Rio & Fishermen Trekking

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

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

Your English-speaking guide will meet you at the hotel at 09:00am. Transfer to the Tijuca national park. Located in the middle of Rio, this green oasis of 3,200 acres is the largest urban forest in the world where you will have the best options to hike "around" and "inside" Rio. You will pass through the "vista chinesa" and the "mesa do Imperador", both offering a fantastic panoramic viewpoint over the city.

It takes 2 and a half hour to walk to the summit of the pico da Tijuca, the highest point at 1,021 meters above sea level. Relax on the summit, and enjoy the superb view over Rio spreading below feet.

In the afternoon, climb up the Corcovado (700 m el.) a worldly known symbol of Rio. At the summit take the time to appreciate the unique and wonderful panoramic view of the cidade maravilhosa in front of you.

Return at 05:00pm at the hotel.
Night at the Royal Rio hotel (breakfast included). Standard room.
Included : english speaking guide, private transport, room & breakfast

Hiking - 2:30 - medium intensity

Your English-speaking guide will meet you at your hotel at 09:00.

Short transfer by regular bus along the beaches of Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon. From the beach of Ipanema, we already see the "2 Irmãos" standing at the end at the beach. The bus leaves you just at the foot of the "Morro", at the entrance of the Vidigal favela.

From there, a combi-taxi takes you to the heart of the community. You can also choose to go on foot. The road is narrow, steep, with tight turns, the traffic is rather intense. You finally arrive at the top of the favela, the starting point of the trail.

Change of scene: you go from the community agitation to the quiet Atlantic Forest. In a few seconds, you are in the middle of the rainforest. It is about a 1h30-hiking trip. During the climb, you will overlooking the impressive favela. Farther, the Pedra da Gávea dominates the neighborhoods and the beaches of São Conrado and Barra da Tijuca.

You finally get to the top. The view is breathtaking. Without any doubt, you have in front of you one of the most beautiful views of the southern area of Rio.

You take the time to enjoy the sights, then take the same path for the descent.

You walk back down the favela. Possibility to go down in the favela kombi or motorbike taxi (not included).

Back to your hotel by local bus at around 1:00 p.m.

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 Corsário (breakfast included). Luxury Room.
Included : english speaking guide, bus ticket, public transport, private transport, 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 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.

Dinner in Ponta Negra.

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

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

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

Trek - 6-hour walking - 650 meters of elevation gain - strenuous.

You will trek towards the Joatinga peninsula starting with a serious climb (elevation gain of over 500 meters) at the heart of the tropical forest (2 to 3-hour climb). The descent will allow you to recover. You will walk along the coast of the Cairuçu peninsula for about 2 hours. The track is often straight above the ocean with thus stunning viewpoints of the coast line hard to compete with, before reaching Martin de Sá beach, a beautiful sand-bar on the ocean and known as one of the best surf spots of the area. Surfers arrive there by steep tracks, with their surf and their tent on their back, to enjoy the powerful and consistent waves in this area all year round.

The itinerary leaves the littoral and you will enter deeper inland, in the ecological reserve of Joatinga, to get to the other side of the peninsula.
Another hour and a half walk before arriving to the village of Pouso de Cajaiba, on the shores of another picturesque beach.

Dinner in Pouso da Cajaíba.

Night with a local host (basic comfort, no hot water).
Included : lunch (no drinks), english speaking guide, dinner (no drinks), room & breakfast

Trek - 4 to 5-hour walking - 550 meters of elevation gain - strenuous.

Departure around 08:30am. The trail follows the coast, on the inhabited side of the Joatinga peninsula. The villages, the encounters and the beaches alternate until Praia Grande… a kilometer long thin sand beach with turquoise water. Nearby, a crystal clear water lagoon and a waterfall are the perfect place to rest the exhausted hiker. You will spend some time on the beach before starting again. The climb is steep (550 meters of positive elevation); a narrow and sometimes treacherous track leading you towards the Mamangua reserve, certainly the wildest place in the area. From the pass, you will discover the narrow and deep Bay looking like a Scandinavian fjord.
Once you get to Engenho beach, a boat will take you across the Bay, towards the "Refugio do Mamangua", where Paulo, a biologist-writer, and his wife Cristina will welcome you.

Having settled here for the last ten years, they are running a study on the equilibrium between a fragile ecosystem and its interdependency with human activity (fishing, oyster-farming, agriculture, tourism). With a bit of luck they will have some time during your stay to share with you their true passion for the area. They will host you in their bungalows, offering basic comfort (no electricity, but hot shower) and a guaranteed serenity.

Dinner at the Mamangua Pousada.

Spend the night in chalets, in a humble setting (no electricity, but hot shower), very quiet and peaceful.
Included : lunch (no drinks), english speaking guide, boat ticket, dinner (no drinks), room & breakfast

In the morning, you will go to the end of the Bay for a few hours canoe trip in the mangrove. Your silent and handy canoe is the ideal way to get close to the undisturbed nature and the abundant fauna: egrets, ibises and kingfishers and the enormous quantity of crabs, from the little red Siri with black legs, to the caranguejo, its huge cousin of the size of the common crab will accompany you during the tour. You will leave the canoes to walk up the river for a few hundred meters and refresh yourself in a natural pool during lunch.

Around midday you will visit Regato, a little hamlet hidden near a mangrove. You will be welcomed by Sir Jurray and his family living in a Caiçaras traditional lifestyle. For the last few years, an oyster farming project and the crafting of painted wooded boats replicates have been an alternative source of income other than fishing, which represents the main resource of the area.

After lunch, you will return to the Refugio de Mamangua paddling in your canoe.

You will get your backpacks back, and walk to Laranjeiras. You will return to Paraty by local bus (30-minute trip).

Option: return to Paraty by private bus, check with us.

Night at the pousada do Corsário (breakfast included). Luxury Room.
Included : lunch (no drinks), entrance fees, bus ticket, equipment rental, english speaking guide, room & breakfast

Departure from the pousada 7 hours before departure for your transfer to the airport. Flight from Rio (airport, flight time and number to be confirmed).
Included : private transport, transfer departure