Eco Park and the Cangaço Route - Our seventh day.

A day to breathe history.

The Xingó Complex has a LOT to enjoy! It's best to stay at least 3 days, so it's a good excuse to come back.
Today we decided to go to the Cangaço Eco Park to see the famous Cangaço Route.
In the early hours of the morning we had a wonderful surprise.

The idea was to enjoy the sunrise, but unfortunately the weather didn't help much, it was as cloudy as yesterday.
As we knew that the view of the hydroelectric dam from our room was beautiful, we slept with the curtains open - it was the best thing!
Opening our eyes and seeing this landscape was invigorating!

Fun guaranteed.

We had our coffees, reinforced Emmanuel's meals, set off and soon crossed two states.
We left Canindé in Sergipe and arrived in Piranhas in Alagoa, this time crossing two states was very quick.
A VERY cute town, with colorful little houses, worth a visit for its center!
This is where the catamaran leaves for the Cangaço Eco Park.
An incredible new complex for children, of course I was really looking forward to seeing the Cangaço Route!

Cangaço Eco Park

We arrived with "Lampião" welcoming us, with firing squad and all! But what caught the little one's attention was the beautiful horse he was riding.

We settled in and went to enjoy the place, I ventured a little on the slackline and the climbing wall!
And I did well, I rang the bell and completed the course, Emmanuel also climbed!
Calm down, not the wall but the wooden stairs of the little house to get to the slide, hihhi.
After all, every climb is for its age hehehe and for him it really is a challenge to climb those huge logs alone.

Perfect for children.

We swung in the hammock, he rode the pony, ran all he could, dived a lot and we played a lot.
But there was one part that would be too tiring for him, the trail that takes us to Grota do Angico, the place where Lampião, Maria Bonita and their gang were caught in an ambush, which resulted in their deaths.

Cangaço Route

We left Emmanuel with his grandparents and set off on the 1,500m adventure through different vegetation from what we're used to and an extremely dry climate. The terrain is almost all flat, we cross a large part of a dry river, which depending on the season shows its face and softens the heat and dust that rises with every step, I was thinking the whole way that this was the real Cangaço Route and where Lampião and Maria Bonita took their last steps.
The cacti and trees add charm to the trail. A tree that was a little over 200 years old caught my eye, despite its dry branches it was standing there firm and strong, just waiting for a rain to turn it green again.

At every moment we saw garbage cans and signs encouraging us and telling us how many metres were left to the end of the Cangaço Route, until tcharam, we easily recognized the Grota, with two huge crosses with a plaque in honour of the centenary of Lampião's birth and the names of all those who were killed there.

A place in Brazilian history!

If you look closely, you can see the bursts of gunfire engraved in the stones, and look, there were a LOT of shots, from what they reported the gang didn't even have a chance to hit back, the wheel came right from where they were and they went down the nail.
This trail is called the Cangaço Route precisely because this massacre of Brazil's most famous cangaceiros took place there.
Another thing I found interesting was the term GROTA, exactly, I didn't make a mistake when I said it, hehehe it's not a cave!
As there is an intermittent river there, the water has dug a cavity in the rock and this is called a grotto, sometimes the cavity has water in it and sometimes it stays like it is today.

Time to relax.

After this hands-on history lesson on the Cangaço Route, we came back digesting everything we'd seen and itching for a dive with Emmanuel.
He was already waiting for us, eager to enjoy it like a little fish.
Cangaço Eco Parque is a place for the whole family and has attractions for a whole day, but we were still on our way back to Aracaju and couldn't relax as much.
We went back to the hotel for a final swim, a nice meal and another four hours on the road to the del Canto Hotel again.

Time to go back.

The feeling of nostalgia is starting to take over, I don't want to leave! Tomorrow will be our last minutes in this wonderful state! How do you do it? I think I'm going to have to go back sooner than I thought, you know?

If you want to follow the journey from the beginning, click here!