São Paulo
 
Riding experience in the heart of coffee plantation country – The Coffee Highlands ride

São Paulo may be the economic, industrial and financial powerhouse of Brazil, and indeed of South America, but it also offers some of the finest rural experiences of the region. Thanks to its cultural diversity and its vast and multifaceted territory, the interior of São Paulo State includes some interesting riding experiences.

Riding in the coffee highlands takes you riding through the coffee-growing region of the northeast of the State of Sao Paulo, visiting some of the great historic plantation homes, and passing through the surprisingly well-preserved natural wealth of the region. The diversified terrain takes you from plains to mountains; up and down escarpments and on plateaux that offer an ever-changing scenery punctuated by springs and waterfalls. This variety also accounts for the wealth of arts and crafts that are produced in the region: in leather, ceramics, embroidery, jams and other preserves, honey, coffee, cheese and of course the local firewater, cachaça.

Everyone looking for the best quality will be surprised with the region where we ride and their coffee.

In this ride our hosters share their knowledge about beans, origins, and roasts with the riders.

The riders also have the opportunity to understand what happen from the plantation till the coffee they will drink

In the remnants of the Atlantic Rain Forest are found the Jequitiba, the Giant of the Forest, a species that grows to over 40 meters in height (130 feet) and three meters in diameter; the oldest known specimen has an estimated age of three thousand years.

The region is well-known for its easy-going, hospitable people and for its distinctive down-to-earth cuisine.

The rich cultural heritage, the result of successive waves of immigrants, the teeming plant and animal life with monkeys, deer, coatimundis, and hundreds of species of birds , insects and butterflies and the vibrant and modern agricultural activity make this privileged region a delight to visit and a genuinely unique experience.

Sao Paulo Coffee Ride

This trip will take us through old coffee plantations in the highlands of the state of São Paulo. Since the mid-19th century and continuing until the present, some of the finest coffee produced in Brazil has come from this region. The perfect combination of altitude (800-1300 mts.) and climate (dry winters and rainy summers) and fertile, well drained soil make this ideal coffee-growing territory.

The first settlers in the region came from the Azores in the late 18th/early 19th century looking for land to raise livestock, cattle, horses, mules and pigs, to feed and transport the gold miners in Minas Gerais. Most of the farms you will be visiting still belong to the descendants of these original settlers, providing an authentic experience of a distinctive way of life.

With the simultaneous arrival of coffee plants, railroads, and European (mostly Italian) immigration, the farms became more prosperous, the houses more elaborate. Coffee plants like higher altitudes, and we ride most of the time up the hills, with beautiful landscapes. All the farms visited have the owners present, and they are proud to show guests around and share their family history, that is linked with the development of the countryside.

PHOTOS - Click here

Itinerary
1st day - Arrival at Sao Paulo Airport and transfer to Fazenda Nova (New Farm) in Mococa, so called because the Old one burned down in 1830. One of the oldest plantation homes in the region, where horses have been bred for seven generations of the same family. Participants will become familiar with their horse, riding equipment. Typical Paulista dinner (including a tasting of Mogiana coffees-among the best gourmet coffees in Brazil) and overnight at the Fazenda.

2nd day - Fazenda Nova. is older than the city nearby. The owners breed and train their own horses and will guide us on this journey. Simple old fashioned accommodations, plenty of homemade goodies, good conversation make you feel at home. Horses will be chosen according to the information provided by the agency, and any necessary change will be made on this day.
After breakfast we live for our day ride in Fazenda Nova. And will have the first contact with the Atlantic Rain Forest in the 120-acre forest preserve of the Fazenda.

3rd day - We leave Fazenda Nova after breakfast towards Fazenda Figueira, our lunch destination. On the way, eucalyptus forests, corn fields, beetroots plantations, dairy farms, while we go uphill. Fazenda Figueira is a heritage of a bigger farm, and nowadays plants coffee and breeds Mangalarga Paulista, a brazilian saddle horse. We have lunch on the milking parlour, close to where our horses are also feeding, and after a small break, cross large coffee and orange plantations heading for Fazenda Serra de Santa Monica, an old house recently restored where we spend the night.

4th day– We have breakfast and ride north towards Minas Gerais., crossing sugar cane farms and small family ranches until we reach river Canoas, which is in a protected area. We cross the river and visit the first electric plant on the area. We are now in Minas Gerais, a state known for its hilly landscape. Up we go, to enjoy a fine view of the area. We go down and have lunch at the foothill of the Pedra Branca, close to walls long ago made by slaves. We go back to Santa Monica the same way, for a dive in the pool and a home made pizza.

5th day - After breakfast we go back on the road towards Fazenda Bocaina, crossing old ranchs with coffee plantations and beef cattle. Bocaina has a lot of the original forest of the area, and nowadays is dedicated to breeding fowl, lambs and milking cows. We pass Fazenda Lage and Acude, two ancient fazendas on restoration, where native trees are being planted to re-forest the area. On Fazenda Lage the old house will became a Coffee Museum. Landscape here is specially beautiful, as we go up the hills on the coffee land towards Fazenda Santo Antonio da Água Limpa where we spend the night.

6th day - Fazenda Santo Antonio, has a beautiful house and swimming pool, and owners that plant coffee in an more than organic way: a natural way, that is grandly explained by the owner. We leave Santo Antonio towards Fazenda Fortaleza, crossing Fazenda Sao Bento, who has an ecumenical church open to everybody, shady roads surrounded by old forests and the village of Igarai. Fazenda Fortaleza, where we have lunch, provides several activities. The owners are very active in leaving an organic way, and will be proud to show the organic vegetable garden, a trail in the woods that take us to an millenar jequitiba tree, bird watching is a new to feature. Afterwords we return to Santo Antonio to sleep.

7th day – After breakfast, a short ride inside Fazenda Santo Antonio crossing native forests and again with a beautiful view. Before lunch we can help to load the horses on a truck and riders go back by car to Fazenda Nova for lunch and transfer to São Paulo.