Since we were in Porto Alegre over the weekend, we decided we'd make it a little vacation. We drove about 3 hours north of the city to the Aparados da Serra National Park. Itaimbezinho Canyon is the largest in Latin America, about 2,200 feet deep, 4 miles long and more than a mile wide in some places!! The drive through the mountains (totally not the Rockies here) was beautiful, but like most roads in Brazil, dangerous. I was so thankful Kevin was driving! After a few hours, we were passing through what felt like prairie grasslands with a few rolling hills. We had the GPS, so we kind of thought we were heading the right way, but after driving on a bumpy gravel road for 20 minutes, we started to question our directions. An occasional sign would reassure us and we kept on truckin'. After about half an hour, we found the entrance to the park and stopped our car. We had a PB&J picnic lunch out of our trunk and then headed out on our hike.
The first hiking trail was wide and easy to walk on. The pinhao trees are some of my favorite trees here in Brazil.
I loved the splashes of color along our path.
Our family
My little chica
Itaimbezinho Canyon
The canyon to the west
Very fat caterpillar
She loves the water
Relaxing on the bridge
Hiking with her daddy
Canyon from the southern end
Old stone steps
The little wire that's supposed to keep us safe wasn't very reassuring. We held onto Emma every second! She wasn't real excited about that, but we didn't think she needed to see the canyon up close!
The hiking backpack has been a lifesaver! We used it for most of the hike! Kevin got a great workout in by carrying an extra 25 pounds on his back!
The little wire that's supposed to keep us safe wasn't very reassuring. We held onto Emma every second! She wasn't real excited about that, but we didn't think she needed to see the canyon up close!
The hiking backpack has been a lifesaver! We used it for most of the hike! Kevin got a great workout in by carrying an extra 25 pounds on his back!
How beautiful!!
