How We Go
AN Introduction to Trekking, Riding & Overlanding in The Serra do Espinhaço
Trekking, Riding & Overlanding with Gift of Go
All of our trips are dedicated to sharing the Story of Brazil, and the mountainous backcountry around Diamantina provides us with the most enchanting setting possible—a gorgeous backdrop of high savannah, Atlantic Rainforest, and towering peaks, against which many of the country’s diverse ecological & cultural elements coalesce and the defining themes of brasileiridade (Brazilianness) reveal themselves.
Whether you’re joining us on a Private Journey, Small Group Expedition, or Bespoke Trip, you’ll find that trekking, riding, and overlanding each have a part to play in our storytelling process. In our minds, there is no more enriching way to experience a place than to travel slowly through it, and the Espinhaço’s labyrinth of historic trails & bucolic dirt roads lend themselves perfectly to that endeavor.
Caminho dos Escravos, Diamantina
The Trails
Getting from Point A to Point B has always been an adventure in the Serra do Espinhaço, and nowhere is this more evident than along the region’s spectacular—and virtually empty—network of historic trails.
While urban footpaths, game trails, sparsely used dirt roads, former railways, and Park-administered nature trails abound, 3 types of trails predominate the backcountry here: remarkable, colonial-era stone pathways built by slaves to facilitate the diamond trade along the Estrada Real; winding historic trails used by mule-driving tropeiros to facilitate regional commerce until as recently as the 1980s; and centuries-old descaminhos blazed by diamond smugglers and later revisited by European naturalists (including Sir Richard Francis Burton & Augustin Saint-Hilaire) during expeditions across the Cerrado in the 19th century.
Our team has spent 3 years rediscovering this lost network, documenting its history, geography & inhabitants, and charting our expeditions. As much as we’ve loved having the trails to ourselves, it’s an even greater pleasure to share them with other curious, adventurous minds.
Trekking in the Jequitinhonha River Valley
Trekking
In our minds, there’s no better way to immerse deeply in the nature, culture, or history of a place than by traveling slowly through it, and in the Serra do Espinhaço, there’s often no better way of doing so than with our own two feet.
Trekking isn’t just a rewarding way to pass the time between culturally-enriching mornings & evenings, though—in the backcountry, it’s often the only way to travel between communities.
You don’t need to be a seasoned trekker or highly conditioned athlete to enjoy hitting the trails with us in the Espinhaço, but if you’re planning on joining us on a Private Journey or Small Group Expedition, you should be aware that we tend to push our legs quite a bit—the natural consequence of wanting to experience as much of the region’s nature & culture as possible during a limited timeframe. Trekking days during Journeys & Small Group Expeditions tend to average 20-25 km per day and about 1,000 m of cumulative elevation gain & loss over varied mountain terrain.
If that sounds overly ambitious, or if you’d like to do a shorter trek or mix-and-match a bit of overlanding, riding, and hiking, we’re more than happy to craft & guide an itinerary that suits your goals via a Bespoke Trip.
As our most sought out guided activity, we tend to see the region through the eyes of trekkers. From our vantage point, it’s a sight to behold.
Horseback Riding
Horses and pack animals have been integral to life in the Espinhaço since the discovery of gold in the region in the early 18th century, and they continue to play a vital role in local culture, industry, and transportation today.
If you’ve ever dreamed of riding through the Brazilian hinterlands, now’s your chance: the Espinhaço is a welcoming setting for new riders & skilled equestrians alike, and few places in the country lend themselves so readily to joyous saddle time. From the spectacular riverside trails and rocky mountain passes of the Serra, to the wide open dirt roads & big sky vistas of the Sertão, it’s incredible how fluid & diverse the landscapes, vegetation, and roads of this region are.
If you’re joining us on a Private Journey or Small Group Expedition, you should expect at least a handful of optional riding days (which double as rest days for weary legs). If you’re planning to join us on a Bespoke Trip, know that we’re as happy to craft riding-only itineraries as we are mixed trips that feature hiking, overlanding, and riding.
Regardless of whose hoofs are moving during your time with us, we recommend you catch your breath, take in the scenery, and immerse in the Espinhaço’s long and storied tradition of tropeirismo & cavalgadas.
Overlanding
Our earliest explorations of the Espinhaço weren’t done on foot or horseback. From 2018-20, we traveled the region primarily by vehicle, hopping from one small community to another in a 1989 Toyota Bandeirante named “Gaúcha”. Upon arrival, we’d grab our packs & poles and visit local sites on foot, taking our time to enjoy & document each, before returning to explore local dining options & watering holes in the evenings.
Today, we tend to overland primarily in order to cut large swaths of front country, and to support travelers & crews during Journeys & Small Group Expeditions, but touring the Espinhaço by vehicle remains an unparalleled way to experience more of the region in less time, and in relative* comfort (our fleet consists nearly entirely of leaf-sprung 4x4s).
If you’re planning to join us on a Bespoke Trip and value down time & cultural exploration in the small communities of the Espinhaço over long days on the trail, or if time is of the essence and the list of places to see (& waterfalls to swim in) is long, you’re in luck: in our experience, the Espinhaço is an overlander’s dream—a sparsely-populated carousel of rural hamlets & big mountain views tied together by a winding labyrinth of rustic backroads, with plenty of spectacular, hidden pit stops along the way.
Lastly, we’d advise you not to sleep on the adventurous aspects of vehicular travel in this part of the world, where heavily-washboarded dirt roads, slave-built stone pathways, harrowing bridges, and the occasional stunning water crossing are all part of the commute—and that’s just the front country. Further afield, in Sempre Vivas National Park, the “roads” become bonafide obstacle courses, with sandpits, jagged rocks, seasonal marshes, and forest-enshrouded doubletrack trails providing some of the region’s most exhilarating windshield time.
As your captain speaking, we recommend you relax & enjoy the ride.
Trekking On the Chapada do Couto (July)
Bespoke Treks, Rides & Overland Tours
In 2025, for the first time, we’ll be crafting & guiding bespoke treks, rides, and overlanding tours of the Espinhaço.
To learn out more about these trips, and to see our Circuits, please visit our Bespoke Trips page. In the meantime, here are the important bits to know about trekking, horseback riding, and overlanding with us on a Bespoke Trip:
- Each & every one of our treks, rides, and overland tours is custom-built for the travelers who come with us;
- All are intended to be as all-inclusive as possible from the moment you touch down in Belo Horizonte (the capital of Minas Gerais, and the rendezvous point for all of our trips in the Espinhaço) until your departure
- If this is your first trip with us in the Espinhaço, we strongly recommend including at least stretches of our Serra Circuit, and incorporating additional Circuits as time allows;
- All of our trips require a minimum length of 7 days on the ground in order to encourage a baseline of immersion. There is no maximum number of days for a Bespoke Trip;
- We craft & guide a limited number of trips each year, on select dates from April 1st to September 31st.
If you’re interested in doing a Bespoke Trip with us, please message us. We’ll set aside your dates and begin your application ASAP.