Candombá Lodge - Capão Valley - Chapada Diamantina - Bahia

I) Accomodations and services

The Candomba Lodge or Pousada (lodges are better known as pousada in Brazil) is located in the heart of the National Park of Chapada Diamatina inside Capao Valley, 20 kms. From the city of Palmeiras and 70 kms. From Lencois airport. In the small village of Caete- Açu you can find basic services, including restaurants, supermarkets, and health center, 3 kms from the pousada.

The vegetables garden, the fruit drying apparatus, the orchids garden and the small coffee exploitation all contribute to the amenable atmosphere of a self-sustainable farm. The Capão River, which flows through the grounds of the Pousada, is most propitious for a cooling and healthy swim. Enshrined inside a 10 acres park the Pousada Candombá offers to our guests the possibility to a first hand discovery of  the exhuberant tropical vegetation of the region.

Within a 10 minute walk you can enter the wonders of the National Park, one of Brazil's most interesting nature preserve, due to the vast biodiversity encountered in the park. The hiking trips from the pousada allows visitors to admire the main attractions of the region: Fumaça falls, Iraquara potholing park , the city of Lençois, the peak of Pai Inacio and the waterfalls of Rio Preto.

Amenities	In the Hotel Hall our guests are invited to view video-films and other documents on regional topics. In the same local a 3-D clay model and various detailed maps show all the treks and main features of the National Park, thus enabling the hikers to get a first hint and a before-hand flavour of the proposed circuits. One may eventually visit the nearby wine-cellar and pick a bottle from our prime choice selection from both Old and New Continents.
Lodging	The Pousada Candombá  proposes seven chalets set in a tree shaded area. Four of these are of luxuous standard, each one with two different settings and with a capacity of up to four guests. They feature roofed terrasse, hammocks, fans and refrigerated bar. One of these chalets has a fire-place. The other three standard chalets may accomodate each 2 or 3 guests and feature modern bathrooms, grass planted terrasses and fans.
Restaurant and orchard	The Restaurant of the Pousada Candombá has earned, along the years, a reputation of excellency as a result of its skills in adapting local products to its gastronomical menu. It will propose you to enjoy such dishes as chicken sauce maracujá, fish a-la-provençale, sun roasted beef with rosemary flavour or desserts composed with fruits from our own biological orchard.

Excursionists on the outing regroup after breakfast and are taken in charge by local guides right from the Pousada’s grounds. Snack-boxes suitable for trekking are prepared by our staff and readily made available to our guests.            Get in touch with us

The Candombá Lodge is entirely integrated to the environment

Coffee production, biological garden	The vegetables garden, the fruit drying apparatus, the orchids garden and the small coffee exploitation all contribute to the amenable atmosphere of a self-sustainable farm.
Initiaton trek fruit drying solar apparatus	In the park of the Pousada, a lane conceived as an initiation trek will convey a touch of the natural wonders to be found in the Chapada and test the orientation skills of the amateur hiker. Banana and pineapple dry in the genuine solar system.
Orquid-garden Sweat-Lodge	The orchid-garden displays a collection of local plants growing in their original settings. Many of them are endemic of the Chapada. Bromeliads, with exhuberant bloomings and leaves of all shapes and hues, are a permanent feast for the eye. Among various leisure equipments or installations on the hotel’s grounds one shall find an indigenous sauna (or “sweat-lodge”)  in which heat and steam are induced by special rocks blazed red by a wooden pyre.
Selective disposal of refuse Water adduction	All garbage is fully recycled. Organic stuff is processed for latter use as compost in the garden. Dry material is regularly collected by an N.G.O of Palmeiras, known for his excellent record in environmental work. Tap-water is piped down from the Batista waterfall. Conscious of its preciousness, we do our best to foster -in all fields of activity- the rationalization of it´s use.

Other available services :

-          Internet access ;

-          Shuttles to Palmeiras, to Lençois and to the nearest airport ;

-          Partnership and coordination  with the “Tatu na Trilha” tourist agency for excursions and hiking tours ;

-          All bills payable by Mastercard or Visa credit-cards.

The Hotel Management : Claude Samuel is a french engineer who involved himself in the processing of scientific data on the Region. His survey of the Chapada Diamantina permited him to develop maps and bases of informations as regard to all the tracks and wayfarers´ routes of old which criss-cross the National Park. Suzane is native of  Bahia and dedicates herself to artistic handicraft. Using gems and semi-precious stones from the Chapada, she specialized herself in the creation of thematic jewelry. Both responsabilize themselves with the warmth of the hospitality and the high standard of the services which the Pousada offers to its guests. They attend to visitors to the Chapada Diamantina since the year  1990. Their experience thus vouches for their guests’ best possible welcome and smooth acclimatation to the Region. 

II) How to get there:

By car:

From Salvador reach Feira de Santana and the  BR 116  which will lead  you  to the BR 242  crossing (Salvador / Brasilia ). From there, enter the township of Palmeiras and follow the dirt-road (13 miles : 20 km) to the Capão Valley.

By bus:

From Salvador : at the Rodoviaria (Central Bus-station), the Real Expresso company offers two round-trips a day to Palmeiras at 7:00 A.M. and 11:30 P.M. (6 - hours’ ride). The shuttle from Palmeiras to the Capão will cost you 10 Reals (US$ 4,00).

By plane:

Arriving at  the Tanquinho Airport, near Lençois, 35 miles from the Capão Valley. Contact us before departure.

Overnight charges with complete breakfast, in the same apartment or chalet :

In winter-time we may supply fire-wood for the hearth which is a feature of one of our luxury chalets and shall charge a 10 % supplement for the service.

Photos of the Pousada                  Get in touch with us                              Initial Menu

 III ) Location

  Location of  Capão Valley in National Park

 Location of Pousada Candomba in Capão Valley

The Pousada Candombá was elected by the magazine “Terra”  &  by the “Quatro Rodas” autoguide as one of the ten best brazilian inns and lodges whereas contact and involvement with Nature is taken in account.

Candombá Lodge is an ECOCLUB Ecolodge Partner : Ecoclub

Strolls of proximity starting at the Pousada Candombá :

The Village of Bomba and the Poço Angélica pool :

A three hours´ walk along the Capão River will allow you to catch sight of the whole extension of the Valley. The hamlet of Bomba finds itself sheltered by the Morro Branco mountain, beneath a 400 yards cliff. Ten minutes from there will be enough for you to reach the Poço Angélica, a 30 yards wide natural pool enshrined in pristine vegetation. Climbing the river-bed for one more hour, you will enjoy the privilege to discover the Purification Waterfalls, one of the loveliest pearls of Nature.

The Gerais do Vieira Altiplano :

From the Pousada, a two and a half hours walk is necessary in order to reach the High Plateaus of the Vieira. From there a wayfarer may scope the full panorama over the Valley of Capão and the Mountains of the Pati. Criss-crossed by many streams, the ondulated wide-acres of the Gerais are an Eden like environment. Strolling through them is a must of any visit !

The Rio Preto :

Running down the steeps slopes of the Candombá Serra, this imposing and wild watercourse displays many pools and watersheds set between giant rocks. It can be reached by following the mule paved track of old. A three hours’ walk should permit you to get acquainted to the river’s fiery reddish waters. The help of a professional guide is necessary in this rather difficult relief.

I ) "Discovery Tour" : 2 nights / 3 days

Early departure after breakfast. The first part of the trip is done by car (5 kms.) followed by a day of fresh air and pleasant hiking that will take you to the highest waterfall in Brazil (420 meters long). The exuberance and beauty of the area attracts people from around the world. On top of the fall a local picnic is served, followed by an informative field trip pertaining the native plants (exotic bromeliads and orchids) and local fauna (local gulls and birds (seri-emas), wild rabbits (mocós), monkeys, etc.) all living and growing freely and spontaneously in their natural habitat. Late afternoon return to the pousada.

Day #2 : From Candombá Pousada to Gerais do Vieira Plateau

After breakfast a smooth easy walk takes us to Bomba, the last town of the valley. Our hike begins towards a plank locally called "Gerais". The gerais, which offers a spectacular view of the valley's waterfalls, and rivers that hide within the mountain top the region. The area is a great water reservoir and fosters the birth of two of the biggest rivers of the region. After bathing in different rivers and a enjoying a picnic, we return to the pousada.

Day #3 : From Candombá Pousada to Gruta da Torrinha and Pai Inacio Peak.

Trip on SUV 4x4 will take us from Palmeiras to Iraquara Potholing Park to explore the caves (approx. 45 kms.), The Park is an incense plane in Sertão, which fosters one of the biggest caves in Brazil and in the world. Torrinha cave displays curious gypsite "needles" over 60 cms long and flowers in aragonite. The circuit inside the cave is performed by a local expert guide and has a duration of two hours.On the way home, we take the route to the Hill of Father Ignacio (Morro do Pai Inácio) and its famous view top, on the hills of Brejões and the mountain chain of Sincorá.

Get in touch with us                              Initial Menu

The Valley of Capão in the District of Palmeiras

The township of Caeté-Açu is home to the majority of the population and provides all kinds of services to the scatered inhabitants of the Valley. It succeeded in preserving its original charm and relaxed atmosphere, centering itself on a small square which is focus of all social life. Modest sized houses of many bright colours agregate around a century old church and a “correto” (pagode like building for collective activities) which were erected by the communitarian work of the villagers. The very active associative life and various artistic enterprises, such as a Circus and a Choral, provide expositions, shows and concerts the year round.

For many years the Valley supplied the diamond prospectors with miscellaneous services and various food stuffs such as coffee, bananas or vegetables.

The 1920 and 1930 decades saw the apex of these activities linked to the mining of gems in the surrounding mountains. In those days, transportation followed the lengthy paved track which winded from the village of Guiné to Lençois, via Volta da Serra, Sitio Novo and the Valley of Capão. Much of the merchandizing of the epoch depended on caravanes led by intrepid mule-drivers along a vertical axis linking centers in Minas Gerais to Juazeiro in the North. The elders in Capão still tell the tales of the many hectic adventures they encountered on the trail.

At the close of the Diamond Rush and, more so, after the plunge of  coffee on stock-markets, the Valley started its decline to a long period of isolation. The late 70’s and 80’s saw a mass emigration to the urban centers of São Paulo  lured by  its supposed opportunities. But simultaneously, “new rural life adepts” flocked to the region, boosting and influencing it with their peculiar ways-and-means : health-foods, communitary life, natural medicine, spiritual research etc.

By the years, the intermingling of both populations modified the atmosphere and destinies of the settlement. The opening of new enterprises and perspectives attracted back the former exilees, thus bringing hope for future development in completely new fields of activity. 

The resurrection of the Valley is, therefore, the result of a perfect adequation between natural surroundings, human reality and an eco-touristic activity of high standards. The absence of “mass-tourism” schemes facilitated the creation of human sized accomodation units which are dedicated to the preservation of the environment and of the rural aspects of life in the area.

The Valley is renowned for attracting visitors who seek a high quality of life or who are set on personal harmony. It thus benefits from their presence, making good use of its traditional hospitality, by developing such means of living which focalize on conviviality and leisurely discoveries.

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