Lagoa da Prata: Part One
Take a quick look at this map of Brazil to see where The Great Gilberto Pilgrimage took me:
Map of Brazil showing where I went
As you can see,
- I started off in Rio de Janeiro
- I travelled 450km north to Lagoa da Prata
- I travelled the 200km east to Belo Horizonte
My method of transport was bus. The journey from Rio to Belo Horizonte took approximately eight hours, and this is how I spent much of it:
Me looking out the window on the bus
As you can imagine, it was quite boring. The route from Rio to Lagoa da Prata is essentially a big struggle up steep and terribly paved roads. The only thing I saw for the whole eight hours was a million termite hills in the red earth:
The termite hills on the way to Lagoa da Prata
This was all terrificly exciting. Even so, eight hours later, I finally arrived at the bus station in Lagoa da Prata:
The Bus Station (Rodoviaria) at Lagoa da Prata
It was an almost mystical feeling stepping off the bus into this historical town. The fact that Gilberto grew up there was an extremely spiritual experience for me. If you find this fact at all sad, then you just aren't a big enough Gilberto Silva fan. Don't worry though, I will pray for you.
I started trying to explore Lagoa da Prata. However, I did not have a map. This proved to be a disadvantage. I wandered around the bus station hoping to pick up the scent of activity. I eventually located the main road that runs through the town:
The Main Street through Lagoa da Prata
I followed the main road, hoping that it would take me to some sort of centre of commerce or industrial hub. I instead ended up at the church:
The church at Lagoa da Prata
Next to the church was a taxi stand. As luck would have it, there was one taxi waiting. The taxi driver was asleep. I woke him up, and got in the car. He was a very nice man:
The friendly taxi driver that took me to where I wanted to go in Lagoa da Prata
The reason I took a taxi was that I wanted to go to the local district of Usina Luciania. This is where Gilberto grew up. Ten minutes down the road, we arrived at Usina Luciania. We were greeted by a blue hut bearing the district's name:
The hut at Usina Luciania
I had no idea what else I would find in Usina Luciania. Nevertheless, I was surprised to find that the whole district had been turned into a sugar-cane plant. This was mildly disappointing, as I had hoped to find some residential buildings similar to one that Gilberto would have lived in as a child. Instead, I was met by the site office of French company Louis Dreyfus:
The Lagoa da Prata site office for Louis Dreyfus
Having travelled so far to arrive in Usina Luciania, I decided to go into the office and ask some questions. I asked the taxi driver to accompany me. As I asked questions to a very helpful receptionist, he sat waiting:
The taxi driver waited for me at the Louis Dreyfus office
I asked as many questions as I could manage in Portuguese, and then when I realised that the receptionist spoke an impressive degree of English, I reverted to my mother tongue.
I found out that residential buildings had not existed in the village for years. She asked me curiously why I was visiting the office, and I told her I was from an English newspaper doing research about Gilberto Silva. This was not true, but I only said this because I didn't know how to say 'website' in Portuguese. (Note to the receptionist if she is reading this: I am sorry I told a lie.)
The receptionist continued to help me. Firstly, she let me take a snap of the aerial photo on the wall of Usina Luciania:
An aerial photograph of Usina Luciania in Lagoa da Prata
The receptionist then told me that she knew quite a lot about Gilberto, and that she knew a few people in Lagoa da Prata who knew him well. I was extremely excited as she picked up the phone and called up Gilberto Silva's sister.
She talked in Portuguese for a few minutes, explaining who I was. After the conversation, she explained to me that I might be able to visit Gilberto's sister.
She also gave me the address of a woman who knew Gilberto's family. She was an estate agent and a photographer, and I asked the taxi driver to take me there. We left Gilberto's childhood village (turned sugar-cane plant) behind:
Leaving Usina Luciania, and Louis Dreyfus' sugar-cane, behind
I went to see the estate agent / photographer that the secretary told me about. I met her at her office which was near the main high street. I introduced myself in Portuguese again as a journalist, but quickly found out that she spoke great English. This was very helpful, as was she; and she knew a lot about Lagoa da Prata and she had a lot of photos that she had taken of the town:
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| Some of the photos that the estate agent lady gave me. | |
I said goodbye to the helpful lady, conscious that I only had an hour left in Lagoa da Prata before I needed to catch a bus to Belo Horizonte.
I had one thing that I needed to do, and that was to visit the Lagoon which gives the town its name of Lagoa da Prata. Still with the taxi driver, we drove down to the lagoon where I took some photos:
Goals on the beach at Lagoa da Prata. Did Gilberto Silva once play here? Possibly.
The entrance to the lagoon. The beach was man-made in the 50s to attract tourists. Like me.
People swimming in the lagoon. The water looked warm.
People relaxing on the sand.
I got a lot of weird looks taking these photos; the residents of Lagoa da Prata obviously aren't used to tourists with cameras coming to take photos of their town. But I had come too far to be camera shy; so I spent the whole journey snapping feverishly, right up until I had to finally catch the bus to Belo Horizonte...
The bus which took me from Lagoa da Prata to Belo Horizonte.
To see what I did in Belo Horizonte, click 'Part Two' below!
 Lagoa da Prata: Part One |
 Atlético Mineiro: Part Two |
 América Mineiro: Part Three |
