Chapadados Guimaraes Travel Guide

Introduction

In appearance, the Chapada dos Guimarães has much in common with the desert buttes of Arizona or Utah -- weird, wonderful formations of bright red rock, and long beautiful canyons. Vegetation is dry and scrubby, except where the many river channels flow; then you get waterfalls streaming down into basins lush with tropical vegetation. Officially, more than 32,000 hectares (80,000 acres) of this vast highland were set aside in 1989 as a national park -- the Parque Nacional da Chapada dos Guimarães. Only about half of the total area has been expropriated; much of the rest still lies in private hands, including the small town -- also called Chapada dos Guimarães -- within the park boundaries. It's a quiet, laid-back place with a slight counterculture feel, and the most convenient base from which to set off exploring. Hiking nearby is excellent; trails are clear even if -- as ever in Brazil -- they're completely without markers or signage. Most trails end at a viewpoint, a waterfall,...