After the coastal days, the character of the journey changes completely. The morning turns inland onto BR-116, the Rodovia Régis Bittencourt, for a long highway run through the Vale do Ribeira and up onto the Paraná plateau. By afternoon, forest and mountains give way to Curitiba, where the day closes with two very different introductions to the city.
The Régis Bittencourt
The morning's drive settles quickly into highway rhythm, fuel taken at Miracatu shortly after joining the Régis Bittencourt. Opened in 1961, the road replaced an older route that ran 113 km longer and was largely unpaved — a leap forward at the time, though for decades one stretch remained notorious: the Serra do Cafezal, a single-lane climb through the mountains between Miracatu and Juquitiba so hazardous it drew calls for reform for years before it was finally rebuilt, opening as a proper divided highway with four tunnels and dozens of bridges only in 2017. The entire route to Curitiba runs on tolled highway, a reflection of how much upgrading a road this important to Brazil's freight network has required over the decades.
The road runs through Juquiá, Cajati, and Barra do Turvo, cutting through the Vale do Ribeira — one of the largest remaining continuous stretches of Mata Atlântica in Brazil. Wildlife crossings built into the modern highway are a quiet reminder of what the road passes through: forested hills, deep valleys, and long stretches where the highway feels nearly swallowed by green.