Day 17 – These Boots Were Made for Walking

Today we learned the true definition of a hike. After celebrating Malu’s arrival last night, we woke up bright and early, vastly unprepared for the day ahead. Until this point, we thought Guil had set out some pretty challenging treks for us, but the jungle is Malu’s kingdom and she set us off on a grand tour of everything the Atlantic Forest has to offer.

After a classic Brazilian breakfast of fruit, pastries, and ham and cheese sandwiches, we boarded our mammoth of a tour bus. Our destination: PETAR, a Sao Paulo state park that contains the largest continuous tract of the Atlantic Forest. Accompanying us were our three trusty native guides, who were incredibly well versed in the secrets of the forest.

As we set out on the trail it quickly became clear that we were far removed from the barren, rocky outcrops we had grown so accustomed to. The forest was an explosion of life and biodiversity. Every few minutes, our guides stopped us to point out some of the fascinating plants bordering the trail, from medicinal stalks and tangerines to selectively sharp tree branches, which could easily slice open an arm if rubbed the wrong way.  

 About an hour into our hike we came across a wide river, which we had to cross in order to reach our destination. With the help of our guides, we were able to traverse this monster, although we baptized most of the group’s boots in the process. We continued on the trail for a few kilometers, until we reached a massive cave entrance. A quick lunch followed and Guil finally brought us back to our roots by presenting us with some challenging questions about the surrounding rock features and their origin. In a departure from the igneous rocks of the past week, the stratification and fine composition of the surrounding rock led us to conclude that we were standing atop sedimentary limestone. We studied the structure of the cave exterior and observed that the layers of rock making up the cave entrance tended to fold down as it neared the cave’s opening. This is because that specific rock deformed in a ductile way, which allowed it to become curved in either direction. The folded rock also caused it to be easier to weather, which caused the cave’s opening to form.

Following an unnecessarily wet group photo (thanks Emmanuel!), we set out for the long trip home. The hike began with a desperate, grasping crawl up a steep hillside, followed by a much-needed downward slope. Finally, after one last river crossing, we reached our home sweet bus, slipped out of our soggy boots, and piled in. We returned home a little wetter, and much more exhausted, but with a new appreciation for both the bountiful forests of Brazil and the geological gems hiding inside.

Rainforest Ryan and Not So Dry Nick