Traverse Brazil’s ‘Diamond Highlands’ on remote trails, surrounded by striking mountain plateaus in the Vale do Pati
Clamber up the 300m canyon of Cachoeirão Falls, and up 200 steps to Mosquito Waterfall
Explore the quartz cavern of Gruta do Castelo and take a dip in Poço Azul - a subterranean pool with a blue glow
Immerse yourself in the rural communities of this sparsely populated region, hiking between village homestays
Day 1
Welcome to Salvador - the colourful capital city of the state of Bahia. You’ll be picked at the airport and taken to your hotel in the historic part of town. Home to a fusion of cultural influences, Brazil’s third-largest city hums with life and basks in a tropical climate. Explore the sights if you have time, or catch up on sleep in preparation for the adventure which begins tomorrow.
Day 2
Meet your guide and your fellow travellers for breakfast and to chat through the adventure ahead. Hop in the van for a road trip westwards through the Bahia countryside, to Lençóis. This compact and characterful colonial town is the gateway to Chapada Diamantina National Park. Explore your new surroundings, before going for dinner at a local restaurant.
Day 3
Journey by van to the trailhead in the village of Guiné - you'll travel over paved and dirt roads. Begin hiking up Beco Hill, where you'll take in the first of many great views of the Serra do Esbarrancado. Walk down into the valley, cross the Rio Preto and push on up the other side to reach a lookout point over to the remote Pati Valley. Begin the craggy downhill scramble that leads onto the trail and into the open valley, pressing onwards to your first homestay.
Day 4
Set off this morning following the path of the Funis River, past tumbling waterfalls and deep pools, until you reach Funis Falls. Take a breather, enjoy a refreshing dip in the pools and tuck into lunch, before heading up the Serra da Lapinha trail to reach the Gruta do Castelo. Here, a cavernous quartz cave glistens and leads to a stunning view of the valley's far side. Steadily make your way down the muddy trail to your next homestay.
Day 5
Fuel up on breakfast - you're going to need it, today's hike is a big one. Lace up your boots, grab your pack and head up a steep section of the trail leading to the spectacular Cachoeirão Waterfall. The towering 300m walls of the canyon spring several waterfalls, with more cascades appearing in the rainy season. Take a dip in a nearby pool, explore the canyon and get a unique view of the Pati Valley. Then follow the trail, winding downwards and on to your next homestay - and a very well deserved dinner.
Day 6
Head into the valley to traverse the lowland Pati de Baixo, hopping over rocks as you follow the Pati River. Today is a less arduous day where you can take in the mountain views, stop for wild swims in the river and soak up the remote beauty of the national park. After a spot of lunch, continue the trail onwards to your homestay for the night. Kick back and relax ahead of the final hike day tomorrow.
Day 7
Hit the trail, which wind upwards on an ascent through the Império mountain range, with views of the Pati Valley getting more sublime with each step. Appreciate nature at its best whilst tucking into lunch, then continue over the crest to hike the long and steady descent into the town of Andaraí. Jump in the van for your undulating, dirt road journey back to Lençóis, stopping en route at the stunning Poço Azul - a cave with a subterranean pool of luminescent blue water, where you can take a dip and soak up the natural beauty.
Day 8
Travel to Mosquito Waterfall, where the water cascades from a height of 60m and has carved a towering cleft in the vegetation-draped rock. There are 200 steps up (and back down), but this is one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Brazil to swim in.
Back in Lençóis, set off on a short sunset hike up to Morro do Pai Inácio. Take in the picture postcard views and admire the contoured curves of the Serra do Espinhaço mountain range.
Day 9
Bid farewell to Lençóis and take a road trip back to Salvador. Wander the charming, historic streets of this UNESCO World Heritage city and savour the flavours of the Afro-Brazilian culture in one of the many local restaurants.
Day 10
Enjoy breakfast in Salvador and explore some more of the sights before your host takes you to the airport in time for your onward flight.
Local, English-speaking tour leader and guides
2 nights in a hotel, 3 nights in a historic pousada and 4 nights in local homestays
All breakfasts, 6 lunches and 6 dinners
Airport transfers and everything in between
All permits, tickets and entry fees
You know your own spending habits best, so please budget an appropriate amount for things like optional meals and drinks, shopping, optional activities, and laundry.
The cuisine in the Brazilian state of Bahia has a blended heritage of Portuguese dishes with African flavours, herbs, spices and cooking techniques. You’ll experience different variations of meals from Salvador to Lençóis and at each local house on t…
We're still waiting to collect any reviews from other travellers on this trip. However, all our hosts go through an extensive vetting process to ensure that your adventure is awesome.
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For solo travellers looking for their own space, an optional private room can be booked for an extra charge at Salvador and Lençois accommodation, see Optional Extras for the price. Please request this at the time of booking (this is subject to availability). Please note, it is not possible to have a private room at the Pati Valley homestays.
To request any extras, message your host via your Much Better Adventures account once you have booked your trip.
All extras must be paid before your trip starts.
Tap water in Brazil is not safe to drink. You will be able to refill your water bottle using filtered water available at the accommodation. Please pack your own reusable bottle, it will be well used.
Water bottles with inbuilt filters are becoming increasingly popular for travellers to use in countries without clean tap water. Please see our guide for advice on the best water filters for adventurers if you wish to bring your own filtration bottle on this trip
Tips are not included in the trip cost. These are entirely at your discretion and not expected in Brazil. If you wish to tip the tour leader and local guides, we suggest the below as a guideline per person:
£4 / $5 USD / R26 BRL per person, per day
Of course, you are free to tip more or less, and the amount should be reflective of your perception of service and quality - a tip is not compulsory and should only be given when you receive excellent service.
Sure can! Over 70% of our travellers travel solo, it’s a great way to meet like-minded people.
Our team of Adventure Hunters co-create exclusive adventures which are run by highly vetted, specialist hosts. The trip is run by our trusted host partner in the destination. We only work with independent, local, in-destination experts who know the very best places to explore and how to stay safe. Read more information about the local teams we partner with. You’ll be introduced to the host straight after making a booking via the Much Better Adventures platform.
Much Better Adventures refer to the UK Government’s official travel advice when designing trips and monitoring trip operations. We recommend that all customers review the practical information available on the UK Government’s FCDO website, where you can find up-to-date advice by searching for your destination(s).
If you are based in the United States, you can also check the latest travel advisories from the U.S. Department of State.
For customers joining from other international locations, we recommend checking the official travel advice issued by your country of residence, as guidance may vary.
We recommend checking out the country-specific information and also talking to a travel nurse.
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All of our group adventures are specially designed for adults to enjoy as we want these adventures to bring together outdoorsy people who are truly like-minded. You must be over 18 to join one of our trips.
You're always in good company on one of our adventures.
Our trips typically consist of a mix of solo travelers and small groups of 2 or 3 friends, with most in their 30s-50s.
Our sociable adventures are solo-friendly by design and naturally attract outdoorsy people with a shared mindset; a love for adventure, a desire to push themselves, and meet awesome, like-minded people along the way.
It’s this camaraderie that has so often turned a great adventure into a life-changing one.
Don't just take our word for it:
See here for more info about the Much Better Adventures tribe.
We partner with the World Land Trust to ensure this trip achieves Net-Zero emissions. We also support their Buy an Acre program, helping local communities to buy and protect natural habitats in perpetuity.
What's the number?
It works out on average at 191kg of CO2 emissions per person, including all local transport, accommodation, food, activities, guides, staff and office operations.
The only thing it doesn’t include right now is flights and travel to the destination. We do make an overall estimate across all our customers separately, but as we don’t book flights, have customers from all corners of the world, and no way of reliably knowing their travel plans, we simply can’t include an individual number in the figure on display here. We’ve got a goal to fix that, so that when you book, there is a way to measure and mitigate the carbon emitted by your flight too.
But what does the number mean?
Yep, hard to picture eh? To give you an idea:
What are we doing about it?
Our trips are relatively low-carbon by design, and we're working with all our hosts to develop long term carbon reduction plans. We partner with the World Land Trust to ensure this trip achieves Net-Zero emissions. We also support their Buy an Acre programme, helping local communities to buy and protect natural habitats in perpetuity, ensuring the protection of the reserve and its wildlife.
Want to know more?
Amazingly, no international travel company has ever publicly published their carbon measurements before, as far as we know. We believe that must change, quickly. So we’re openly sharing the method we used in the hope that other companies will be able to more easily follow suit and build on what we've done so far. You'll find it all here.
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