- Caves: Iporanga is
called “The Cave Capital of Brazil” with over 400 caves in the town. Below are
just the highlights.
•Casa da Pedra is the
world’s largest cave entrance of 215 meters. The trip involves a 2-hour hike to
the opening where there is a place to sit down and have a picnic and swim and
then a hike back.
•Temimina Cave has a large
opening in the ceiling illuminating its oddly shaped diagonal garden. Then you
enter into a dark cave where at the end you find a natural shower hole.
•Nucleo Santana is a group
of caves and is the most commonly visited as it has a wide range of different
types of caves. In some caves you can swim.
- Tubing/Boia Cross:
is a sport where by you get on a big balloon and float down the river. There
are various waterways you can do in Iporanga, some more radical and some in the
big river which is very relaxing and can last 3 hours.
- Cananeia: has
various islands with dolphins swimming in between which are very easy to
visualize. It is also known for its stunning beaches, awesome boat tours, great
restaurants and the mangrove reserve where there are many crabs.
- Waterfalls:
Iporanga has many waterfalls. “Sem Fim” is a small waterfall walking distance
from the reserve. “Vale das Ostras” has 12 large waterfalls in a row.
- Quilombos: during
the era of slavery many slaves would run away from the plantations and create
settlements hidden in the forest. These communities live in relative isolation
and you can visit their small towns. For some of the Quilombos the tours
include travelling their by boat and having a traditional lunch at one of the
families homes.
- Social Events:
•Dinners: there are many
nice restaurants were volunteers can have dinner, some more classy like Casarao
and some with traditional Brazilian food. There is also a great fish
restaurant. Often volunteer will eat out on the weekends.
•Town Parties: the are a
couple of bars in town, some have pool tables and some have dancing areas. On
holidays, there are usually town festivals on the streets.
•BBQ: it is very common to
have a BBQ on the weekend which is often accompanied with the traditional
Brazilian drink called Caipirinha.
