Caraca – National park / monastery / Hogwarts

I find myself travelling with 2 dutch boys of late and we have made it to this secluded monastery nestled in a 10,000 km2 national park. Part national park, part catholic monastery (with large church), and part harry porter style boarding school, complete with the forbidden forest creatures. It has some beautiful lakes, waterfalls, mountains and a rich animal life. The pride of which are the manned wolves. The real kicker was that the weather was finally good enough to swim in the waterfalls and lakes, so we did. Our first was a charming 40m 3 tiered waterfall that doubled as a nice shower :)

The dining hall, grounds, and dormitory wings all give that boarding school feel that is now invariably associated with harry potter. We sat at the huffelpuff table and gazed at the portraits of ex-brazilin presidents who once attended the school. The food was good, heated by large wood fired harth and in the morning we cooked our eggs on this surface. Today the sanctuary of caraca still features an ornate church set in a mix of manicured gardens and wild forests.

Sadly while my camera is waterproof it is not an unshakable force of nature proof! Day 2 we found ourselves at a 100m tall waterfall after a 6km walk and were instantly impressed by the vast quantities of water pounding across this multileveled wonder. It is hard to describe the feeling of seeing this vast quantity of water pound relentlessly across the rocks to create a pool that i can only describe as natures spa. You sit in the turbulent waters with eddies rips and currents pushing you from all sides with the spray mist and roaring noise to your back, the low sun forms a 360 degree rainbow all around you as you are alternately pulled and pushed by the rocks and the waves. AMASING!



This nightly spectacle is the feeding of the manned wolves. For the last nearly 30 years the priests here have been feeding a breeding pair of wolves with nightly meet scraps. We sit on the church steps listening to the organ finishing the churches sermon and await the wolves clutching a glass of wine and talking in hushed tones. I was just thinking weather it was a good idea to wear my alpaca jumper as I now look and smell like a large sheep. Suddenly a quiet takes the crowd as a stealthy wolf appears in our midst. Standing as tall as my waist with a powerful build he creeps closer.
With a soft almost inaudible patter of paws, gingerly the wolf makes his way to his food. Cautiously he devours a few pieces of chicken crunching their bones like matchsticks. The flash of photography and the noise of people clearly make him nervous, ears twitching and paws ready to leap. After a few minutes he has had his fill and retreats to the darkness once more. UNBELIVABLE!