My first climbing trip, to Analandia, Sao Paulo, Brazil

“Good morning, love of my life.” That’s how my mom had the petulance of waking me up in a Sunday morning to convince me to go to Analandia just for the simple reason that a friend of hers had indicated the place, and how she politely woke me up with kicks and screams, I did not have much choice but to get up with the maximum of encouragement I could generate at that moment, despite her annoying positive mood. Is so annoying to be woken up by someone happy.

The first thing we noticed when we entering the city was that that was a really small city, because two streets after entering the city we already in the central square. Where the tourism center is conveniently located, the girl who welcome us was a girl too nice to be working on a sunny Sunday morning and she was too adventurous. She was already recommending the climb and sent us to a waterfall while she waited for the departure time, which was about two hours from now. It all happened as faster as this sentence and in less than 10 minutes we were at the waterfall entrance that the girl had indicated to us.

I do not remember how to get there, but it was something like this: follow the wiring in the last street on the left by a dirt road and then when you see three termite trees you enter the woods and follow the trail at your right side, then you will arrive in the river and then you can follow it to several waterfalls. Understood?
The trail to the river is very short and easy, when you arrive at the creek, you can follow the whole way very calmly, and you’ll be toasted with small “lagoons” to relax. They are perfect for swimming and diving and also waterfall massages.

The cool thing was the infinite patience of my mother accompanying us, after all, we are not normal people, and though all the way we were stopping to a water fight, or to save me for almost drowned for relaxing too much under under waterfall, yes, I am dramatic, swallowing 1 ml of water is almost drowning, or a pause for a pseudo competition of capoeira even if no one of us had ever done capoeira in life.

“No Eric, you making one capoeira class during college does not make you a capoeirista.”

At the end of the waterfall we arrived at a perfect kiosk for a picnic but we remembered that we had nothing to eat and we were starving. so we went back the whole path, repeating our deeds.
Ps: I think this place is a private property, but who gets attached to these details right?

After lunch we met the tourism guy in the square for the climb trip. The place is in the “Cuscuseiro”mountain. The path until the top of the mountain is not difficult but it is about a hour walk, kind, I’m extremely lost in the time question.

The activity was made with two instructors, as one stay preparing us, the other one climbed and prepared all the safety for us.

Today, I know the path we climbed it’s really an easy one., but that was my first time, and like all first’s times, it was an exciting challenge. I remember that while I was going up I was already feeling very proud to be doing that, the sensation was a mixture of conquest with a good challenge. But it was when I got to the top that I fell in love with the sport. Seriously, after a while out of breath and gasping, I wanted to open my arm and scream that I was the owner of the world and throw myself, which I did not do because we lived in a very repressive society that would give me a bruise for jumping! HUMF!

Well, I ended up going down in the usual way: abseiling. This part is very good, but there is a point to think about, when I was going down there was the biggest crowd down in the floor and the only thing I could think was how my butt was looking like, and then I got ashamed, so I started to get down very quickly, who increase my adrenaline and made me fascinated by the falling, and then I got carried away, I wanted to fall as fast as it was possible, so I was making big jumps and increasing the speed, but in the middle of the way all my happiness was take for me by the instructor who started to sop me, I think he though I was going to kill myself, stupid dude, he was probably right but I was having fun!

Well, after I was done with the climbing, I stayed in the floor waiting for my brother turn to come down, I finally got to see how the butts look like. My brother’s ass was not pleasant at all, and in response to this terrible vision I waited until he was low enough for me to reach but still high enough to not be able to chase me, and then a slap his butt with all my strength!! PLAFT !!! Then I ran, because you know, that’s what intelligent people do when they do some shit who will make them be murder.

So, I did not want to tell you something here, but I will, because it’s a crucial part of this history plot:
As we waited for my brother Eric to get down, Duh, my another brother, wanted to write his name on the mountain, next to him there was a sign about the risk of a fire. Well, while my brother was writing I started talking to other climbers who were there and after a while, they told me it was not cool to write on the walls. My brain, of course, made the most obvious connection in the world and with that, I ask, “Why? Can it cause a fire?”

At the time everyone gave that kind of giggle of: she’s joking right? And then the moment of realization that was not. They dismissed me and left me outside, meanwhile my dear brother was already on the floor and came towards me to fight back the slap in the butt but when he heard about my marvelous question, he got very busy laughing at my face and them he realized he couldn’t hit me: “Poor girl, is so stupid already, if I hit her I might l break it. “And that’s how I got rid of a beating. Lear from it! ha ha ha ha

My mother didn’t know by that time, but she had just introduced me to one of my great passions, climbing. Not even a week later I was already searching for places to climb in Campinas.