To listen to fashions of viola, to eat the fashion of the tropeiros and to camp in the Valley of the Three Stones formed the enchanted triad in Bofete, city to 190 kilometers to the west of São Paulo.
Brazil does not know Brazil, says the song. Even less so. The 15 kilometers that separate the seat of the municipality of Bofete to the main attraction of the region, the Three Stones, has a do not know what is original, authentic for its uniqueness and, precisely for this reason, is not a tourist product for the masses. Fragile ecosystems, geological structures sculpted by time and wind, clear and clean streams and an air that opens the lungs and makes us conclude: to live is simple and to use what nature offers us, even more so long as we respect it.
The rural road, winding, follows now bordering the Rio do Peixe, now following parallel to the body of the mountain called “Sleeping Giant”, but technically called Cuesta, a slope with slope, now mild or sometimes abrupt. The relief is intricate, consisting of eucalyptus plantations for reforestation, pasture for beef cattle and small properties where family farming is practiced. Here old coffee farms were erected, today the properties are called farms with fruit trees and small plantations for the subsistence.
After an hour of travel we arrive at Vale das Três Pedras.
Trinity
The trinity can be understood here as the meeting between a great silence, the sight of the three rock humps and the spirit of welcome offered by the people. Bofete is not a fashion destination and recently discovered its vocation for ecotourism.
The most original tropeira culture welcomes us dressed in the fashion of the champion, with a red scarf around her neck. The cooks prepare the barbecue, bean tropeiro and the rice carretero for more at night. The scent of burning wood, the hundred-year-old tree that serves as a natural shelter, and the table full of cheeses, breads and vegetables point to a time of plenty. While we take the coffee made in the wood fire and we eat the artisanal cheese, the day falls. The sun, like a flash, illuminates the three stones. Show to photograph now and store in memory forever.
Round package
This is one of the main attractions of the São Paulo municipality jammed on the way to the west of the state. “It’s pure ecotourism,” says the municipality’s tourism manager, José Antonio Nicola. The receptive service is offered by EcoCuesta Botucatu.
Wild Camping
The name may scare but the structure offered by EcoCuesta is very good and does not even remember the jungle. There are camping tent armed with sleeping bag or matress, bathroom for bath, food (dinner, breakfast, water and fruit), bonfire and lual (not optional), as well as climb to one of the mountains and practice abseiling. Only in exceptional cases can the car battery be used, but the electric power is not part of the package and the cell phones can be forgotten.
Night camping
EcoCuesta monitors set up the village-shaped tents protected by hoses in case the rain took over the environment. The rain did not come and the night was perfect. Viola caipira his excellence, food tropeira traveling in the body, conversations around the campfire and the clear impression that Brazil will know Brazil.

Photo: Reproduction
Source: Paulo Atzingen / DiáriodoTourism