The road to Ubatuba

The first time I heard the name Ubatuba it sounded very exotic to me. Where could that be? I was told that we could go the beach there.

Only in the north-east of Brazil wide rivers go to sea. In the rest of the country rivers flow into the country and most of them end up in the Rio de la Plata in Argentina. The Portuguese that landed at Rio the Janeiro thought they found a river (in January)…. But alas no river just a large bay. It is because right behind the coast lies a mountain range: The Serra do Mar. 

The clouds from the ocean bump into the mountains and provide the water to sustain the rain forest (the Mata Atlântica) on the coast. 

So when you want to go to the sea you have to cross the serra. From Taubaté it is 90 kilometers by bus across the Serra do Mar. 

The landscape on the land side of the serra reminds me of England; nice flowing green hills. Only the vegetation is different. Plumes of bamboo, palm trees, banana plants and too many Eucalyptus trees. There are cows and horses grazing. Some meadows are full with anthills. The earth is bright red. Erosion is everywhere.

After three quarters of the trip you reach a pass on around 1000 meters. Once you passed that pass the road goes down. I tried to count the very steep curves. There are at least 25 of them. The bus slows down to first gear and needs the left lane to round the curves. 

Here in Brazil they even sing a song about a bus driver Barbosa going over the serra: O Barbosa, essa curva é  perigosa.

At the end of the curves the first house you see has an “SOS breaks service” sign….  and sells bananas. 

Finally we arrive in Ubatuba. Ubatuba is an Indian name and it means “many canoes”. Ubatuba has some fine old Portuguese houses. 

But there is something far more interesting here. The Tropic of Capricorn reaches the continent of Latin America in Ubatuba. You have to search for the small sign in the grass behind a seat. But there it is!

 Next time we will go to some of the 84 beautiful beaches of Ubatuba!

Brazilian children love Emilia

Monteiro Lobato and family

The most famous writer of Taubaté is without doubt Monteiro Lobato. He created Emilia, a dominating, obstinate rag doll that has adventures with two children Pedrinho and Narizinho. But there is also, the grandmother Dona Benta that tells the stories and the maid Tia Nastacia. Tia Nastacia made Emilia and also the half man half corn person Visconte de Sabugosa. Emilia comes to life by eating a speaking pill. Sometimes the Saci, a one legged creature from Indian legends, appears in the stories.

Emilia and Tia Nastácia

The Saci

Most of his stories start with the grandmother telling a tale to the children. Then the children and the doll become involved in the story and go off into their fantasies.

Grandmother telling....

During the dictatorship some of his books were prohibited because in some stories the children used a magic powder. This made conservative and clerical powers think Monteiro Lobato was writing about the use of cocaine. 

The sitio Pica-Pau (Woopecker farm) where Monteiro Lobato was born and where he lived has become the centre of Monteiro Lobato  activities in Taubaté / Brazil. Many, many children go there. Either with their school or with their parents. The house is made into a museum, there is also a library and there is a little shop where you can buy “Emilia’s”.

Library

Saci

Emilia rag doll

The day I went there was bright and sunny. Walking under the old trees was refreshing. You couldn’t imagine that just outside this oasis was the busy traffic of Taubaté. In the park you meet the figures from the books. The statues are made of concrete and painted in bright colors. There is also a small band stand in the grounds.

Several times a day there is a show for children in a part of the old farm. The actors perform one of the stories. We saw part of a show. No photos because of copy rights!! The children were completely absorbed by the spectacle. This time they went to the moon!

In the grounds we saw this huge tree, the Jaca tree, with extremely big fruits. The vicinity of the tree was closed off, because you can imagine what happens when a fruit like that falls on your head.

 

Monteiro Lobato sure made Taubaté the Brazilian capital of children's literature

A Church and a chapel

In the Serra do Mar, between Ubatuba and Taubaté lies the town of Redenção da Serra.

Going to Redenção coming from Taubaté the first thing you see is a derelict church with a wall around it and some houses on the edge of a muddy end of a lake. This is the old church. Redenção used to be a nice little place in a valley.

It was the first town in the state of São Paulo to free its slaves; on the 10^th of February 1888, even before the “Lei Aurea” came into power on May 13 1888. Also because of this fact in the first half of the last century the name of the town was changed from Santa Cruz de Paiolinho to Redenção da Serra. Driving into town right across the bridge there is a large statue to commemorate the abolition. The statue was made by José Demetrio, a well known local sculptor in the Paraiba valley.

In the 70-ties the demand for electrical energy was growing. The solution to the problem was to build a dam in the Paraibuna river. Then the dam came…. And the old town of Redenção was flooded. The church on the high ground still stands but is slowly falling apart. Now it is protected by a wall against the water. When we were there the water level was low. But the water can rise until almost the top of the wall.

For the inhabitants there was no option to stay. They either could go away and start a life in another city or they could move to a new town on the hill a kilometer to the east.

The new town is build on a steep hill. In the middle is a square with a bandstand. Every Saturday morning you can listen there to typical music from the countryside. 

But there are also other cultural happenings. When we were there The “Prismáticos”, a street circus group from Argentina, were performing for the children of Redenção.

A bit to the side of the town lies a chapel with great views to the lake. The chapel is not used, but it has beautiful bright colored murals painted in the eighties by Mestre Justino (born in Redenção). 

It is a pity that the chapel lies derelict. The paintings have been restored and deserve to have more admirers. The perfect place to enjoy the view on the end of the day…..