I have heard many times about the Reserva do Ibitipoca but I had never understood why people raved about it. However, the last stage of my Brazilian adventure was my opportunity to find out.
I was collected from my hotel in Rio de Janeiro at 10am. It was a miserable day and I didn’t expect much from the four-hour journey to Ibitipoca, but after leaving the city behind us, the sun came out a little and many hills began to adorn the scenery. The landscape was green and we passed small villages and towns along the way. My driver-guide told me interesting stories of Pedro II, the last emperor of Brazil, who built his palace in Petrópolis.