Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ARRIVAL AND ACCOMMODATION
REGÊNCIA
By bus
It's easiest to visit by car; by bus you'll have to travel
to Linhares on the main BR-101 highway, and take a slow
bus to Regência (3 daily; 1hr 30min).
Pousada Careba
T
27 9720 6744,
E
pousadacareba
@hotmail.com.
If you find the need to stay, there are
several simple
pousadas
right on the beach, including this
simple option, with a cou
ple of
restaurants serving simple
fish-based meals nearby.
R$80
Reserva Natural Vale
BR-101 Km 121 • Daily 8.30am-4.30pm • Free •
T
27 3371 9702,
W
vale.com
Some 30km north of the industrial town of Linhares is the
Reserva Natural Vale
, managed
by the Vale mining conglomerate since the 1950s and home to forty percent of Espírito
Santo's remaining portion of Mata Atlântica. All but a tiny fraction of the 230 square-
kilometre reserve is open to the public, but you'll need a couple of days to appreciate the
area, which encompasses five different ecosystems ranging from tablelands forest to
mangrove swamp. Although there's a wealth of flora and fauna, it's the four-hundred-odd
species of birds that are the biggest draw; the best time for
birdwatching
is between
September and November, when the forests are abundant with fruit. Parrots and parakeets
are easily spotted, while you may see a rare cherry-throated tanager if you're lucky.
Any bus heading north from Linhares will drop you at the reserve's entrance, from
where you can walk 500m to the
visitors' centre
and get an excellent overview (in
English and Portuguese) of the region's history and ecology; there's also a
lanchonete
here. It's best to contact the reserve in advance to arrange for a guide to lead you along
the forest trails, but someone's usually available and there's no charge. Without a guide,
you're only allowed to wander the lightly forested, rather park-like trails skirting the
visitors' centre and hotel complex.
2
ACCOMMODATION
RESERVA NATURAL VALE
Reserva Natural Vale Hotel
BR-101 Km 122
T
27
3371 9797,
W
vale.com.
The reserve has its own hotel,
with accommodation ranging from fairly simple rooms to
chalets so luxurious they feel at odds with the forest
surroundings. There's also a good restaurant and,
reserve
d
for hotel guests, a large pool. Rates are full board.
R$300
Itaúnas
The alluring village of
ITAÚNAS
, some 270km north of Vitória near the Bahia border,
lies on the edge of the
Parque Estadual Itaúnas
, best known for its 30m-high sand
dunes. Beneath these dunes lies the original town that was engulfed and evacuated in
the 1970s after the vegetation surrounding it had been cleared for farmland. It is said
that occasionally the
dunes
shift in the wind to uncover the spire of the old church.
The beaches are long and - with only low-lying vegetation - exposed, but at the height
of the summer are extremely popular with students, drawn by the place's party
atmosphere, where
axê
music pounds from the bars until the small hours of the
morning. Very different in atmosphere to coastal settlements further south, Itaúnas
is said to be where northeastern Brazil begins.
Keep your ears open for
forró
music - which may owe its popularity in Rio and
São Paulo to tourists returning from Itaúnas; dances here typically get going around
midnight and continue until 10am. The craziest time is July, when the
Festival Nacional
de Forró
attracts revellers from all over Brazil.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
ITAÚNAS
By bus
Buses stop at the main plaza in town, around 1km
from the beach, across the bridge over the Rio Itaúnas. To
get here you'll have to take a bus to Conceição de Barra,
which has three daily connections from Vitória (4-5hr;
W
aguiabranca.com.br). For Bahia, you'll have to take a
frequent bus to São Mateus (45min) and change there.
From Conceição local buses trundle on to Itaúnas three
times daily (usually 7am, 12.30pm & 3.30pm; returning
8am, 1.30pm & 4.30pm; 40min), with extra buses in the
peak summer periods.
