Cora Coralina (1889-1985), the poet who only published her first book at the age of 76 and sang like few others about the beauties of the Brazilian cerrado, at a time and place in which the role of women was the brute reality of domestic routine, inspired a tribute that I could not even imagine: it gives its name to a beautiful long-distance trail that crosses the historic cities of Corumbá de Goiás, Pirenópolis, São Francisco de Goiás, Jaraguá and the city of Goiás. It is around 300 kilometers of one of the landscapes most threatened by agribusiness, fires and deforestation.
Born Ana Lins dos Guimarães Peixoto Bretas, the poet was born on August 20, 1889, in the city of Goiás, the former capital of the state. At the age of 14, she created the pseudonym Cora Coralina, which, she liked to say, means “red heart”.
Cora Coralina is part of the Caminho dos Goyazes national trail, also formed by the Planalto Central and Veadeiros paths, and was made official in 2018, after five years of studies and identification. Along the route, which receives around 2,000 visitors each year, it crosses two state parks (Serra do Jaraguá and Pireneus) and cities founded during the gold cycle in Brazil, which preserve colonial houses and churches from the 19th century. 18. Furthermore, it also passes by Salto Corumbá, a waterfall that has already graced the cover of National Geographic. And, for those who like traditional country fashion, it is halfway down the route that you will find the tomb of Chico Mineiro, whose story was the subject of one of the greatest hits by the duo Tonico and Tinoco.
Another curiosity of the path is that, in addition to its orientation bearing the traditional yellow footprints, there are 380 plaques with poems by Cora Coralina along its entire length, at strategic points. The journey is divided into 13 sections, with average distances of 20 kilometers, which reach places where you can land, camp or just replenish water and supplies. Camping outside official sites is not prohibited, but for safety reasons it is not recommended.
As 65% of the route is covered on local roads, Cora Coralina is classified as moderately difficult, with no caves or walls. Only three sections are defined as highly difficult, as they have higher elevations (read pirambeiras) — Serra de Jaraguá, Pireneus Peak and Serra do Caxambu.
“The Cora Coralina route is important not only for environmental issues, but also for the appreciation of local communities along its route, which already has a few dozen people who depend on the route to live, with hostels, small rural properties that are selling your cheese, your accommodation, a coffee”, says Fabrício Amaral, president of Goiás Turismo and a trail enthusiast who says that R$3 million was invested in the infrastructure alone, which also requires around R$800 thousand per year for its maintenance. “And we added as a difference the detail of the poems, a playful appreciation of this great poet.”
Amaral, who has already walked 100 kilometers of the path in two stages, defines the experience as “fantastic, for the exuberant nature, but also for the experience of contact with people, which made Cora Coralina a public policy laboratory for the state” .
“We are not only concerned with tourists, but also with local communities”, highlights Amaral. “Because tourists pass by and sometimes leave nothing behind, but communities benefit from taking care of the trail.”
The best time to issue a passport that confirms the route taken and set off along the enchanted route of the poems, according to Amaral, is between February and July, when the heavy rains have passed and the sun (which in the cerrado is a respectful sun, let’s face it) is not so strong anymore.
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