Ouro Preto - Black Gold

Ouro Preto which translates as back gold was the centre of the Brazilian gold rush. In the 1700’s, gold was found when the local rocks were crushed and analysed and practically overnight the town became the most densely populated city in the Americas. There were 80,000 inhabitants, in around 1780, compared to just 20,000 in New York. The city still claims to have 450 mines although a lot fewer inhabitants. So as soon as we arrived at this pretty mountain town with its stunning colonial architecture, we arranged for a tour in the local gold mine.
Gold mines are completely different to coal mines (and don’t say obviously!). It is incredibly slow going work – it took them over 10 years to tunnel 10 metres and get to the gold seam. The work was carried out by slaves and they were really proud of the fact that there were no fatalities in the mine – the cynics may say that that was primarily because the slaves were so expensive to buy! Over 800,000 tonnes of gold were shipped backed to Portugal from Ouro Preto and that was only the officially amount!Ouro Preto was also where I tasted my first proper taste of Brazil – a caipirinha. This is the national cocktail. It is cachaca (rough sugar cane rum) mixed with a lot of sugar and lime. The first taste blows your head off but then it becomes immediately addictive and very tasty! I suspect I will be drinking a few of these in the upcoming weeks!

After we left town, it was my turn to cook for the group. We had pulled up somewhere with a river and waterfall and had been relaxing under the waterfall. Therefore I was in the unusual situation of cooking for 13 people whilst wearing a bikini. That doesn’t happen in Wakefield!