PICI News
November 2008
Santa Helena Coffee Fazenda
An unforgettable experience that will be available from Dec 1, 2010 with the opening of Pousada Picinguaba's sister hotel in the country side.
Half-way between São Paulo and Picinguaba, discover in total privacy the authenticity and delights of your own exclusive hacienda or coffee fazenda. The perfectly preserved main house, which dates from 1860, is set in a 455 hectares working farm with 50,000 coffee plants and its horses.
Close to the charming colonial village of São Luiz de Piraitinga, founded at the end of the 18th century by French immigrants, this is an entire new world to discover. At the turn of the 20th century the region produced over 80% of the world's coffee, and made São Paulo and Brazil rich.
From the 1930's the production of coffee moved inland, and dozens of magnificent farms and residences of the "coffee barons" were left abandoned. The landscapes of the Parnaiba valley are wonderful, and time appears to have stopped.
Once we take the road that leads to Catuçaba, the atmosphere noticeably changes. No more cars, (the main road stops 19 km from the fazenda), only a small village and its white and blue freshly repainted church on the top of the hill, where local farmers come by horse to do their shopping...
The Fazenda Santa Helena is completely self sufficient, as the farms used to be in South America in the 19th century. It produces its own energy (hydraulic with a small dam), and the delicious drinking water is from a spring on the property. Everything you will eat is produced organically by the farm - corn, salads, vegetables, manioc, fresh milk from the cows for the breakfast cheese, fruits from the garden (papaya, lemons, jabuticaba, acerola, depending on time of the year), and obviously the coffee. From the top of the hills where you will wander on your horses, you can see the mountains all the way up to Minas Gerais. There is not a single house around. The silence and the peace are complete.
Depending on your mood, you can horse-ride on the estate, go fishing in one of the lakes, or take a day hike to the heights of the land to enjoy sumptuous views on the valley, then bath into beautiful waterfalls, before a plentiful and healthy farm dinner. São Luiz do Paraitinga nearby is an authentic little town out of time. Like most little places cut from the world from many decades, it has kept, for our enjoyment, most of its traditions. The carnival of São Luiz in one of the most famous in Brazil.
Click here for more information on Fazenda Santa Helena hotel project.
Weddings and events can be held at the Fazenda throughout the year.
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