Vila Velha

I know you recognize the words Vila Velha as the name of the town where João’s parents live, but it is also the name of state park here in Paraná that we visited today. I don’t know if I can explain it, but it is a region that was once attached to Africa (before the Continents separated), covered in ice since it was almost at the South Pole. Once the ice melted, it was exposed to the wind and elements that began forming very interesting shapes in the very red rocks. They sit on top a hill and you can follow a trail to look at the rocks. They look like they have been sculpted into shapes, but that is not the case  , as it as been done by nature. I have never ever seen anything like this. Can you see the camel (on the right) and the boot on the left (below)?

The symbol of the park is the “Wine Glass” sculpture that is everyone’s favorite. As you can tell, it was a gloriously beautiful day. The sky was blue and temperatures just perfect. I keep taking off layers of clothes and stuffing them into my purse. We couldn’t stop taking photos on the 40 minute walk.

We hadn’t planned to make this trip today, and so we slept very late. As we were talking, around 11 o’clock, João said, why don’t we go to Vila Velha today. I thought it was a terrific idea, since it was such a perfect day. We jumped in our clothes and took off. It was about a 90 minute drive. We realized we hadn’t eaten, so we did stop along the way and eat something so we didn’t faint from hunger along the way. But isn’t it great to just be spontaneous? 

There were very few visitors at the park, so other than two other couples, we had the whole place to ourselves to thoroughly enjoy the day.Of course my husband made friends immediately with one couple. The gentleman is of Korean descent so I also had a great time talking with him and remembering my tourism in Korea 35 years ago.

After our visit to the rocks, we also visited some other parts of the park, including some very very deep craters (over 100 meters) and a “golden pond”.  By the time the trip was over, we were ready to head back to our cottage in the woods and finally get something to eat. We got in slightly after dark and now that we have filled our tummies, are seriously thinking about sleeping. I will confess it’s been a long time since I have had such a very enjoyable day.