Drinkable white-sand-beach waterfalls.
Pristine, cola-colored rivers.
A lattice of historic trails criss-crossing living, centuries-old villages.
A slow-motion carousel of high savannah vistas.

For a long crossing into the Story of Brazil, there is no better beginning. The southeastern highlands offer a clear introduction to both Brazil’s colonial past and the Espinhaço in full relief. Quartzite ridgelines fold westward, rivers rise clear from sand, Seussian campos rupestres punctuate the landscape, and former trade routes stitch together settlements that still carry the memory of slavery and extraction.

Days in this part of the range are expansive and vertical, alternating between soaring peaks and sparsely populated river valleys. Three summits come in quick succession, each demanding in its own way. Local commuter footpaths intersect with little-used backroads, which give way to winding, centuries-old tropeiro paths and newer conservation unit trails. Springs, streams, waterfalls, and clear pools accompany the route.

Evenings in small colonial towns, quiet quilombola villages, and remote ranches are earned, and rarely hurried.

The Espinhaço reads like a novel. The Serra is its opening chapter.
The journey has just begun.

Overgrown trails and tree-sized flowers.
Lost-world waterfalls and nameless peaks.
Disputed lands. Resilient residents.
Some of the most pristine Cerrado landscapes in Brazil.

Sempre Vivas National Park marks a shift in the crossing. The wide, wind-swept ridgelines of the Serra fall away, and the expedition turns inward. Trails narrow. Vegetation thickens. Distances feel longer than the map suggests.

The Park is vast and sparsely inhabited. A handful of flower-pickers move seasonally through its highlands, sleeping in rock shelters and simple shacks, carrying forward a way of life that predates the Park itself. Conservation is negotiated, debated, and lived.

Wildlife is present, even when unseen. The heat is real, and shade is scarce. Navigation demands attention, and the terrain requires steadiness of mind and foot.

And yet, this is one of the most compelling stretches of the expedition. Fields of wildflowers appear where stone seemed dominant. Buriti-laced veredas–rare in the Espinhaço–line café-colored tributaries. Interactions with locals are fleeting, but revealing.

The Garden is less dramatic than the Serra, and less festive than the Sertão. It is raw and unapologetic. It asks for presence. It rewards it.

Dirt roads and open distances.
Festive agrarian towns and curious railway settlements.
Waterfalls that spring suddenly from dry hillsides.
The enduring hospitality of Brazil’s interior.

Cattle country and vast, rolling distances define the lowlands west of Sempre Vivas. The landscape broadens, the horizon drops, and climbs give way to distance.

The Espinhaço’s sertão presents a different portrait of life in Brazil’s interior. Agrarian towns sit beside mineral wealth, hot springs and pool bars rise improbably from dusty lowlands, and cattle country overlaps with mystic enclaves. The contrasts are striking, the social mix layered, occasionally absurd, always revealing.

On the trail, the lowlands offer both reprieve and continuation. Days on foot and horseback are real but measured, with pilgrimesque miles punctuated by swims and shade. At times, trekking yields to long overland stretches between communities set far apart but linked by shared histories of labor and exchange.

Evenings lengthen in the Sertão. Meals linger. The body recalibrates.
As we begin the long journey east toward Diamantina, we do so altered by warmth and contrast.

Secret river valleys and thunderous falls.
Forgotten mining towns and living quilombola communities.
Wood-fired meals. Quiet homestays.
A slave-built highway cascading gracefully into the City of Diamonds.

North and northwest of Diamantina, the range grows more contemplative. Weathered mining districts sit beside flower-picker hamlets and secluded homesteads. Trails once bustling with foot traffic have long overgrown. For generations, these lands and the families who inhabit them stood at the center of the world’s mining trade. Today, they are distant even from Diamantina.

The social and geological threads of Brazil overlap visibly in this corner of the Espinhaço. Slave-built roads descend through quartzite. Clear-water pools hide abandoned mining quarries. Exhausted rivers appear as rock fields.

The Berço’s beauty is not as accessible as the Serra, nor as austere as the Garden. It is layered, its terrain inhabited in a deeper sense.

After weeks on the move, the descent toward Diamantina reads differently than it would have at the beginning. What once appeared scenic now feels structural. The journey resolves not in spectacle, but in coherence.

Our time on the trail ends here, but the Story of Brazil does not. It simply becomes legible.

2 days | 547 km overland

Portuguese colonial architecture.
Cobblestone streets.
A city shaped by diamonds and distance.

Diamantina frames the expedition.

After weeks in working landscapes and small villages, the city reads differently. Architecture that once seemed picturesque reveals its weight. Market squares hold older histories. Festivities unfold atop foundations that took generations to build.

On Vesperata night, balconies fill and tables line the streets. Music carries across cobblestone. The scene is vibrant, familiar, and layered.

We’ve traversed the valleys that sustained it. We’ve met the families whose ancestors cut the stone, mined the diamonds, and carried goods along the routes that lead here.

The city hasn’t changed. We have.

Transfers to and from Belo Horizonte mark the formal edges of the journey. What remains is perspective.

Pousadas are synonymous with travel in Brazil—the rare institutions capable of transcending age, class, and generation.

Welcoming hosts, personal touches, and cafés da manha worth waking up for are the main hallmarks of these small, family-run inns — many of which are lifelong dreams brought to life by their owners.

We’ll have the privilege of staying in six unique pousadas during our Expedition — from chic historic inns to low-key country charmers. By and large, they represent some of our very favorite places to sleep — and eat — in the region.

Bom descanso!

The trails will challenge us, and the peaks & waterfalls will leave us in awe, but in our experience, it’s the time we spend breaking bread with local families—sometimes well into the night—that provides the most enriching & memorable moments of any trip in this part of the world.

As if good company, unique accommodations, and home-cooked meals weren’t reason enough to embrace the experience, our patronage provides precious income opportunities for each of the households we visit—several of whose livelihoods changed dramatically in recent decades with the decline in mining—and helps build a culture that values the region’s overlooked history & natural environment.

We’ll stay in an incredibly diverse array of unique & memorable places during our Expedition. We’re willing to bet that, years from now, it will be the homestays that still cross your mind daily.

Charming pousadas & heartwarming homestays connect us deeply to Brazil’s culture & history, but it wouldn’t be a GOGO trip without at least one night in the middle of nowher—er, the middle of nature. Lucky us, we’ll have 4 such opportunities during our Expedition.

When it comes to memorability (and, let’s be honest—location), there’s simply nothing like camping in the wilderness, be it on soft white sand next to a majestic waterfall, alongside a gently rolling stream in the pristine high savannah, nestled by the fire in a hidden rock shelter, or underneath the stars in a Tolkienesque river valley.

The Espinhaço is beautiful, and few experience it like this. It’s a privilege to be able to experience it alongside you.

In our minds, the best accommodations are paradoxical by nature, simultaneously tasked with providing us a safe haven from the strange world outside our door and an intimate glimpse into that very world.

Perhaps not so coincidentally, this notion perfectly describes the 3 wilderness refuges where we’ll stay during our Expedition.

Cast off in locations far from civilization, they are at once the most basic structured accommodations we’ll overnight in (think: roof, walls, and front door), and the most profound. It should also go without saying that their respective locations are, well, unbeatable.

If you like your accommodations with stories & soul, you’re in the right place.

You can’t tell the Story of Brazil without touching on its socioeconomic contrasts.

Wilderness shelters, historic inns, and rural homestays each offer a window — but so do a few nights of (decidedly rural) Brazilian-style opulence.

Enter Santa Bárbara: a historic textile mill turned hot springs resort “town,” nestled deep in the Sertão. With swimming pools, gourmet pubs, poolside bars, photogenic (if lukewarm) hot springs, and a resplendent waterfall, it’s as much an experience as it is a place—and honestly, it’s unmissable as both.

We’ll spend back-to-back nights here (Days 17 & 18), including one of our Expedition’s two Rest Days. There’s a lot to take in. We’ll do our best.

As AirBnB can attest, sometimes the best way to experience a place is as one of the neighbors. We’ll have the privilege of overnighting in a pair of very different, but equally charming homes during our Expedition.

Unlike homestays (in which the household is present & receives us), our group will have these places all to ourselves, allowing us to literally make ourselves at home.

The fact that the stays happen to nearly bookmark our time together (one is on Day 2 and the other on Day 24) is serendipitous, as both homes lend themselves exceedingly well to evenings of celebration, reflection, and rest.

State Park lodgings tend to be hit-or-miss affairs in Brazil, with many Parks lacking the funds necessary to provide appetizing public facilities.

Rio Preto is not one of those Parks. With dozens of expertly located, well-kept “chalets” (really, simple rooms with private baths), Rio Preto isn’t just considered among the most welcoming Parks in Minas — it’s the gold standard in the Espinhaço.

We’ll have the pleasure of spending 3 full days and nights — including one of our 2 dedicated Rest Days — in the Park, including a pair of nights at the main visitor’s area.

With virtually endless nearby water attractions (pristine swimming holes, waterfalls, white sand beaches, etc.), a well-groomed grilling area, and a sometimes bustling restaurant and bar, it’s the perfect place to rest our weary feet and celebrate the end of Chapter I.

Each and every one of the accommodations on our itinerary is unique, memorable, and intentional. That said, a few rise above that threshold, becoming highlights — and even destinations — in and of themselves. They are, in a word, iconic.

The Fazenda Santa Cruz do Gavião is one of those places. Perched quietly atop a campo high above the Jequitinhonha, amidst lush cerrado, the ranch is majestic in a way that only a once-noble, centuries-old ranch can be — hauntingly isolated, surreally peaceful, and utterly enchanting.

It’s existence was but a myth to us until mid-2024, when we made our first visit, and has quickly become one of our favorite places — accommodations or otherwise — in the region.

You’ll have a chance to experience it — and the kindness of its host (and GOGO Crew Member), Sr. Valdir, on the evening of Day 7.

Call it a budget hotel. Call it a business hotel. We just call it the hotel.

On a 28-day journey into the Story of Brazil, it felt irresponsible not to include at least one night in the kind of place a working Brazilian might stay during a visit to the interior.

Located near the main praça in the homey town of Santo António do Itambé, the family-run Hotel Pé da Serra gives us everything we need (friendly, low-key service, no-frills rooms, simple breakfast) and nothing we don’t (noisy streets, unruly guests, unkept rooms) — a bigger ask than it sounds.

There are fancier spots in town. But on a trip full of unique and exotic places, this one’s a gem for precisely the opposite reasons. If you’re anything like us, you’ll remember it. And you’ll love it.

Expedition Leader + Translator (Full-Time)

The bumper sticker on his ‘89 Toyota Bandeirante (Brazilian Land Cruiser) may read “Lost Texan”, but don’t be fooled: Dallas-born Eddie has dedicated himself to the study of Brazilian history, society, and geography for the better part of two decades. He first “rediscovered” the Serra do Espinhaço in 2018, and has been exploring its labyrinth of lost trails and documenting its resilient inhabitants & enchanting landscapes ever since, becoming arguably the region’s most well-versed foreigner in a century during the process. The only thing he enjoys more than exploring this spectacular & little-known part of the world is bringing it to life for other adventurous & culturally curious travelers.

Expedition Leader + Translator (Full-Time)

The first time Elisa encountered the daunting “roads” of São Gonçalo do Rio das Pedras during a fateful weekend getaway in 2019, she swore to her mom she would never come back. These days, she can’t seem to leave the Espinhaço, having spent the better part of her life since then driving all manner of backroads—usually with various drones, satellite devices, emergency contacts, and communications equipment in tow—in a gangly leaf-sprung 4x4 named “Gaucha”. Bringing itineraries of this scope to life in this part of the world requires steadfast determination, impeccable planning, outstanding communication, and (lots of) patience. The rest of us just require Elisa.

Regional Guide + Naturalist (Full-Time)

The difference between a good guide and a great one is the calling, and in Julio’s case, there was never a question. Passionate, dedicated, and bursting with the knowledge, energy, and conviction necessary to make the world a better place, he’s both a natural-born mountain guide & a natural-born man for others. You’ll get to witness him put both of these callings, as well as his prolific knowledge of the flora, fauna, and geography of the Espinhaço, to use throughout our Expedition. When the brush is thick and snakes abound, the sunlight is dimming and there are still long kilometers ahead, there’s no one on earth we’d rather have by our side.

Driver + Support Guide (Full-Time)

The eldest son of Diamantina’s most celebrated 4x4 dynasty, Xaxau, like his brother André, is adventure nobility without the pretension. In addition to being one of the region’s most seasoned mechanics & welders, he happens to be an expert rider of horses, motorcycles, and (lucky for us) old 4x4s. You’ll see plenty of Xaxau and “Gaucha” (our primary support vehicle) during our Expedition as we cut long distances using the region’s labyrinth of dirt roads, but it’s the moments when you don’t see him—when he’s driving parallel to our route—that puts our minds to ease. There aren’t many folks on earth we would trust with our lives. We trust Xaxau.

Driver + Support Guide (Full-Time)

A soft-spoken, big city-loving motorcycle enthusiast born into (decidedly small town) Diamantina’s most celebrated family of 4x4 mechanics, “Dezinho”, like his brother Xaxau, is adventure nobility without the pretension. He’s also a remarkable motorcycle pilot, as well as a devoted part-time P.E. teacher(!). As the official dirt bike support driver of our Expedition, we’ll hope to not see too much of André during our days on the trail, but it’s his constant, reassuring presence along the roads parallel to our route that allows us to push forwards with confidence. In the unlikely event of an emergency, there isn’t anyone we’d rather have close by.

Local Guide / Horseman / Mule Driver (Chapter I)

A local legend on par with the iconic mountain that towers above his remote abode, Santo has become synonymous with the spectacular crossing from Bica d’Agua to Rio Preto State Park. Stoic & hardened, yet soft-spoken & graceful, his backcountry skills are second to none (and his camp grub isn’t half-bad, either). There’s nothing on earth—let alone in the Espinhaço—like arriving at he & his wife, Dona Maria’s, beautiful, humble abode in paradisical Bica d’Agua after climbing (and descending) Itambé on Day 6. We’ll then trek (or ride) alongside him during Days 7 & 8 as we make our way to the region’s 2nd highest peak. If you see the man break a sweat, please let us know.

Local Guide / Horseman (Chapter I)

Thoughtful, percipient, and gracious, with stories to share (but only if you ask) and a serene wisdom honed by decades spent living far from Diamantina, Valdir is the embodiment of a GOGO guide. We don’t always make the trek to Fazenda Santa Cruz do Gavião, the glorious, remote historic ranch that he’s tended to alone for the past 12 years, but when we do, it’s often simply to enjoy his company. Lucky for all of us, we’ll have that privilege on Days 7 & 8 of our Expedition. There are few people anywhere whom we’d rather walk, ride or huddle around a wood-fired stove with.

Local Guide (Chapter I)

On expeditions as in life, you should always seek to surround yourself with resilient, kind-hearted souls who have done it themselves and want to see you succeed. This is especially true when summiting foreign peaks, and when said souls have the kind of legs capable of powering up & down said peak 1,000+ times per year for two decades. Hailing from a family of Itambé guardians in nearby Capivarí, and now a full-time ranger in the State Park himself, it’s fair to say that Genésio knows Itambé better than anyone on earth. We’ll have the pleasure of walking alongside him on his home turf during Days 5 & 6 of our Expedition.

Local Guide (Chapter II)

One of the kindest, open-hearted souls we know, Barbosa grew up in a tiny quilombola community on the edge of civilization, where the lush Cerrado meets the river, the palms tower over once-diamond-rich sand banks, and money was (literally) unheard of. Today, he & his gracious wife, Lúcia, reside in nearby Inhaí, where they’re excited to receive the community’s first international visitors and share the incredible true stories of their upbringings. We’ll have the privilege of hearing those stories first-hand—both in Inhaí on Day 11, and on Days 12 & 13 as we drive, canoe, and trek across the wild eastern borderlands of Sempre Vivas.

Local Guide + Boatman (Chapter II)

Few rivers on earth are at once as pristine, gorgeous, and little-known as the Inhacica Grande, and few know the “Inhacicão” or the flower-bearing campos above it as well as Gomercindo. Thoughtful & soft-spoken, yet famously adventurous & fun-loving, the former miner turned prolific farmer has spent a lifetime on the river & its white sand banks, cultivating a symbiotic relationship with it in the process. He also happens to own multiple canoes, a tractor + trailer combo that seats 12, and an incredible sense of humor. You’ll get to see for yourself on Days 12 & 13, as our Expedition heads into the Sempre Vivas wilderness.

First-Mate + Porter (Chapter II)

In a remote, risk-averse farming community historically dominated by beans (with the occasional corn crop), Deraldo zagged and grew… broccoli? His successful harvests have not only improved the diets of elementary school children in nearby Diamantina, they’re disrupting long-held beliefs about the region’s agricultural potential. But Grade A broccoli isn’t the (only) reason that Deraldo is on our Crew—having grown up along the banks of the Inhacicão, he knows the waterways like few do. We’ll paddle, then trek alongside him as we journey into the high savannah hinterland on Days 12 & 13.

Local Guide (Chapter II)

The lone resident of a storied, abandoned ranch situated in one of the wildest stretches of Cerrado in Brazil—a full day’s trek through untamed brush from his closest neighbor—Levi has become something of a living legend among the folks living in the borderlands; the mere mention of his name eliciting reverence, sympathy, gossip, and outcry in short order. He is a man with stories to tell, and precious few visitors to tell them to. Spending time with him, and sharing the story of our own journey to his home, is a highlight of any trip to the region, and the stuff that lifelong memories are made of. A day with Levi is a day for the ages. We’ll have the privilege on Days 13 & 14.

Porter (Chapter II)

Esdra had never been to the flowery fields atop Sempre Vivas where his father, Gomercindo, spent summers as a child—nor had he ever hiked anywhere with a pack on—until he accompanied our Crew last-second as a porter in early 2024. He had his doubts as to whether he’d enjoy the experience (and rightfully so: how much fun does 48 hours of sweaty bushwhacking really sound to a 20-year-old?), and we had ours, too (how much weight can a rookie 20-year old really carry uphill though the wilderness?). Luckily, the experience was enlightening for all of us, and not only do we now have a new porter to help us trudge uphill on Days 12 & 13, but Esdra recently became one of the Park’s newest guides.

Local Guide + Horseman (Chapter III)

There’s an undeniable energy born from living out one’s dream, and Tau beams it in spades. Born & raised in the impossibly quaint lowlands village of Curimataí, he spent decades as an entrepreneur in the big city rat race before finding his way back home. Today, he & his equally enterprising wife, Gilma, run our favorite pousada west of Sempre Vivas, where we’ll very happily find ourselves sleeping & dining on the evening of Day 16 (you’ll see what we mean when we get there). An avid outdoorsman & expert horseman, Tau will ride alongside those who choose to hoof it on the sun-kissed road to Santa Bárbara on Day 17.

Local Guide + Horseman (Chapter III)

Stoic, courageous, and eminently courteous, Alvimar is, in many ways, the embodiment of the idealized sertão man. A lifelong cowboy, he spent years fighting remote wildfires in Sempre Vivas, ascending & descending the Espinhaço’s rugged western escarpment and criss-crossing the Park’s little-known campos by foot & horse. Today, he wears a different hat, tending to livestock & crops on his small ranch north of Curimataí. His familiarity with the Park’s rugged western frontier and expert riding skills make him the man for the job when it comes to leading our Expedition into the lowlands on Days 15 & 16.

Local Guide + Horseman (Chapter III)

Confident, charismatic, and cool in a way that only a natural-born cowboy can be, Pê & his lovely wife, Nica, have been housing, feeding, and guiding our Crew since the early days of our explorations in the Espinhaço. Born & raised in tiny Santa Rita, on the windswept southern frontier of Sempre Vivas, Pê spent years leading firefighter crews in the Park before returning full-time to ranching, and is renown across the region for his riding—and driving—acumen. We’ll be relying on the latter during our Expedition, as he leads us along the gorgeous-but-devastated backroads to & from Santa Rita on Days 21 & 22.

Overland Driver (Chapter III)

A year abroad in Australia taught Michel—then a biology undergrad—the power of travel, and convinced him that his hometown of Diamantina deserved to be rediscovered by the world. Since then, he’s become one of the Espinhaço’s most renown photographers, documenting its storied history and sharing striking portraits in publications like The Guardian, National Geographic Brazil, and more. You’ll get to experience his passion for cultura mineira and the Espinhaço backroads—as well as his well-honed English—as we tour the Sertão’s bucolic red dirt roads from Days 17 - 21.

Local Guide + Horseman (Chapter VI)

There are only 3 are residents left in Sempre Vivas National Park, and (as one might imagine) all are courageous, resilient, and remarkable. Of them, we humbly submit that Dorico may be the most sage. Hailing from the “nearby” (3-hour round-trip trek) flower-picking quilombola village of Macacos, he’s spent the past 30 years living alone in his rustic pau-a-pique home at the foot of Serra da Gamba. Warm-hearted & soft-spoken, with a striking lightness of being, he is completely, impossibly at home in a place & circumstance in which few other humans could fathom spending a single evening. We’ll have the privilege of riding alongside him during our crossing of the surreal Vale do Rio Preto on Days 23 & 24. It’s an experience to cherish.

Local Guide + Horseman (Chapter VI)

It is said that there are more former residents of Sao João da Chapada (pop. 2,000) living in a single suburb of Sao Paulo (pop. 22,000,000) than in Sao João itself, and we believe it. The creation of the Parks and subsequent prohibition of traditional ways of life—particularly, mining, hunting, and flower-picking—in their vicinity sent many able-bodied residents afar in search of jobs. All of which makes João’s decision to return to his life as a subsistence farmer in the Espinhaço so fascinating. Adventurous & well-traveled, considerate & wise, he’s a unique & compelling figure in the region, and wonderful company on the trail. Riding alongside of him & Dorico through the Vale do Rio Preto on Days 23 & 24 is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Local Guide (Chapter VI)

At first glance, Poliana makes for an unlikely Crew Member. Born & raised in the quilombola hamlet of Quarteis do Indaia, her most pressing duties have long included raising children and tending to crops. If there’s one thing that all of our Crew Members have in common, though, it’s a passion for bringing positive change to their communities, and in that light, Poliana couldn’t be any better suited for the job. She’s also bold. In 2023, after repeated fruitless efforts by our Crew to locate the historic trail leading from her hometown to neighboring São João, she shrugged, threw on a pair of flip-flops, and led us through the overgrown brush herself. You’ll have the pleasure of walking with her—and possibly an entourage of jubilant village kids—on the same trail on Day 25.

Transfer Driver (Days 1 & 28)

When we meet at Tancredo Neves International Airport (the rendezvous point for all of our trips in the Espinhaço) on Day 1, you’ll be forgiven for thinking we’ve brought along a personal security detail. Towering, stoic, and probably wearing a sharp pair of aviator sunglasses, our Crew’s official overland Driver, Caio, was formerly a professional mixed martial artist in his hometown of Montes Claros. Now the proud owner of a local taxi service, he is exactly the kind of serious, enterprising, and (most relevantly) punctual individual that this city—er, our Crew—needs. We’ll have the pleasure of riding with Caio to & from the airport to bookend your trip. After 2 weeks in a leaf-sprung, 35-yr-old Land Cruiser, we think you’ll be grateful we’ll be taking his vehicle.