Enchanted Forest

Within a couple hour’s drive from PoA there’s the Atlantic Forest, not yer Amazonic Lung of the World but a threatened eco system nontheless.  Eco tourism is the gubbins to do here (HELLO HELLO HELLO!  TOURISM TOURISM TOURISM!), there are a few places where you (PAY) can take forest trails, jump into waterfalls and lakes and make a barbie at specially designated barbie areas.  Grandpa Rangel’s Enchanted Forest is one such place, costs about 3 britquid per adult to spend the day and about 30 bq for a cabin per night.  Unfortunately Grandpa Rangel’s Enchanted Lake has greatly diminished, Global Warming according to Grandma Rangel, so instead of taking a full body spludunk off Grandpa Rangel’s Floating Pier you can only dip up’t'knees in luke warm murky water.  Barbie pits and picnic tables are under the trees so plenty of shade. Grandma Rangel doesn’t allow you to take your own pop or beer so she can make huge profits with inflated bar prices, but you can usually get away with sneaking in your cans  in a cool box and buying just a three or four at the bar to keep her happy.

It’s a great day out for kids, along forest trails there are several ‘theme’ houses – the witch’s house, Snow White’s house (complete with seven mini-beds).  Somewhere up in the canopy there’s also a famiy of howler monkeys, keep looking up and you’ll see them.

From PoA go to the end of Avenida Ipiranga, then follow the signs for Viamão on the RS040, keep on this road.  About ten mins the other side of Viamão you go through a toll gate (cost about 1.30 britquid) after the toll gate pay attention to the bus stops on the right, they are numbered, another 15 minutes or so and you’ll reach number 90, here turn right onto a dirt road and go on for about 2.5miles (4km) there you’ll find the entrance to the Enchanted Forest.  Okay maybe you won’t recognise it because it’s in Portuguese – Floresta Encantada Vô Rangel.

Have a nice time!

If you haven’t died in your unairconditioned hostel room, at the end of the day check out the PoA sunset at one of these places:

Gasômetro, large ugly building now used as “culture space”, has an expansive terrace upa de stairs for viewing the sun gently slipping over the hills behind the lake. They did a pretty dumb thing though, they put the bar on the wrong side. From the bar terrace you see: a busy road, some high rise apartment blocks, bums living under the monorail.

Floating Bar, next to the Gasô, this is basically a double decked floating platform with a bar. It has the potential to be something really nice, but it’s actually quite dirty, neglected and well…. just CRAP.

Beira Rio promenade, long walk starting from the Gasô, take deck chairs and cool box. Occasionally nearer town you’ll come across someone selling cold drinks from an ice box. A little further on you’ll find a wonderfully expensive barbecue restaurant owned by two tacky country music singers, I’m not sure if they have a deck to observe the SS, I can’t afford to go there.

Ipanema promenade, out of town, a few miles to the south. Don’t hitchhike. Lots of bars along the river front here, sunset views usually attract lots of people so arrive early to get the best seats.

My terrace. Buy a slab or two of GOOD beer and a piece of dead bovine creature and come on over, I’ll barbie it for us.

SHLOPPING CENTRES

Awful places, don’t go, oh no, don’t go.

Bourbon Country however has the best book store in PoA, if you’ve got loads of dosh to spend on books spend it there.

Weekends are for Drinking Cold beers and Eating Churrasco

AND for strolling around Redenção park. On Saturdays on Avenida José Bonifácio there’s a craft and fruit and veggie market and Sunday’s there’s a crappy old stuff market, known as “antiques”, you may come across a Genuine Chesterfield comode or piece of Wedgewood porcelain and certainly you can find some nice rusty Gomez door knobs at knock down (or knock out) prices.

As you perambulate up and down the avenue you’ll come across: several silver statues that squeek and move if you put money in a cardboard box; the smallest theatre in the world; a man playing a guitar and a leaf; lots of people selling lots of things.

Finish your perambulations with a cold beer at Simon’s or the Café do Lago, where you can observe green turtles bigger than dinner plates and in fact, quite a different shape from dinner plates.