Beaches, mountains and European air in the south of Brazil

The walk is peaceful along the Trilha do Mirante trail of the Serra Geral National Park in Cambará do Sul, in southern Brazil. We are heading towards the highest point of the Fortaleza Canyon.

Those vertical walls – that crack polished 200 million years ago when the continents separated – serve for an adrenaline-filled test: try the zip line highest in Americaat 800 meters high and with a speed of 30 kilometers per hour.

“If we stood it up, an entire Christ the Redeemer would fit in the hole,” someone graphs to give a notion of the immensity.

The protocols of security They get going: helmets, harnesses, some instructions… Several people review their partner’s procedure to make sure everything is in order.

“Are you ready?” asks one of the employees.

And the jump comes. The nebular blanket covers part of the route. Someone lets out a scream as a result of the adrenaline or son of joy. Down there, in the distance, you can see a waterfall.

The wild vegetation between the walls. And the brake of some springs, which indicate the end of the brief – but intense – journey. It is not very common to walk like this among the clouds.

The excursion to the Serra Geral National Park is just one of the attractions that the state of Rio has Grande do Sul. The general Argentine public knows it for its beaches, but the region offers mountains, mountains, a wine tourism not so well known to our public and a great variety of attractions.

Here are some options to discover it this summer. And all year round.

For many, Brazil in the summer is synonymous with beaches. And of course the neighboring country has offers for all tastes.

Capão da Canoa, one of the classics in the area and highly chosen by Argentine families, allows you to enjoy 23 kilometers of beach during the day and the lagoon in the afternoon, with its Nautical Park, which offers 10 hectares: six are for environmental protection and four for public access, and that is where you can practice jet ski or simply swim in the Lagoa dos Quadros when the sun goes down.

“Towers. A mais bela praia gaúcha”, say the promotions of the city that offers not only six beaches but also lagoons, mountains, natural parks and an intense activity of balloon rides.

One of the great attractions – and the one that offers the best views – of Torres is the Guarita State Parka few kilometers from the urban center of the city.

The contrast of the basalt towers with the sea, the vegetation and the walks along those rocks with the roar of the waves in the background are a pleasure as primary as it is unique. In addition, more than one hundred species of birds can be seen there. And the park protects about a thousand hectares of Atlantic forest.

The mountains are, perhaps, the attraction less known of Rio Grande do Sul for the general Argentine public.

Immersing yourself in Mampituba is one of the ways to explore it. And in particular the EcoParque dos Canyonswhich offers a day of adrenaline with bicycles hanging from a zip line, hammocks in the heights and eating at a table hanging from a harness, as well as other delights for lovers of vertigo.

The plan is an excuse to marvel at those great sheets of green, at the height, at the immensity…

The city should be studied – if it has not already been – in tourism development conferences. It has only 40,000 inhabitants and has been an autonomous municipality for a few decades, but in the last year it received more than eight million tourists.

It offers mountains, valleys, crystal clear streams and pine forests, as well as streets with orchids.

But its main attraction is the festivities and his european legacymainly German – it is present in the architecture of the entire city – and Italian.

On the streets, from October to mid-January, the city dresses up to celebrate “Christmas light”, a very extensive Christmas program with lights, fireworks, Disney-style street parades and concerts.

The European imprint also lives on in gastronomy, with chocolate factories – Prawer is one of the most famous and offers guided tours – and dozens of restaurants with their fondue nights.

From Olivas Park in Gramado, you can watch the evening fall with a drink in your hand. And, of course, try the oils they produce with six varieties of olives.

Just eight kilometers from Gramado, Canela has 22 theme parksas well as spectacular viewpoints of the Sierra Gaúcha.

One of the most recent is Space Adventure, which is presented as “a NASA station on Gaucho land.”

It is a place that houses more than 200 original objects from the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo projects – some linked to food, hygiene and objects such as cameras – as well as immersive experiences, an education center and a planetarium.

In the same city, there are two magnificent options to see the mountains. One is the Caracol State Parka space of 100 hectares with dense forests and a panoramic view of the Caracol Waterfall, which exceeds 130 meters high.

Another is the Sky Glass, a steel and glass platform – glass is the most dizzying part of the proposal – that sticks out like a tongue in the middle of a valley 360 meters high. The plan is to walk through that place. Those looking for even more adrenaline can opt for a monorail with suspended chairs, which give the sensation of floating in that landscape full of monkey puzzle trees.

The city is a great furniture hub in the country, but the world of tourism defines it as the wine capital. In that city alone there are more than a hundred wineries that Italian immigrants patiently built.

Little known to the Argentine public, production is increasing and of higher quality, with Merlot as the star in the area. The challenge for wineries is not minor: conquering the domestic market of a country that is beer drinker.

After a country roast At the “Gaita y assado” restaurant, the visit continues in the old “Casa de Pedra” winery, an old wine cantina from 1880.

Other options include trying the sparkling wines from Bodega Lovara, the wines from Miolo and taking a getaway to Garilbaldi, a city famous for its sparkling wines, with the Peterlongo winery as one of the references.

You still have to visit Nova Petrópolis, with its famous labyrinth y Sculptures Parque Pedras do Silêncio, a open air museum which through 80 sculptures tells the story of German immigrants in Brazil.

Or take a walk, on foot or by boat, along Lake Guaíba in Porto Alegre, the state capital.

At some point, that catchy music will play. A hymn that says that the gaúchos they love what is good: the churrasco, the good chimarrão (mate) and the charm of its love.

● Aerolíneas Argentinas has direct flights from Buenos Aires to Porto Alegre. Round trip ticket for mid-February, from 394,543 pesos. Latam flies with a stopover in São Paulo.

● On the beach, apartments are rented in Capão da Canoa from 300 to 350 reais per night, while in Torres, between 380 and 400 per night.

● In the Gaúcha mountain range, the Parador Cambará Do Sul hotel is a boutique establishment close to the area’s canyons. Rooms from 1,405 reais (www.paradorcasahoteis.com.br).

One dollar is equivalent to five reales.

● Zip line in the Serra Geral National Park, considered the highest in America, 180 reais.

● Entrance to Space Adventure, a NASA theme park in Canela with more than 200 original objects, costs 150 reais (spaceadventure.com.br).

● Ride in a 4×4 vehicle and hike to see the Cascata do Caracol – reaches the foot of the 131-meter waterfall -, 200 reais.

● Entrance to the Acqua Lokos water park, Capão da Canoa, 120 reais.

● In the supermarket: a six-pack of beers, 12 reais; a two-liter Coca-Cola, 9; a package of yerba, 7 reales and a kilo of picanha – here picaña – costs 44.

● One liter of gasoline, 5.70 reais.

● In a restaurant, dishes from 29 reais. A large pizza, between 40 and 60 reais in a beach city. In Canela, dinner-show with free grill at Churrascaria Garfo e Bombacha, 325 reais.