Karina and Mikko Kaukoranta
Helsinki, Finland (& Manaus, Amazonas), April 2008

It took a whole night to fly from Manaus to Florianópolis, where João – Elvio’s son – was waiting for us. The drive with an ancient pick-up truck took 3.5 hours from the beautiful Island of Santa Catarina to Urubici, a tiny mountain town of 2,000 inhabitants. The contrast between tourist-filled beach city Florianópolis and rural Urubici is striking, and our first thought was “what are we doing here!”.

Peter came to the Urubici Park Hotel, welcomed us and explained the program. Typically, Peter prefers a group of 4-6 persons, but now it was only us. We were invited to Elvio’s – a gaucho and our riding guide – house for a simple home-cooked lunch with Elvio’s wife Rosi, daughter Rosanna, son João and his wife and a baby, and a German couple who just finished their one-week riding vacation. We felt immediately welcomed, and the feeling being alone in the middle-of-nowhere disappeared for a whole vacation.

Clothing

Since this was our first riding vacation we had not been quite sure what to pack. No problem. Even though it was Good Friday, a shop selling riding gears opened just for us. We bought waterproof leather boots, hats, vests, and a knife. The prices were very reasonable, so there really is no need to carry everything from home. The boots proved to be excellent, as in many places it was muddy and wet, and cleaning the boots was much easier than cleaning our hiking boots would have been. Jeans were perfect for riding, and we preferred long-sleeved shirts to avoid scratches as the trails went through dense forests. Light wind-jackets were in the saddle-bag, but we did not use them. The new vests we used occasionally, but the temperature was 18C-26C, so there really was no need for warmer clothing when riding. The rain capes provided by Southern Cross kept us totally dry during the couple of rainy afternoons we had.

After our purchases at the store, we did not need money. This was definitely all-inclusive trip.

Riding

The horses were crossbred crioulos, smallish, strong, reliable in the difficult climbs. We are both tall, but it was not a problem. We mainly do jumping at home, so long-distance riding was very different. Due to difficult, rocky and mountainous terrain, the pace was mainly walk or trot. On the plateaus, the horses and riders enjoyed cantering as well. The trails went up and down. Climbing from 900 meters to 1700 meters and down again! Every mountain felt like Mount Everest – finally reaching the top, the incredible feeling of freedom, seeing the range of mountains and valleys. It felt like we are conquering a country never explored. Occasionally we saw other ranchers and stopped to talk with them, which strengthened the feeling of being a family member and not a tourist.

Daily ridings were from 5-7 hours, with longest day 10.5 hours. Every day we had our picnic or barbecue lunch. Lit a fire, cooked coffee, barbecued meat, had homemade cheese and took a nap. Water was no problem – there are creeks all over, and the water is drinkable.
Language

We are Finnish, but have lived over one year in Amazonas. We speak some Portuguese, but relied a lot on Peter. Language is not a problem. Even though Elvio’s family does not speak any other language than Portuguese, they are used to foreigners.

Lodging

1. Urubici Park Hotel was modest, yet tidy.
2. Second night at Pousada (Inn) Caminhos da Neve. We shared a nice lodge (living room, two bed-rooms and one bathroom) together with Peter.
3. Three nights at the Ranch Conta Dinheiro, owned by Elvio’s brother. Very modest, but cozy. All of us - Elvio, Rosi , their son, and Peter - stayed there. Five bedrooms and two bathrooms, with hot showers.
4. The last three nights at Pousada / fazenda Dois Rios. Rogério and Salete are Elvio’s neighbors. Since Elvio and Rosi just moved to new ranch that will be renovated, they could not take us to their home. We had nice after-ride coffee there, but stayed overnight at Rogério and Salete’s where we had dinner and breakfast.

We liked to visit ranches and pousadas, and enjoyed living like family members. The standard of this kind of lodging is not high – e.g. the nights were cold and no heating - but the warm and kind atmosphere you cannot experience in any hotel!

Who is this trip for?

In Scandinavia girls and women do horseback riding. In Brazil it seems to be much for men. The trails and riding was manly – Elvio using his machete to cut the trees to open a trail for riders, simple lunches, and sturdy horses – it was very masculine. No dressage, no fancy gears. But certainly fun!

Riding skills are not that important, but you have to have a good balance and self-confidence. And you must be able to trust the horses. Even though the saddles are good, you’ll be suffering, if your bottom has not recent experience of riding!

This was our first riding vacation but certainly not the last. The experience was not only a vacation, it was also an adventure. We saw marvelous landscape, beautiful nature, met friendly people, and best of all, we were treated like friends.

Detlef and Andrea Lock
Oberhausen (Germany), April 2008

Who has been looking for the great freedom in the US, has never been to Brazil. After having been about 4 times on horse back trails in Arizona I wanted to experience a tropical environment. This is how we arrived at www.ridingbrazil.com with Peter and his partner Elvio, in Santa Catarina, Brazil.

We were very lucky, as we have been invited to a rodeo that happened to take place in Urubici on the weekend we arrived there. The competing vaqueiros (cowboys) are to rope in cattle on a track. The lasso however may not slide down over the cattle´s
head but must stay fix over the cattle´s horns only. A extremely difficult exercise. This colorful event with the vaqueiros concentrated and tense when their turn arrived and the locals their welcoming us with utmost kindness, made us looking forward with eager anticipation for our ride, that started early next day. We immersed nearly immediately into the green of exuberant vegetation. A steep ascent, passing by bamboo, giant ferns, araucaria pine forest and uncountable subtropical flowers and plants,  lead us to a wonderful lookout. From here we overlooked a see of araucaria pine forest, high field pastures and a waterfall, where we would rest for lunch, a couple of hours later.  The performance of the horses this very first day was absolutely stunning.

Also, on the next day, our mounts managed masterly the uphill and downhill, and there were lots of it. Again we rode through these magnificent araucaria pine forests and other exotic trees that were heavily occupied by bromeliads and orchids. The old man´s beard trees let your imagination run loose…. What a landscape….!

On the third day we horses changed. We could see that the animals were treated with care. Again the landscape changed constantly. Now we rode on hilly grasslands already on the high camps. While riding on, we met a small herd of horses that were running loose on the range. There watched and circled us curiously. A bit later we drove some cattle to a nearby fazenda. Since we still wear our hats from Arizona, we got the real cowboy feeling right here in the deep Brazilian backcountry. Suddenly we were covered in thick layers of fog which added a mysterious aspect to the overwhelming mountain panorama. We probably missed another spectacular outlook over the canyons, because of the fog, but this has been still another thrilling day .

Not different were the days ahead. Again, we saw constantly changing vegetation and scenery. From to mountain tops that we had climbed with our brave horses, which seemed to have converted to goats, we head great views over the wide open lands and the untouched nature. We enjoyed every minute of this ride.

We will not miss to mention the delicious meals prepared by Rosi  and Salete, sweetening this holiday week for us. There was also the hospitality we experienced everywhere on the fazendas – despite our language problem. But, we had always Peter at hand who would translate for us. Both, Andrea and Myself, we had not expected that this tour would be so overwhelming.

Our thanks go again to Elvio, his wife Rosi and Peter from ridingbrazil. Our best wishes to all the others.

Detlef and Andrea Lock

Billie Grether
Basle (Switzerland), 5.3.2008

A libertade me falta....
(It is the freedom that I am missing…)

All started when I punched my favorite passions “Brazil+Riding” into the search engines and Peters website came up. It sounded all very tantalizing but I needed a push to convince myself to go on an organized tour. We e-mailed back and forth and even telephoned a couple of time. Was supposed to be a 2 weeks journey ended up to be an extensive riding adventure  in both regions the Brazilian Pantanal and the highlands of Santa Catarina and I got more that I had hoped for.

I appreciated the beautiful landscape of the São Joaquim National Park, die overwhelming hospitality of our hosts Elvio and his wife Rosi, Hilarios friendliness, despite his tough work, the patience everybody had with me, the early morning Camargo, better than any Italian Capuchino, the unbelievable meals Rosi put on the table and, of course, the rides cattle drives with Elvio and team.

My next venture would take me to an outlet where I was supposed to learn something about the “Doma Racional“  but did not live up to my expectations. It but  showed me the another side of Brazil instead. I really missed the simplicity and cordiality of Elvio and his wife.

So was I looking forward to my next destination, which was the world largest wetland, the Brazilian Pantanal. The 3 weeks stay there did touch me, I must admit.  Ritas ranch is just gorgeous.  I soon changed my delicately decorated and air conditioned room with the hammocks under the giant Mango trees, which enabled me not only to watch the miraculous sun downs and sun rises, but I did also enjoy at closest possible distance, the hilarious morning concert of all the hundreds of birds species, for which the region is well known. I did find the most appropriate comments on the birds of the Pantanal  with the pictures of Manoel de Barros: to find the blue I use the birds !  Everyday I made new discoveries in this environment with bustling wildlife and vegetation. I rode with the peões, the Brazilian cowboys who´s tough job I became to respect. I loved to ride after the calves to help to bring em in for treatment. My biggest success was when Tião said “ today you really did gallop a lot”.

I went with Rita and Negão on a trail to the Rio Negro for a week. On a neighboring  fazenda  I was introduced to an educational project called “Escola Pantaneira”  aimed to grant basic education to the children of the peões,  who otherwise and mainly because of the distances and climatic conditions of the Pantanal, would have difficulties to go to school at all.  

Rita was an excellent host, explaining this unique environment,  pampered  me, while I enjoyed life in the saddle and my personal freedom on this beautiful spot called Pantanal. Peter rode with me and my friend on the last part of the trail. Like in São Joaquim did I enjoy his esprit and charm and first of all, his deep knowledge of Brazil and many other issues.

I will never forget when we rode together through the night. Suddenly we were embedded in a sea of stars, cormorants flying in front of us as being on a string and far ahead the light of  the Barra guiding us home.

Thanks Peter for everything, your way, your openness and human warmth, the super organization of this unique travel adventure. I want to come back.

Billie Grether

Farm Stay
Yusuf M. Pirgali
London (Great Britain)

I am not a very good rider but my wife is (Coralie Amon), so I was wondering how the horses would be and whether I could sit on them for 7 hours or not!

We arrived at the airport and were greeted by Peter Rohmer with a Taxi waiting to take us to the Ranch, he spoke very good English and could speak fluent Portuguese to the local people too. This made our communication very easy provided Peter was with us, and he spoke German to my wife when he could.

The journey took around two hours to get into the countryside and gave us a chance to see the country, outside of the main towns and made us realise how beautiful and vast Brazil is. When we arrived at the Ranch of Elvio and Rosie, we were greeted very warmly and made to feel immediately welcome, we were shown our room and were given a nice snack and coffee.The next day we went riding, and the horses were smaller than we are used to in England but took my weight very well, and were a dream to handle as they seem to know what you want to do with out to much effort or control. Over the week we were there my wife and I tried different horses until by midweek I had found the perfect horse who was responsive and fast, but could still tackle the varying landscapes we rode across!

The week went by so quickly and the great hospitality made us feel even more like one of the family, with the great Brazilian cooking done by Rosie, we were able to really feel how they lived as farmers, gauchos and ranchers. The landscape was beautiful too, with challenging rides and changing scenes that would change by the hour and day. The rides were individually suited to the group Peter had with him, and would take us to areas where we had not been the previous day.

We had two weeks booked for our holiday in Brazil where the second week was staying in Club Med in Salvador, but whilst I was laying by the pool in our second week I thought that I would rather be back in the saddle riding around with Peter and Elvio! So I would highly recommend this trip and it has all the genuine flavour of Brazil and is a good experience without being at all touristy.

I hope to return to Brazil and do this again but next time make it at least two weeks!

Best regards
Y.M. Pirgali, London

Adventure Trail
Peter Wolfe
Riyadh (Saudi Arabia)

This year I strayed from the usual Montana riding experience or the alternative of crossing New Zealand to try riding in the Santa Cantarina state of Brazil. I knew the area from business trips and wanted to get behind the cities, hotels and beaches to the real Brazil.

The reality was ahead of my expectations-this riding beats Rockies and European trail riding hands down.

The trip starts with a pick up from the delightful holiday island of Florianópolis, also good for a few days pampering at the end of the trip.

I was early in the season and the ride consisted of myself and the intrepid boss of Southern Cross, the German Brazilian Peter. Driven by the Ranch Owner Elvio we wound up the valley to the mountain town of Urubici. The gaucho experience got off right away with a visit to the local rodeo where I was warmly welcomed despite being as conspicuously foreign as if I had worn a NASA space suit. This is the gaucho life with gaucho people and their lives centres on their horses. You rapidly realize you are not visiting a dude ranch for visitors.

The proper riding started the next day. There is not much in the way of tourist infrastructure here and the tour is cleverly built around Elvios extended family. So you mount up at his Mum's house and then head out trailing from family Fazenda to family Fazenda for a few days, before reaching Elvios own ranch deep in the plateau country.

The horses were sturdy local Crioulo and Crioulo crosses and made short work climbing through the sub tropical vegetation up to the plateaus where we were free to canter at will through the mountain pasture. The saddles are comfortable and padded by 3 layers of sheepskin, and the raincoats came out several times for Lord of the Ring type deluges and proved the best I have used anywhere. The mountain rains made for adventure as we made our way through the sub tropical vegetation along with thunder crashing down.

Most of the time it was bright and sunny and we meandered from fantastic view to fantastic view. Lunchtime was usually an improvised barbecue by a stream and a well earnt snooze after a swig or two of Cachaça.

The horses were rotated regularly since the going is tough and we learnt their individual personalities, as well as the mules that carried packs. The star mule took our luggage back to civilization at the end of the week causing only slight concern when it disappeared over the horizon with Peters working cash flow for the next few weeks and my passport and credit cards. But in the true Brazilian way order was soon restored.

The accommodation was simple but comfortable and the food and drink varied and plentiful. Evening entertainment centred on what became a needle chess championship or just hanging out drinking wine and beer.

We had plenty of chances to see the ranch at work, from milking (ever tried an early morning cappuccino straight from the udder?), to herding to activities that brought a tear to my eyes never mind the bullocks. Everything is at a steady pace and you can participate a much or as little as you wish to.

Language is an issue but Southern Cross makes sure that translation is available. And in any event, everyone is so friendly and laid back you get the message eventually.

Without reservation, this is a superior alternative to the trail rider in search of an authentic trip. The riding level is moderate and the most required skill is confidence in steep ascents and descents. It's more hanging on than dressage! Once you have gone through the Santa Catarina experience, you will find the conventional European or North American trail ride tame.