brazil 2012
Caio’s
adventures in
sĂƒo paulo and minas gerais 12 august - 3 september 2012
Caio’s
adventures in
sÃo paulo and minas gerais 12 august - 3 september 2012
This is a diary of Caio’s holiday in Brazil. He went with his Brazilian daddy and his English mummy. We borrowed a big, strong, blue Toyota Hilux from our friends and went on a three week road trip in two huge states of Brazil: São Paulo and Minas Gerais. (It’s a bit confusing because São Paulo is also the name of the city where we began and ended our trip.)
Come with us!
Itinerary
São Paulo Itatiba Iporanga Santos Matutu Tiradentes Ouro Preto and Mariana Caraça Inhotim Lambari Caxambu Itu São Paulo Portuguese Vocabulary Papai Daddy Vovó Granny Vovô Grandad Tia Aunt Tio Uncle Fazenda Farm Pousada Bed and Breakfast
Caio’s
adventures in
sÃo paulo and minas gerais 12 august - 3 september 2012
Caraça Inhotim Ouro Preto Mariana Tiradentes
Matutu Lambari
Itu
Itatiba
Iporanga
One morning, we took a train to Butantan, a very important snake farm, where they have helicopters to rescue people who have been bitten. On another, we visited Ana, Papai’s old nanny in Garulhos. For cousin Bébé’s birthday, we cooked a big dinner and all the family came.
São Paulo
We stayed at Lali’s flat in Morumbi, near the biggest football stadium in São Paulo. It had a huge, open terrace with beautiful views of the woods. Caio entertained baby Vitória and played the piano.
Itatiba
We spent three days at an old fazenda which is now a hotel. It was a treat from Caio’s grandparents so we could spend more time together. It had a great kids' club, with things to do all day long. Caio went fishing with Papai and Vovô and soon caught a huge silvery fish, which he watched being cleaned and filleted in the kitchen.
Iporanga
We drove to Tia Lidia and Tio Ophir’s house near the beach. We crossed a canal on a yellow ferry and drove through a forest to get there. Even though it was winter in Brazil, the weather was hot and sunny. The house was full of people staying for the weekend. It was fun to see everyone and a good place to start our journey to Santos. Those biscuits were SO crumbly!
Brazil is a huge country and to reach all these places, we spent many hours in the car. There were motorways and dirt tracks and always lots of trucks. Our GPS didn’t always work, so we kept getting lost. To pass the time, we counted hundreds of old VW beetles, “fuscas” in Portuguese. We all wanted to win points for finding them, so often we had to stop the game, just for some peace and quiet.
Caio was a mascot for Santos Futebol Clube. It's super famous because PelÊ used to play there. Caio came onto the pitch in his brand new goalie uniform, holding hands with Neymar, one of the best footballers in the world. It was a fantastic match. We won 3-2 against Corinthians and Caio’s aunt Lidia saw him on TV!
Here comes Caio!
PELĂŠ
neymar
caio!
matutu We travelled for hours on bumpy roads to get to this secret paradise. There was almost no one around. We found a pousada with a beautiful garden at the foot of a mountain, where the owners became our friends. It was freezing cold at night. Caio overcame his fear of dogs, making friends with “Bambi”. Papai lost his bracelet at the bottom of the ice-cold “Poço das Fadas", which means fairy pool. He tried to get it, but the fairies didn't give it back.
Alli-Alligator is your friend Ooo Ooo‌ The official holiday soundtrack
We spent a night in a lovely old town called Tiradentes, which means “pull teeth”! It was named after a brave man who was also a dentist. Caio drove us around the bumpy, cobbled streets in a horse and carriage, “charrete” in Portuguese.
Tiradentes
The name of this town means “black gold”. It used to be a very rich place because of the gold which was found in the rocks. There were also very poor slaves who had to go and get it. Now the gold mines are closed and the whole town is almost a museum with churches everywhere. We went down into one of the mines and saw how they used to “pan” for gold. Caio played on a big yellow tractor which had been left there for almost a hundred years. We stayed in a pretty pousada with two friendly old dogs and went to two excellent classical music concerts. One was in Ouro Preto and the other was in the next town, Mariana.
Caraรงa
Many more hours in the car but it was worth it! Caraรงa is a gigantic nature reserve with mountains, forests and waterfalls. The only place to stay is in a beautiful old white monastery which is hidden in the hills. Every night after dinner, elegant, long-legged, wild wolves came to be fed on the steps of the church. They were very shy, but we managed to film one of them. In the mornings, we cooked our breakfast on huge open stoves and put logs on the fire to keep it going.
guará
guarÁ
guará
guarÁ
guarÁ
INHOTIM
This beautiful art garden is so big that there are electric carts to go around. It is jam packed with plants, lakes, sculptures, cafĂŠs and places to rest.
M
One of Caio’s favourite things was the Earth Gallery. We listened to the deep groaning sounds of the planet coming from two hundred metres below us. As we were leaving, we were filmed for Brazilian television.
love the sound of the earth
! i r a b m a L We stopped off briefly in Lambari, where Papai used to go on holiday when he was little. We drove all the way around the lake where he used to ride his bike.
Soon afterwards, we came to Caxambu. Lots of people know about it because of the healthy water which comes up from the ground. Each spring has a different taste. We drank from the fountains, rode horses and played football with the local kids. We stayed in a great big funny hotel and found a huge cockroach. We were in the supermarket when we bumped into Bambi’s owners from Matutu, so we all went for pizza together. Caio ate two pieces of chocolate and strawberry pizza for pudding!
In Itu, we stayed in a beautiful country house belonging to Carlinhos, Flavia, Teo and Stella. It is a very special design in glass and wood. A tree grows right in the middle and there's lots of space to run around. Capybaras laze about at the bottom of the garden. It was our last full day and boiling hot. Caio played on the trampoline, with the bikes and paddled in the pool. Mummy washed our smelly clothes, ready for London.
Itu
São Paulo (again!)
On our very last night in Brazil, the Goldmans all got together for pizza. (No chocolate or strawberry this time!) It was a lovely evening and sad to leave everyone. We slept at our friends' house and left early in the morning to go to Vovó and Vovô’s flat for breakfast and to kiss them goodbye. Our bags are packed, our clothes are clean and it’s time for the airport. We’re ready for London and Year 1!
Bye, Caio, come back soon!
For my gorgeous boy. With love from Mummy. Š DEBI ANI / orodesign 2013
A diary of Caio’s three week road trip in São Paulo and Minas Gerais. Come with us!
Caio’s
adventures in
sÃo paulo and minas gerais 12 august - 3 september 2012
for my gorgeous boy with love from mummy © DEBI ANI / orodesign 2013