Nice view out back toward the
river
Papaya, coconut, liche, jackfruit, mango, limes, oranges...
Just a barrel of Cachaça - nothing to see here
Brasil 2022-23 Diary/Photo Journal
Week of 017 of December 04, 2022 - December 10, 2022
We enjoyed Cassio's family's river/lake house for a few days and of course, that meant more BBQ. As the home was in the final stages of renovation, we had a bit of a celebration christening the home and making sure the BBQ worked.
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Cindy fit comfortably on
the driveway Nice view out back toward the
river |
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Diego (Cassio's
brother-in-law) preparing the lamb Just a barrel of Cachaça - nothing to see here |
The BBQ worked just fine and we had a fantastic time with Famiglia Venturelli and their only neighbors, Milton and Ceberina. With the World Cup being played, we were appreciative of the neighbor's generous use of their TV as the Venturelli's TV system had not yet been connected.
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Cheers! (Mario (Cassio's
Father), Paloma, Gerson, Milton's daughter, Milton, Ceberina, Cassio, Diego and Grazi Diego commanding the BBQ Grazi helping Giovanna and Maria slip and slide Milton and Ceberina feeding us food and friendship |
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Sunset over Rio Tibagi View over to Milton and Ceberina's awesome outdoor kitchen/dining area Preto - such a beautiful and fun gatito |
A highlight of our stay was to tour Moinho Globo, the Venturelli family business of milling and refining wheat for more than 130 products. Cassio's family started the business over 60 years ago and initiated the agricultural growth in the area. The 'mill' was a technological wonder as the machines, although watched over by humans, were essentially run by computers. So much attention to detail, quality wheat and significant happy-employee retention, has led Venturelli flour to be considered one of the best, if not the best, flour in Brasil.
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Keeping a clean
environment while in the plant Venturelli! Proud Cassio and us in front of the 'mill' |
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Quite the 'mill' |
We definitely enjoyed our respite at the lake house;
however, we had some other water places on our list to enjoy. Our first
stopover camp was a little water park camp called "Beach World Park Hotel" and
we had fun just hanging out at the pool and avoiding the rain under one of the
gazebos.
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Beautiful landscape
Beach World Park Hotel and one |
We were off early the next morning so we could make our
next camp in time to enjoy some thermal river swimming. We made it to the
town of Rio Quente and stayed in a nice little campground, Camping Esplanada.
We were able to park next to the thermal river and had an enjoyable dip in the
warm water. Fortunately, the camp had a TV in their central 'clubhouse'
structure and we were able to watch the World Cup and stay out of the deluge of
rain.
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Cindy tucked in right
along the Rio Quente Nature's jacuzzi - thermal river Lots of fish thriving in the Rio Quente |
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Dragonfly orgy |
The main attraction in Rio Quente was to enjoy a couple
of days at Hot Park - a huge water park built around the thermal waters.
We especially were looking forward to snorkeling in a lagoon with the many large
fish; however, the torrential rain the night before muddied the waters and the
park did not allow snorkeling for a couple of days. So, we had to find
other ways to keep us amused, and that we did. Unfortunately, the day
ended in a sad note as Brasil lost their World Cup game and were knocked out of
the tournament. The park became rather quiet and because we would not be
able to snorkel the next day, we decided to spend the second day around camp at
our personal thermals and clubhouse TV.
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Hot Park in Rio Quente Having fun rafting in the thermal water |
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