Guest post by Jonathan Baggs

Escaping the Rain with our First Acai

We arrived in Ouro Preto from Belo Horizonte in the mid afternoon heat. The Rodoviaria (bus station) was on the edge of town and we planned to go directly to our Airbnb. It turned out that there was no Uber in town and, by the time we got organized, all the taxis had been taken. It was a 30 minute walk according to my Google Maps, so despite the heat and the weight of our bags, we decided to walk. 

We made our way down hill, past the beautiful churches the town is famous for and into the town centre. After a while, I realized I had entered the address into our directions incorrectly and it would actually be a 40+ minute walk. At about the same time, the sun that had been beating down on us disappeared and it started raining. Then the road led us up a long hill. Tired, wet and hungry, we trudged on, stopping briefly to rest on a ledge and laugh at our situation. 

Steph decided to see if there was a restaurant on the way to give us a break from the walk and the rain. She found an açai shop a few minutes up the road. We arrived shortly and immediately dropped our bags and took a load off. The woman at the shop didn’t show much enthusiasm for us soggy foreigners, but the açai she brought was just what the doctor ordered. 

Refueled and with the rain tapering off, we carried on another few minutes to our apartment. Despite the check-in instructions our host had sent us, it took us a minute or two to figure out how to get the key, which was in a wall safe with a key code. Once inside, we discovered a very comfortable apartment with great views of the town and surrounding mountains. We used every available hook and hanger to try to dry our wet bags, clothes and shoes and took advantage of the ensuite washer to get some laundry done. 

A View of the Town and Local Police

Once we were settled, Steph, Cheryl and I went for a walk to the nearby university. When we reached the viewpoint overlooking the town we found there were two policemen frisking three young men on motorbikes. We decided to take a lap around the university before returning. When we returned, the frisking was done, but the cops and boys were still there. One of the boys was below the viewpoint clearly looking for something in the grass. He asked us if we could see a set of keys with a red keychain before gesturing angrily, but silently, towards the cops, who had presumably tossed the keys over the edge. We couldn’t see anything red and left him to search, wondering what to think of the situation. 

Steep Streets and Steeples

The following day we headed out to see the town. Ouro Preto is the former state capital of Minas Gerais and was a main centre of the Brazil gold rush. Its name translates to Black Gold and was formerly called Vila Rica (Rich Village). It is also known for its many churches and baroque colonial architecture. 

We walked up and down along the hilly, often very steep streets, stopping at a museum featuring some local history and artwork and in a couple of the churches that were open to the public. The ornate gold decorating the walls and pillars of the churches was stunning while the very realistic depictions of the crucifixion were a bit jarring. Around lunchtime, we waited out a brief rain shower at a restaurant, enjoying a juice before continuing our trek. The rain made the steep, cobblestone streets slippery for walking.

In one area of town we passed a lot of men who encouraged us to do a mine tour. We had read about the tour, but the reviews weren’t very positive, so we decided to skip it. Up until now, we’d enjoyed the lack of people trying to sell us things on the street, unlike our experiences in other parts of the world. 

Itacolomi Park

Satisfied that we had seen enough of the town and gotten enough steps, we headed back up the hill towards our apartment, appreciating not having to carry our backpacks this time. After relaxing for a bit, we headed out again towards nearby Itacolomi Park to scout some potential mountain hikes for the next day. The hiking information online and at the park office was a bit lacking, but we determined there was a hike that we could do that would give us some great views and might take us to an interesting rock formation that stood out along the mountains above the town. 

The next morning we headed back towards the park, this time taking a bus to the entrance. We stopped at a bakery along the way to get some cheese balls for the hike. The road from the park entrance to the visitors center was long and felt like it was completely uphill. When we finally reached the visitors centre we met a groundskeeper who was very friendly (turns out we were the only visitors that day!) and showed us the route we wanted to take. As we carried on further up we came out of the forest and into a mountain landscape with large, gray rocks sticking out of the ground and a view for miles of the countryside. We decided we had reached our limit short of the peak and rewarded ourselves with the cheese balls. As we packed up to head back the first rain of the day started. Within a few minutes it was pouring down and the trail was running with water and mud. By the time we made it back to the visitors centre it had stopped and we had a rest and another snack by a muddy lake.

The road back which had seemed all uphill that morning somehow seemed to be more uphill on the way back. Fortunately, we only had a short wait for a bus when we got back to the edge of town. Cheryl and I stopped to get groceries from the nearby Mercado while Marieke and Steph headed home. While we were shopping, the skies opened up again with pouring rain and occasional thunder. We waited patiently for the rain to slack a bit before hurrying back to the apartment. 

Scraping Speedbumps

We took turns showering while thunder boomed outside and the rain came and went. The skies cleared that evening and we could hear what sounded like a marching band, likely practicing for Carnaval. Our host had left a taxi card at the apartment and we organized a trip to the rodoviaria the next morning. 

Our plans didn’t go as smoothly as we thought when our taxi didn’t arrive at our agreed time. Marieke called the driver who was on his way, but wasn’t sure where to find us. Eventually he figured it out and we were on our way. Already behind schedule, we then ran into a dead end due to road work and had to take a very hilly, bumpy, windy route through town. There were numerous speed bumps on the road and the loaded taxi slammed and scraped over them, making us all cringe. This must just be the reality of life in Ouro Preto, since our driver didn’t seem overly concerned. Thankfully, we arrived at the rodavaria just in time to realize our bus booking had not been confirmed. Marieke ran around the bus station to different counters before we were able to correct the problem and catch the waiting bus for us to head to Rio de Janeiro.