Treasure Hunt in Brazil

Airport pick up (time and flight number to be confirmed) and transfer to the hotel.

Night at the Majestic hotel (breakfast included). Standard room.
Included : english speaking guide, reception with english-speaking guide, room & breakfast

At 09:00am starts a city tour with your English speaking guide.

You will find the first riddle going up to the Corcovado (700 m.a.s.l.), worldly known symbol of Rio.
Once up there, the riddle will seem crystal clear and you will be able to move on to the next one after taking the time to appreciate the unique and amazing panoramic view of the "cidade maravilhosa" (wonderful city).

Then way back down via Santa Teresa, which used to be one of the wealthiest residential neighborhoods of Rio, when the town was the capital of Brazil and all the principal institutions were located there. Surrounded by the agglomeration, the neighborhood has lost its former character, and the wealth of the area has moved to the South-west of Rio, to Barra da Tijuca. Santa Teresa now shelters a diverse population in the bohemian quarter of the modern Rio. Walk through this area to get a taste of its quaint and old atmosphere. During the trip to Lapa, visit the colored stairs or "Escadaria do Convento da Santa Teresa", decorated by Jorge Selarón.

Later, take the cable cart to the summit of the Sugarloaf (el. 400 m.a.s.l.), another Rio´s symbol which marks the entrance of the Bay of Guanabara. Return to the hotel at 05:00pm.
Night at the Majestic hotel (breakfast included). Standard room.
Included : english speaking guide, private transport, entrance fees, room & breakfast

Your english speaking guide will pick you up at 09:00am at the hotel.

After a short trip by subway to Ipanema, you will get your bikes for a half day discovery of the south area of Rio. The tour will firstly follow a biking track on the lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas´s banks (7.5 km circumference) just behind Ipanema (option to visit the Catacumba park, a nice park with modern sculptures).

Then you will follow the Leblon and Ipanema beaches, crowded in summer but quieter the rest of the year. You can take a break for a swim in the sea then enjoy the viewing point in arpoador, the rock marking the end of the beach.

A short distance to bike and you will be in Copacabana (option to visit the Copacabana fort, entrance fee not included).

Return the bikes late in the morning and return to the hotel by subway.

Note 1: this excursion can not be planned on Sundays and Banking holidays.

Note 2: 3 to 4 hours excursion recommended in the morning.

Night at the Majestic hotel (breakfast included). Standard room.
Included : english speaking guide, public transport, private transport, room & breakfast

A new day following the steps of One-Eyed Jeck begins.

Your English speaking guide will meet you at the hotel at 09:00am. You will visit with the impressive botanical garden, of which cariocas are proud. Each of the 141 hectares of the park hosts species of the Brazilian and world flora. The imperial palm trees, main attraction of the garden, were seeded under the order of the regent prince Dom Joao VI in 1809. centenary trees, orchids, vitorias regia, bromeliads, flamboyants in an atmosphere filled with tropical scents.

Treasure hunt through the botanic garden. The child will find the second piece of the map, encrypted instructions telling them that they have to go to Paraty (and also the location of the third part of the map).

Free time to wander to your own pace between the water ponds and to enjoy the freshness and peacefulness of the place.
Return to the hotel at 13:00pm.

Departure from the hotel for a journey to Paraty with your local driver in private car with air conditioning. 4 ½-hour drive on a sealed road along the Green Coast, a vegetation corridor between ocean and mountains.

Night at the pousada do Principe (breakfast included).

Included : english speaking guide, entrance fees, private transport, room & breakfast

Your English-speaking guide will pick you up at 09:00am at the hotel for a guided visit of the historical centre of the village.

Your mission that day will be to find the location indicated on the parchment that you would have previously uncovered at the Botanic Garden in Rio de Janeiro.

Nestled between ocean and the foothills of the Serra do Mar, Paraty, registered as a word heritage site with UNESCO, shelters one of the most beautiful colonial heritage of Brazil. Along narrow, paved streets, you will discover this outstanding heritage, witness to the wealth of the 17th and 18th century: sublime mansions, four superb baroque churches, one being the church of Santa Rita de Cassia hosting today a museum of sacred art.

Paraty, a very animated town night and day, has many nearby beaches.

The child will find the third piece of the map showing the precise location of the treasure, and encrypted instructions to find the treasure buried ten feet from the waterfall, towards the midday sun.

Night at the pousada do Principe (breakfast included).

Included : english speaking guide, entrance fees, room & breakfast

At 09:00am, the captain will drive you to the pier to board a private craft, a fishing boat adapted for the tour (benches and cushions, cooler…). Day in the Bay of Paraty, traveling from an island to another and a beach to another. Stops planned on different sites suitable for swimming or snorkeling among hundreds of fishes (mask and snorkel included): ilha Comprida, saco da Velha, praia Vermelha... Return to Paraty around 04:00pm / 05:00pm.

Option: English-speaking guide.

Night at the pousada do Principe (breakfast included).

Included : local guide, private transport, english speaking guide, room & breakfast

Departure from Paraty with a local minibus for the village of Laranjeiras (30-minutes trip).

Trek - 3-hour of actual walking - 200 meters of elevation gain - easy.

The riddle in Paraty will lead you to the small and isolated fishermen's village of Ponta Negra. You can reach it by foot or by boat.

The trek starts with a short climb before entering in the Atlantic forest (Mata Atlantica), at the heart of the "Ecological preservation area of Joatinga". After an hour and a half of pleasant walk you will reach the hamlet of Sono for lunchtime, on the border of one of the nicest beaches of the region, Praia Do Sono. Literally meaning "sleepy beach", Praia Do Sono will seduce you, firstly because of its name and also because as soon as you will get back on the track you will face a steep hill to climb.

After this climb, the hike becomes a lot less demanding. This is the only difficulty of the walk. You will successively pass Praia Da Velha and Praia Dos Antigos before arriving an hour and a half later in the fishing village of Ponta Negra.

Stop for the night in this hamlet at the end of the world, in the recesses of a cove with the waves dying on the white sand beach as the only noise disturbing your sleep.
That's where you will meet an old fisherman, interested in your treasure story, and who will have a lot to say about it...

Dinner in Ponta Negra.

Night in basic but friendly huts (private bath and showers – mosquito net).

Included : bus ticket, lunch (no drinks), dinner (no drinks), room & breakfast, english speaking guide

D Day has arrived. You finally have all the parts of the treasure map in hands and can now go looking for the treasure with your guide. One-Eyed Jeck's treasure isn't a legend anymore, it is between your hands!

Life in the mountains around Paraty has little changed over the last 50 years. The day will be spent discovering the lifestyle in a village almost in autarky thanks to the local resources.

In the morning (depending on the weather conditions), you will go fishing with the men of the village who will explain to you and show you, their fixed-net fishing techniques. Back in the village, you will visit a manioc plantation and the "flour house" where the manioc is processed and reduced to flour. After lunch, a local guide will take you to a waterfall of crystal clear water.
Depending on the season, visit of the village school, educating more than a third of the village population.

Dinner in Ponta Negra.

Night in basic but friendly huts (private bath and showers – mosquito net).

Included : lunch (no drinks), english speaking guide, dinner (no drinks), room & breakfast

Trek - 5-hour walking - 600 meters positive elevation gain - strenuous.

Departure towards the waterfall of Saco Bravo, a wonderfully outstanding site only a few hours walking from the village. The excursion will be worth the effort: to reach Saco Bravo you will take a steep track going alternatively uphill downhill. Once you will reach your destination, you will realize that the reward is well worth the effort; a river entering the forest, about 30 meters above sea level, forming a waterfall along a cliff, then dropping to a natural pool spilling over the edge into the waves crashing at the base of the cliff.

You will enjoy this area for a few hours before heading back to the village of Ponta Negra.

Dinner in Ponta Negra.

Night in basic but friendly huts (private bath and showers – mosquito net).

Included : lunch (no drinks), guide (hiking), local guide, english speaking guide, dinner (no drinks), room & breakfast

Trek from Ponta Negra to Laranjeiras (3h).

Leave from hotel at the time you want (to advise) to go to Rio de Janeiro in a private vehicle with air conditioning.
Night at the Majestic hotel (breakfast included). Standard room.
Included : lunch (no drinks), porters, private transport, english speaking guide, room & breakfast

Transfer to the airport 3 hours prior to departure. Flight from Rio de Janeiro (time and number to be confirmed).

Included : transfer departure