Encabulada, on Avenida das Mangueiras, is an artists'
cooperative.
Getting There & Away
From Resende, it's much easier to get to Penedo and Itatiaia than to Visconde de Mauá.
There are 22 Penedo-bound buses daily, from 6 am to 11 pm. The bus services the
three-km main street and continues past the end of the paved road to Tião, which
is the final stop.
VISCONDE DE MAUÁ
Mauá is prettier and a little more tranquil than Penedo, and harder to reach. It's a
lovely place, with streams, tinkling goat bells, cozy chalets and country lanes graced
with wildflowers. There are horses for hire by the footbridge ($2.50 per hour), but some
of them are pretty small.
Orientation
Mauá is actually made up of three small villages a few km apart. The bus stops first
at Vila Mauá, the largest village. Vila Maringá, on the other side of the Rio Preto, is
actually in Minas Gerais, and has lots of restaurants and places to stay. At the end of
the bus route is Vila Maromba, which has restaurants and pousadas, but not as many
as Maringá. Most travelers stay in Maringá or Maromba. Hitching around here is fairly
easy.
Information
There are two places for tourist information. One is a cabana at the entrance to
Vila Mauá, where you'll find information about activities and a list of places to stay,
though not the cheapest ones. It's open Tuesday to Sunday from 8 am to 8 pm (closed for
lunch). The Casa do Turista has similar information. It's one km further along the road to
Maromba.
Things to See & Do
The Santa Clara Cachoeira, the nicest waterfall in the area, is a 40-minute
walk from Vila Maromba in Maringá. For a jungle experience, climb up through the bamboo
groves on either side of the falls.
The young and the restless can follow the trail from Maromba to the Cachoeira Véu
de Noiva in the Parque Nacional do Itatiaia, a full day's hike each way. It's possible
to kayak the rapids of the Rio Preto, if you are so inclined. The Rio Preto, which divides
Minas Gerais from Rio, also has small river beaches and natural pools to explore.
For Places to Stay and Places to Eat read the book.
Things to Buy
The Companhia Visconde de Mauá is a hippie store selling T-shirts, embroidered
blouses, natural perfumes and soaps.
Getting There & Away
The daily bus from Resende to Visconde de Mauá ($3, about 2½ hours on a winding dirt
road) leaves at 4 pm Monday to Saturday; to make it, you must hitch, catch the 1 pm bus
from Rio, or pay for a taxi ($35). The bus leaves for Resende at 8.30 am every day, except
Sunday, when it leaves at 5 pm.
Getting Around
If you get sick of walking, Bike Montanha, in Maringá, rents mountain bikes for $2 an
hour.
PARQUE NACIONAL DO ITATIAIA
This national park, established in 1937 to protect 120 sq km of ruggedly beautiful
land, contains over 400 species of native birds, as well as jaguars, monkeys and sloths.
It features lakes, rivers, waterfalls, alpine meadows and primary and secondary Atlantic
rainforests. Don't let the tropical houseplants fool you: temperatures drop below freezing
in June, and some years, Itatiaia even has a few snowy days!
Museum
The park headquarters, the museum and Lago Azul (Blue Lake) are 10 km in from the Via
Dutra highway. The museum, open Tuesday to Sunday from 8 am to 4 pm, has glass cases full
of stuffed and mounted animals, pinned moths and snakes in jars.
Activities
Mountain-climbing, rock-climbing and trekking enthusiasts will want to
pit themselves against the local peaks, cliffs and trails.
Every two weeks, a group scales the Agulhas Negras peak. At 2787 meters, it's the
highest in the area. For more information, contact the Grupo Excursionista de Agulhas
Negras (54-2587).
A walk to the Abroucas refuge, at the base of Agulhas Negras, is a 26-km, eight-hour
jungle trek from the park entrance. The mountain refuge can sleep 24 people and is
accessible by car from the Engender Passos to São Lourenço road (near the Minas Gerais
and Rio de Janeiro border). Reservations are required. Call IBAMA in Resende (0243-52-1461)
and get maps and advice from the park IBAMA office before setting off.
Simpler hikes include the walk between Hotel Simon and Hotel Repouso (where the painter
Guignard lived, worked and left a few of his paintings), and the 20-minute walk
from the Sítio Jangada to the Poronga waterfalls.
For Places to Stay and Places to Eat read the book.
Getting There & Away
Every 20 minutes on weekdays and every 40 minutes on weekends (from 7 am to 11.20 pm),
there is a bus from Resende to the town of Itatiaia. From Praça São José in Itatiaia,
take the kombi with the `Hotel Simon' sign up to the park. It leaves at 8 and 10 am, noon,
and 2, 5 and 7 pm. The ride costs $2, and you'll also have to pay the park entry fee ($ 1)
as you go through the main gate. A taxi costs $15.
EAST OF RIO DE JANEIRO
SAQUAREMA
After the famous beaches of Rio and Baía de Guanabara, with their high-rise
hotels and bars spilling onto the sands, the quiet, clean beaches east of Rio are a
welcome change.
Saquarema, 100 km from Rio de Janeiro, sits between long stretches of open beach,
lagoons and jungled mountains. The town takes unusual pride in the natural beauty of its
setting. Polluting industries are forbidden in the municipality, so it's still possible to
find sloths and bands of monkeys in the jungles. Motorboats aren't allowed to muck up the
lakes and lagoons, which means the water is still pure and the fish and shrimps are
abundant. The long shoreline of fine, white sand and clean water attracts surfers, sports
fishers and sun worshippers.
Saquarema is a horse-breeding and fruit-growing center. You can visit the
orchards and pick fruit, or hire horses and take to the hills. Adventurers who tramp the
jungle trails in search of the elusive mico-leão marmoset are sure to discover
beautiful waterfalls, if not the primates. All in all, there are plenty of things to do
away from the beach.
Ah, but the beaches... Bambui, Ponta Negra and Jaconé, south of town, are long, and
empty save for a couple of fishing villages. The waves are big, particularly off Ponta
Negra, and three km north of Saquarema in Praia Itaúna, where an annual surfing contest
is held during the last two weeks of May.
History
On 17 March 1531, Martim Afonso de Sousa founded a Portuguese settlement here and met
with the Tamoio Indian chief Sapuguaçu. Nonplussed by de Sousa's five ships and 400
sailors, Sapuguaçu chose to ally the Tamoios with the French. In 1575 Antônio Salema,
then Governor of Rio de Janeiro, decided to break the Tamoio-French alliance, and
with an army of over 1000 men, massacred the Indians and their French military advisers.
The next big event in Saquarema's history was the slave revolt of Ipitangas, in which
400 slaves took over the plantation mansion and kicked out their master. For a few days,
the slaves held the town, and fought against the cavalry, which rode out from Niterói.
The town pillory, Bandeque's Post (named after the leader of the slave revolt), was in use
as recently as the end of last century.
Information
Tourist Office
The Secretaria de Turismo at the Prefeitura is quite useless. The best place to go for
information, especially about places to stay, is Saquatur Toulouse Lagos Turismo at
Avenida Oceânica, 165 in Itaúna.
Festival
Saquarema hosts the Nossa Senhora de Nazaré mass on 7 and 8 September. It attracts
around 150,000 pilgrims, second only to the Nazaré celebrations of Belém.
For Places to Stay and Places to Eat read the book
Getting There & Away
From Rio to Saquarema, there are seven buses a day from 6.30 am to 6.30 pm (until 8.30
pm Friday to Sunday). The same number go the other way from 5.30 am to 5.50 pm (7.50 pm
Friday to Sunday). The two-hour trip costs $4. To get to Cabo Frio, take a local
bus to Bacaxá. From there, buses to Cabo leave every half-hour.
ARRAIAL DO CABO
Arraial do Cabo sits on a square corner of land, with Cabo Frio 10 km due north and
Praia Grande stretching due west 40 km (continuous with Praia Maçambaba). The village of
Arraial do Cabo spreads out from the edges of four bays and has beaches that compare with
the finest in Búzios, but unlike Búzios, Arraial is a place where people live and work.
The saltworks of the Companhia Nacional de Alcalis, north of town, extract table salt and barrília,
a type of phosphate tied to the salt.
Information
There's no tourist office in Arraial, but you don't really need one, as the layout is
fairly straightforward and the attractions are the beaches. The post office is in Praça
Castelo Branco.
Beaches
`Discovered' many years ago by Amerigo Vespucci, Praia dos Anjos has beautiful
turquoise water, but a little too much boat traffic for comfortable swimming. The favorite
beaches in town are Praia do Forno, Praia Brava and Praia Grande.
Stretching along a pretty piece of road to Cabo Frio, Praia do Forte has bleached-white
sand and a backdrop of low scrub, cacti and grasses. The Museu Oceanográfico on Praia dos
Anjos is open Tuesday to Sunday from 9 am to 4.30 pm.
To get to the Gruta Azul (Blue Cavern) on the far side of Ilha de Cabo Frio, ask
fisherfolk at Praia dos Anjos for a tour—it should cost about $20. Be alert to the
tides: the entrance to the underwater cavern isn't always open.
To see the wild orchids between Cabo Frio and Arraial do Cabo, ask the bus driver to
let you off at the access road, and then hike inland.
For Places to Stay and Places to Eat read the book
Getting There & Away
Take the municipal bus from Cabo Frio ($0.40), which loops around Arraial and returns
to Cabo Frio every 20 minutes.
CABO FRIO
The Cabo Frio district formerly comprised Cabo Frio (the most populous town), Búzios
(the wealthy, sophisticated resort) and Arraial do Cabo (which has since become
independent, politically and economically, because of its salt industry).
History
According to Márcio Verneck, a local historian, Cabo Frio was inhabited at least 5500
years ago. Before the Portuguese arrived, the warring Tamoio and Goitacazes tribes lived
here. In 1503 the Portuguese armada, under the command of Amerigo Vespucci, landed at
Praia dos Anjos in Arraial do Cabo. Twenty-four men were left behind to start a
settlement, one of the first in the Americas. Fantastic reports about this community were
the model for Thomas More's Utopia.
The economy of the Portuguese settlement was based on the coastal brazil wood, which
was felled and shipped back to Europe. Portuguese vessels were at the mercy of Dutch and
French corsairs until 1615, when the Portuguese defeated their European foes, founded
Santa Helena de Cabo Frio, and took the French-built fort of São Mateus to protect
their trade. In time, the Franciscans joined the settlement and built the Nossa Senhora
dos Anjos convent. They were followed by the Jesuits at Fazenda Campo Novo. By the 1800s,
with the brazil-wood stands completely destroyed, the economy was geared toward
fishing and, more recently, tourism, saltworks and chemical industries.
Orientation & Information
Canal do Itajuru links the Lagoa de Araruama to the Atlantic Ocean. Cabo Frio lies to
one side of this canal. The town is a two-km hike along Avenida Júlia Kubitschek
from the bus station. There's a map of Cabo Frio on the wall of the bus station.
The tourist booth at Avenida do Contorno, Praia do Forte, has hotel information, but no
English is spoken. There's a Banco do Brasil at Praça Porto Rocha 44. The post office is
at Largo de Santo Antônio 55, in the center.
Forte São Mateus
This stone fortress, a stronghold against pirates, was built in 1616, and is open from
10 am to 4 pm Tuesday to Sunday. It's at the end of Praia do Forte.
Dunes
There are three sand-dune spots in and about Cabo Frio. The dunes of Praia do
Peró, a super beach for surfing and surfcasting, are six km north in the direction
of Búzios, near Ogivas and after Praia Brava and Praia das Conchas. The Dama Branca
(White Lady) sand dunes are on the road to Arraial do Cabo. The Pontal dunes of Praia do
Forte town beach stretch from the fort to Miranda hill.
The dunes can be dangerous because of robberies, so get advice from the locals before
heading out to the beaches and dunes.
For Places to Stay and Places to Eat read the book
Getting There & Away
The old coastal road takes longer than BR-101 but provides a beautiful, level route
winding around foggy green mounds. There are regular buses from Rio de Janeiro and
Niterói ($6, three hours).
Getting Around
To get to Arraial do Cabo from Cabo Frio, catch a local bus from the bus stop just up
to the right as you leave the bus station. To get to Búzios, cross the road and catch a
bus from the stop on your left. Local buses cost $0.50.
BÚZIOS
Búzios, a lovely beach resort, is on a peninsula (scalloped by 17 beaches) which juts
into the Atlantic. A simple fishing village until the early sixties, when it was
`discovered' by Brigitte Bardot and her Brazilian boyfriend, the village is now littered
with boutiques, fine restaurants, fancy villas, bars and posh pousadas. During the
holiday season, prices here are twice those in the rest of Brazil.
Búzios is not a single town but, rather, three settlements on the
peninsula—Ossos, Manguinhos and Armação—and one further north on the mainland,
called Rasa. Ossos (Bones), at the northernmost tip of the peninsula, is the oldest
and most attractive. It has a pretty harbor and yacht club, a few hotels and bars, and a
tourist stand. Manguinhos, at the isthmus, is the most commercial; it even has a 24-hour
medical clinic. Armação, in between, has the best restaurants, along with city
necessities such as international telephones, a bank, a petrol station, the post office
and a pharmacy. Northwest along the coast is Rasa and the island of Rasa, where Brazil's
political dignitaries and the rich relax.
Information
Tourist Office
The Secretaria de Turismo (23-1143), at Praça Santos Dumont, 111 in Armação,
is not worth a special trip—any travel agent can give you the same information. From
any newsstand, pick up a copy of Guia Verão Búzios ($3). It has information in
English as well as in Portuguese including a list of places to stay (but not prices).
Boat Trips
The schooner Queen Lory makes daily trips out to Ilha Feia, Tartaruga and João
Fernandinho. There is a 2½-hour trip which costs $15 and a four-hour trip
for $20. These trips are good value, especially since caipirinhas, soft drinks,
fruit salad and snorkeling gear are included in the price. To make a reservation, ask at
your pousada.
Beaches
In general, the southern beaches are trickier to get to, but they're prettier and have
better surf. The northern beaches are more sheltered and are closer to the towns.
Working anticlockwise from south of Maguinhos, the first beaches are Geribi and Ferradurinha
(Little Horseshoe). These are beautiful beaches with good surf, but the Búzios Beach
Club has built condos here.
Next on the coast is Ferradura, which is large enough for windsurfing, and Lagoinha,
a rocky beach with rough water. Praia da Foca and Praia do Forno have
colder water than the other beaches. Praia Olho de Boi (Bull's Eye) was named after
Brazil's first postage stamp. It's a pocketsize beach reached by a little trail from the
long, clean beach of Praia Brava.
João Fernandinho and João Fernandes are both good for snorkeling, as are
the topless beaches of Azedinha and Azeda. Praia dos Ossos, Praia da Armação,
Praia do Caboclo and Praia dos Amores are pretty to look at, but not for
lounging around. Praia da Tartaruga is quiet and pretty. Praia do Gaúcho and
Manguinhos are town beaches further along.
For Places to Stay and Places to Eat read the book
Entertainment
The center of action in Búzios is the Rua das Pedras in Armação. And it all starts
late—don't even think of getting here before midnight. There are some good
bars, restaurants and nightclubs (on weekends and in season), but mostly, it seems that
everybody just likes walking up and down the street looking at everybody else.
Getting There & Away
From Cabo Frio to Búzios, take the municipal bus (a 50-minute, 20-km,
bone-crunching cobblestone run). There are four direct buses daily to Rio, leaving from
the bus stop on the Estrada da Usina Velha. The three-hour trip costs $7, with the
first bus leaving at 7 am and the last at 6 pm (8.45 pm on Sunday).
Getting Around
Rent a Bike, at Avenida José Bento Ribeiro Dantas, 843 and Casa Central Bicicleta, at
Rua Lúcio Quintanilha 152, both in Armação, rent bicycles for around $20 a day.
BARRA DE SÃO JOÃO
Barra de São João, not to be confused with São João da Barra (which is further
north up the coast), is an easy-going place set on a narrow spit of land between a
small river and the Atlantic. Old, well-preserved colonial homes with azulejos
give the town a warm, Portuguese feel, and the village architecture is protected by law.
The long, quiet beach is good for surfcasting.
For Places to Stay and Places to Eat read the book
Getting There & Away
Barra de São João, 35 km from Macaé and 57 km from Cabo Frio, is serviced by 10
buses a day.
MACAÉ
Once a calm fishing village, Macaé is now a fast-growing petroleum-refinery
city with Petrobras oil rigs 100 km offshore. A few years ago the place was swarming with
American technicians working on the gas pipeline now being built to Rio. Due to helicopter
traffic to and from the oil rigs, Macaé has perhaps the third-busiest airport in
Brazil, after Rio and São Paulo. The best beach in town, Praia Cavalheras, is not
polluted ... yet.
For Places to Stay and Places to Eat read the book
Getting There & Away
If you're heading to Minas Gerais, there's a daily bus to Belo Horizonte, at 7 pm ($25,
nine hours). To Vitória, there's a bus at 2 pm ($8.50, five hours). Three buses a day go
to Salvador, at 10.20 am, and 5.20 and 8.10 pm ($37, 22 hours).
RESERVA BIOLÓGICA DO POÇO DAS ANTAS
A few km off BR- 101, between Casemiro de Abreu and Silva Jardim, the Poço das
Antas Reserve was created to protect the endangered mico-leão (Golden Lion Tamarin
monkey) and its natural habitat, coastal jungle. Fifty mico-leões were sent from a
breeding program in the USA. The small monkeys, with their golden, lion-like manes,
are hard to spot. More monkey business is conducted in nearby Cachoeiras de Macaco, in the
Instituto de Estudos de Simiologia (Simian Studies Institute).
MACAÉ TO CAMPOS
The stretch from Macaé to Campos is rolling ranch land. Here and there are remnants of
tropical forest, palms and scraggly undergrowth in uncleared ravines and hill
clefts—A dark mountain range runs along the coast 50 km inland. Most of the land
between the Atlantic and the mountains is planted with sugar cane.
BARRA DA ITABAPOANA
At the extreme northeast corner of Rio de Janeiro state is Barra da Itabapoana, which
borders the Atlantic ocean and Espírito Santo on the far side of the Rio Itabapoana.
There's not much to the town: a dilapidated church, a few riverboats, two or three street
lights, a Telerj station, a fish market and a menagerie of pigs, chickens, horses and
dogs. The beach is two km from the church (turn left at the cemetery).
Excerpts from Brazil - A Travel Survival Kit, 3rd edition, by
Andrew Draffen, Chris McAsey, Leonardo Pinheiro, and Robyn Jones. For more
information call Lonely Planet: (800) 275-8555. Copyright 1996 Lonely Planet Publications.
Used by permission.
Buy it at
Amazon.com
Lonely Planet
Brazil - A Travel Survival Kit
by Andrew Draffen, Chris McAsey,
Leonardo Pinheiro, Robyn Jones,
704 pp.
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