The week in the jungle was superb. There is a unique set-up that allows you to open your mind and soothe your soul at the same time. A difficult combination, and yet this place achieves such results with hardly any effort at all. It is a little piece of paradise.
Jungle Beach Hostel: [check back for the contact info, I will add it eventually...]
Throughout the week I rode horses, hiked to caves and waterfalls, made loyal companions with the dogs, strecthed into yoga poses in the morning with the sound of the river around us, rafted the river, and looked at the most beautiful night sky.
The local cowboy showed me a lot of wonderful scenery from horseback - taking me high up into the mountain to count his cattle and then on another day around into town, along river trails and mountain pathes. We tied the horses and hiked into river spots and a lagoon. We shared a couple beers along the way. We stopped to chat with locals and watched many birds and other horses and cattle roam their territory. Watching him handle the horses it is quickly apparent that he truly is an equine master.
Antonio (the owner of Jungle Beach) is an amazing person all around. He has an inspiring passion for the environment and to save the world in essence. He wants to teach the kids everything. He wants to talk to people and debate, and he is very open to new ideas and suggestions. He took care of us all during our stay - meeting us at the bus station for the ride from Rio, making natural medicines for Andy´s (one of the English guys) ailments, going out of his way to make phone calls and connections for us after our stay at his place, and anything else we could have thought of he certainly would have tried to accommodate. Oh, and he didn´t have a credit card machine, so for one couple to pay they went into town together and bought him a TV in exchange for their stay at his hostel.
His wife, Carina, is also amazing. A beautiful Brazilian native, with a working knowledge of English and a cuteness from lack of confidence in it. She is a wonderful cook! (Make sure you get Antonio to take you on lots of hikes, because otherwise you will definitely gain some weight!) She also instructed us in yoga - a wonderful way to wake up, especially in this environment. It just fits.
The kids are cute and interested in learning who you are and also the English language a little bit. It was Christian´s 8th birthday while we were there. The cake was very chocolatey and very very good!
And the dogs and horses became my fast friends. The little black was like my own personal guard dog by the end of the week. He slept on my legs out on the lawnchair, and he followed me to the bridge at night to watch the stars. He also waited for us after long rides, sometimes he met us in town and sometimes he was just sitting by the main gate to jungle beach. Our welcoming party :) The horses are new to the property, and the white especially is a willing and capable mount. I learned later that he used to be cowboy´s horse - which explains why he is such a superb animal. The black horse had an issue with his horseshoe, and I didn´t ride him as much just because he was a smaller animal and we were putting the less experienced riders on him. Oh, and I forgot to mention that the cowboy let me ride HIS horse, too! That blew my mind - you gotta be good for a real cowboy to give you his mount. :)
River rafting was absolutely one of the best experiences! Six of us went, so we got two rafts and two guides (our guide was much more fun). The river was perfect for us as beginners, too. It was mostly calm and a soothing ride, and the rapids were enough to give us a little adrenaline rush. Honestly, by the end I really wanted more rapids and a rougher ride with this group because it was so enjoyable! Both rafts managed to get stuck on rocks at various points, which ended up being great because we jeered at each other and also got to jump around the raft to get it unstuck. We are all still surprised that we didn´t flip ours when it happened to us :) We stopped to play in the water outside of the rafts, and at one of the rapids our guide backed us up and made us splash ourselves with the cold water. It was great!!!
I definitely and highly recommend Jungle Beach Hostel to any- and everyone. It is well worth the trip.
