Stroll Through Morretes Brazil

Morretes is a small town not far from the coast. It is surrounded by mountains and is intersected by a meandering river. The town is a profusion of tropical plants, beautiful colors and intriguing little spots of interest hidden throughout the town.
It's the last stop of the tourist train trip and from here on a bus takes us on our way.

Onward to Morretes, Brazil

Luck was with me when I found myself sitting next to a group of three who spoke English and were kind enough to include me in their group for the trip duration. Jeffrey, Yao, and Roberto (top right), met when they all worked for Microsoft in Seattle. Roberto is back, living in Sao Paulo and served as tour guide for his friends on this trip. It was a treat talking to him and getting his perspective, especially with his experiences in both the US and Brazil. The remainder of the trip was filled with everyone on the train taking pictures of each other during the times we waited for the rain to stop. It amuses me to think that I'm in the background of over 20 pictures in family albums throughout Brazil, (unless they have photoshop).
The tent in the picture bottom left was a prevalent site. The clearings were packed with campers on their climbs up the surrounding mountains. Finally, bottom right, shows that horseback is still the transportation of choice for many of the folks along the way.
Next stop - the picturesque town of Morretes and a traditional Brazilian meal.
Happy trails until then.

More Train Talk - Curitiba to Morretes, Brazil

The train trip from Curitiba to Morretes can best be described as green and wet. The train ran through tunnels of green that had been hacked away just for the train. At times the train itself was trimming back some of the greenery. January is the wettest month in Brazil but Maria the guide insisted that it is the best month for the trip. For a lot of the trip visibility was close to zero but the times in between gave beautiful lush vistas of greenery, ferns,wild flowers, orchids growing wild on trees trunks, and rushing streams. The picture - top right is Maria, our guide and giver of snakes,(see last blog), and the other two members of my English speaking tour. Bottom left is the one train car used. I still have no idea how it was powered as I saw no engine and no power connections. On the bottom right is one of the many houses along the way built by the original company that built the railroad. At the time it was the single provider and only method of transportation for the people in these outlaying areas. In the picture bottom right, the details in the center peak under the roof is the symbol of the railway company. This railway is still used to shuttle people back and forth to work as well as providing this tourist ride.

Curitiba Brazil and the Great Train Ride

After landing in Sao Paulo, there was a mad dash across town to make my connection in a smaller airport to fly to Curitiba, Brazil. Because the flight from Dulles was 3 hours late I missed that connection, but thanks to the great staff of Gol Airlines at Congonhaus Airport in Sao Paulo I was able to make a later plane - and -after 24 hours of travelling - I made it to my Hotel in Curitiba; Hotel Slavierra Full Jazz. With its unusual name and description as a "concept hotel" focused on classic jazz, I couldn't pass it up. The small hotel (pictured bottom left in the middle of the pic) was a treasure and I would highly recommend it to anyone travelling to Curitiba. See my earlier blog on Curitiba for more details.
After a catch-up night of sleep, I made the voyage to the train station for the primary reason for the Curitiba trip - a train ride through Amazonian greenery. From Lonely Planet's South America on a Shoestring; "The railway from Curitiba (altitude 900 m) to the port of Paranagua is the most exciting in Brazil, with sublime panoramas."
The train trip consisted of one railway car carrying about 40 people. 3 of us were with an English speaking guide, who admitted that the usual English speaking guide was sick and she was filling in. She aplogized that English wasn't her stong suite and the last time she had to fill in for the English speaking guide, she told her tour group that she would be along shortly to hand out "snakes" to each of them. It would have been an unforgettable and very appropriate momento of the tour through the Amazonian rain forrest. Unfortunately (or fortunately) she handed out "snacks" to everyone.
More later. Happy Trails for now.

(Picture to left is of different types of architecture, all within a 2 block radius of my hotel in Curitiba, Brazil. The city is a hodge podge of small modern tall buildings, fading and also revived Victorian mansions, amid a lot of modern indutrial buildings. It's a relatively new city with great pride in its commitment to ecology and conservation)