Tabuleiro, Minas Gerais - Brazil

Tabuleiro

It was the most difficult 2 miles I have ever walked, from the park entrance to the waterfalls, the beautiful 1000 foot high waterfall over a vast cliff face into the gorge below. But the walk was well worth it, the ground is littered with crystals and there are many pools on the way, not to mention the breathtaking views of the cliffs and waterfall the whole way down.

Tabuleiro is about 100 miles from Belo Horizonte. The second half of the way, a winding road took us to a quintessential Minas mountain town called Conceica do Mato Dentro. Another 12 miles and we arrived at the small village with the same name as the falls – Tabuleiro, populated with about 20 houses of local folks who garden, take care of cows and chickens, make cheese, perform in the local church choir, and make their own cachaca, the local killer distilled sugar cane spirit.

Tabuleiro had such a calming energy and it was so lush and beautiful that Peter and I seriously considered staying for a while. My brother Henrique, his son Rodrigo and a friend, Dea also came along, and they had to return to Belo Horizonte. After the hike, we were all exhausted and sore everywhere. We stopped at “Repestre,”a local restaurant for a delicious meal. The choices of white, blond and dark local cachacas on the menu sounded very good, and after I tried all of them, my body pains were gone. But the following day I had a huge hangover and besides muscle aches, my head and my stomach were suffering.

We headed back to Belo Horizonte after breakfast and were home by mid afternoon, in time for my sister Ines' barbecue birthday party. The parties at my mom's house don't seem to end...