Xitue Ecological Station and Ilha Comprida Wild Life Zone

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Xitue Ecological Station

   The Xitue Ecological Station is a different kind of place from most on a route map, because it is not for visitors. It is a strictly protected reserve in the interior of Sao Paulo state, set aside for scientific research and conservation, and normal tourism is not allowed. It forms part of the Atlantic Forest South-East Reserves, the UNESCO listing that protects what is left of a forest that once covered the whole Brazilian coast and has been reduced to a small fraction of its former extent. Its role is to keep a piece of that forest intact, as a reference and a refuge for animals and plants that cannot survive elsewhere.

   Read the complete Xitue Ecological Station write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Xitue Ecological Station is where the day begins. Next is Lauraceas State Park.

2. 2. Lauraceas State Park

   The Vale do Ribeira is one of the least developed regions of São Paulo state, a long valley of banana plantations, tea fields, small towns and thick forest, with a river that runs unimpeded to the sea. Because it was never heavily built up, it holds the largest remaining block of Atlantic Forest in Brazil, and the state parks of the area, among them Lauráceas, protect it. The name refers to the laurel family, which includes trees such as canelas and sassafras that grow tall in the damp forest, and which give the park its scent of spice when the wind moves the leaves.

   Read the complete Lauraceas State Park write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Lauraceas State Park comes up 54 km in. Next is Pariquera - Abaixo State Park.

3. 3. Pariquera - Abaixo State Park

   Between the Ribeira de Iguape river and the coast of southern São Paulo state, the land is low, green and wet, covered in a patchwork of banana plantations, rice fields, mangroves and patches of dense Atlantic Forest. The Pariquera-Abaixo State Park protects one of these patches, part of the larger network of Atlantic Forest reserves of southeast Brazil listed by UNESCO in 1999, a region that holds some of the most extensive surviving stretches of this once vast forest.

   Read the complete Pariquera - Abaixo State Park write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   107 km in you reach Pariquera - Abaixo State Park. Next is Ilha Comprida Wild Life Zone.

4. 4. Ilha Comprida Wild Life Zone

   Ilha Comprida, the long island, is exactly what its name promises: a narrow barrier island of sand, dunes and restinga scrub that runs for roughly seventy kilometres along the southern coast of São Paulo state, separating the Atlantic from the calm inland waters of the Mar Pequeno. Behind it lies the Lagamar, one of the largest estuarine complexes in Brazil, a maze of channels, mangroves and islands stretching south toward Cananéia and Paranaguá. This entire region, including the Ilha Comprida protected areas, forms part of the Atlantic Forest South-East Reserves, listed by UNESCO in 1999 for preserving one of the richest and most threatened ecosystems on Earth.

   Read the complete Ilha Comprida Wild Life Zone write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Ilha Comprida Wild Life Zone, about halfway. Next is back through Pariquera - Abaixo State Park.

5. 5. back through Pariquera - Abaixo State Park

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Pariquera - Abaixo State Park write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Pariquera - Abaixo State Park sits at 214 km, about halfway. Next is back through Lauraceas State Park.

6. 6. back through Lauraceas State Park

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Lauraceas State Park write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Lauraceas State Park comes up 268 km in. Next is Xitue Ecological Station.

7. 7. Xitue Ecological Station

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Xitue Ecological Station write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Xitue Ecological Station closes the day.