The Chapada Diamantina National Park is considered to be one of the most beautiful parks in Brazil. The area is simply breathtaking with gorgeous waterfalls, azure caves and gorgeous flora and fauna for you to discover on your Brazil holidays:

Many people on their holidays to Brazil come to this area to participate in the adventure sport of cave-diving. However with the deep blue lakes found around the region it’s unknown whether the sport is practised as a hobby, or simply as a unique way to see some of the natural phenomena of the area. You certainly don’t need to dive very far to see the hundreds of tropical fish that make their home in these caves. The clear water acts as a natural aquarium, which you’ll find particularly useful when you see striped anacondas writhing around in the water below.

However, sightings of anacondas are rare and it’s unlikely that you’ll spot one on your holidays in Brazil. You are likely to see striped dourada fish, the size of which is simply astounding.

The park also features its own mountain range, with the highest mountain reaching well over 5,600 feet tall. This immense height provides shelter to the jaguatiricas that make the mountaintops their home. These mountains also attract mocos, a rodent not dissimilar to the dussies found on Cape Town’s Table Mountain.

The area wasn’t always a National Park and was once home to the diamond hunters, which gave the area its name; Chapada Diamantina literally translates to Diamond Plateau. It is still possible to find both gold and diamonds in the area and many Brazil tours in the region allow you to spend a short while panning for gold in the local riverbeds. Finding diamonds is a lot more difficult and the mines have long since closed as a result of competition from South Africa.

The trails once frequented by the miners are now popular with hikers on their Brazil holidays. However, whilst touring the area you may very well come across one of the old ‘garimpeiros’ who frequent the area looking for diamonds and gold.

Of course, while hiking is an excellent activity for your Brazil holidays, you should spend some time exploring the beautiful cascading waterfalls that make up the area. The Cachoeira da Fumuca, is the highest waterfall in the country, where the water is made to drop an excessive 380 metres. This means that the majority of the water turns into vapour long before reaching the bottom. The waterfalls of Cachoeira do Sossego and Buracao are also worth visiting on your Brazil tours. Underneath the transcending waterfalls lie two unique caves that contain the stunning deep blue waters favoured by cave divers on their Brazil tours.

The area is steeped in myth and legend, and some locals even believe that the area was once home to a famous slave, who fell in love with the colonel’s wife. After being chased by guards he found solace in the mountains and the dazzling sunsets that are frequent in the area. When he was found he threw himself into the abyss of the canyon, so he could stay surrounded by such beauty forever. Whilst this reaction is certainly a little extreme, you’ll certainly wish that on your Brazil holidays you too could experience such perfect beauty for a lifetime.

Louise Mumford is a holiday specialist at South American Experience, a company that specialises in tailor-made arrangements for holidays to Brazil . Our dedicated team has two decades of first-hand experience in the Latin America region.

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